Can a Priest Offer Mass for a Special Intention?

Some contemporary theologians have claimed that it is misleading to speak of a priest as offering Mass for a special intention, and that it would be more accurate to speak of him as inviting all present to pray for that intention. My arti-cle traces the roots of this opinion in the historical work of Edward Kilmartin and the speculative work of Karl Rahner. I argue that Kilmartin misinterpreted or misrepresented his medi-aeval sources, and that Rahner's account of the nature and fruits of the Mass is implausible, on both magisterial and liturgical grounds. I conclude that the concept of priestly intention con-tained in canon law is theologically well-founded.