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Hi Mary Ann,
No, they may not. Communion is an intimate family bond among Christ and
the members of the Catholic Church. For a non-Catholic
to receive Holy Communion would be like:
- inviting yourself to someone else's
family dinner, or
- interjecting yourself into the most intimate of family
relations.
Just as we reserve sex for marriage, we reserve Communion for
those who have formally joined our Church.
For Catholics (as for Orthodox and other ancient churches), Communion
has historically been an expression of full unity in doctrine and leadership.
To be in
communion with another diocese or parish means that
you belong to the same Church, and that members, in both, can freely receive
sacraments in each other's parishes. It's always been a way of:
- recognizing
who is authentically Catholic and who isn't, and
- defining the borders of
the Church.
Denying Communion to those outside the Catholic Church doesn't mean that
we think such people are not Christian or not saved, it just means that
they are not in full union with Catholic beliefs and not formal members
of our Church family.
Eric
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