[Question]{.underline}: Is it permissible to go to the bathroom during Sunday Mass?
[Answer]{.underline}: In itself, leaving the church for a couple of minutes for a bathroom stop during Mass does not break the assistance at Mass, for a notable part of the Mass is not missed. However, if a person were to leave for the Canon of the Mass, including the Consecration, it would have missed a notable portion of the Mass.
This being said, it remains very important to maintain the principle of discipline, namely that one satisfied the needs of nature before and after Holy Mass, but not during. Whereas it is understandable that parents with very young children might have to take them out for the bathroom, it is not to be expected that this continues to be the case with children who have the use of reason, and especially not during Sunday Mass during and after the sermon. Parents must teach their children discipline, and adults ought to give a good example in this regard.
Answered by Father Peter Scott, SSPX.