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Traditionally, the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord has been celebrated on Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter, both to celebrate the Ascension of our Lord and to signify the forty days Jesus spent with His disciples after His Resurrection.
While the Solemnity of the Ascension is a day of obligation, and while its celebration on Thursday is the norm, canon 1246 of the Code of Canon Law gives bishops’ conferences the power to "suppress" some holy days or "transfer them to a Sunday" with the approval of the Holy See.
In 1991 the conference of bishops determined, with approval of Rome, that the Solemnity of the Ascension would be celebrated in the United States on the Thursday of the sixth week of Easter.
The Church is divided into different provinces, i.e., groupings of dioceses. With proper Church approval, provinces in a country may differ from the country’s general norms regarding the observance of Holy Days. In 1993, the bishops of a number of western provinces sought and received the Holy See’s permission to transfer Ascension Thursday to the following Sunday for a trial period of five years. After that time the issue again arose. Instead of responding to each province on a case-by-case basis, the Holy See requested that the U.S. Conference decide how transference of the Holy Day will be determined. In November of 1998, after some debate, the Conference resolved to let each province determine for itself. The Holy See approved of this request and now only need be informed of the transfer of the observance of the Ascension from Thursday to Sunday.
As far as a reason for why these days are transferred, most of them are practical and pastoral. The common reason given is that many more Catholics will celebrate this important (solemn) feast if it is moved from a weekday to Sunday. Another reason given is that the transfer will accommodate immigrants from Canada and Mexico, where the Ascension is celebrated on Sunday.
In a 2001 article in the St. Louis Review (the archdiocesan newspaper), then Archbishop Rigali of St. Louis commented on the change. The Archbishop said that by transferring the celebration to Sunday, "the largest possible number of the faithful can participate in this celebration." The "sad fact" is that the feast now is celebrated by a very small percentage of Catholics in the archdiocese, the Archbishop stated. "Many Catholics are unable to participate in the Mass of the Ascension."
Finally, in the transference of feast days, the bishops face a prudential decision in carrying out their duty to direct the minds of the faithful "toward the feasts of the Lord whereby the mysteries of salvation are celebrated in the course of the year" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 108). |
