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Lorraine
Curtin
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
I am an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at our
parish. Today I witnessed a woman approach another Extraordinary
Minister distributing the Precious Blood. She took
hold of the cup and gave it to her son to drink; he was about 18
months old.
After Mass, I approached the
woman. She said that she was an Orthodox Catholic and
they receive the sacraments of Baptism and Communion as
infants. She explained that her parish priest, who is
from out-of-state, comes several times a year to her
town to celebrate Mass at a Lutheran church for the
Orthodox Catholics. On all other Sundays, she attends
Mass at our Church.
- Have you ever heard of this?
- Is this permitted by canon law?
- What should an Extraordinary
Minister do if this is not permitted?
Thanks!
Lorraine
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Is what this Orthodox Catholic Extraordinary
Minister did at Mass permitted by canon law? }
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John
replied:
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Hi, Lorraine —
Thanks for your question. I think the woman meant
to say Eastern Rite Catholic, not Orthodox Catholic.
Eastern Rite Catholic have the same traditions and
rituals as the Eastern Orthodox. They also have
the same traditional practice of giving all the Sacraments
of initiation at Baptism.
So, indeed, the infants are baptized, confirmed (chrismated,
as they would say) and they receive the Eucharist
all on the same day.
As far as I know, the woman was within her rights.
As Catholics, she and her child are entitled to the
sacraments at any Catholic church, irrespective of
the liturgical rite. The child received his first
Holy Communion the day he was baptized.
John
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Mike
replied:
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Hi, Lorraine —
You said:
She took
hold of the cup and gave it to her son to drink; he was about 18
months old.
I don't believe this is permitted within the rubrics
of a Catholic liturgy.
The woman who approached the other Extraordinary
Minister should not be passing the chalice to her
son.
The only one that should be distributing the Precious
Blood is the celebrant or those designated by the
celebrant as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.
A very good document to check out is called:
It was issued in March of 2004 from the offices of
the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline
of the Sacraments, so it's very recent.
Paragraph 94 states:
94. It is not licit for the faithful “to
take . . . by themselves . . . and, still less,
to hand . . . from one to another” the sacred
host or the sacred chalice. (Ibidem 160)
160. Let the diocesan Bishop give renewed consideration to the practice in recent years regarding this matter, and if circumstances call for it, let him correct it or define it more precisely. Where such extraordinary ministers are appointed in a widespread manner out of true necessity, the diocesan Bishop should issue special norms by which he determines the manner in which this function is to be carried out in accordance with the law, bearing in mind the tradition of the Church. |
You said:
- Is this permitted by canon law?
- What should an Extraordinary Minister do if it is
not permitted?
This is not really a canon law issue but a Church
rubric issue.
You should make your pastor aware of this and,
if necessary, your local bishop, referring to
Paragraph 94 from the above document.
After that, your obligation is fulfilled. It's now
in the pastor's or bishop's realm of authority to
act or not act.
Guidelines are not set just to be broken, but the
correction part has to be done by the appropriate
authorities.
Hope this helps,
Mike
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John
replied:
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Lorraine,
I wasn't looking at it from a rubrical point of
view. In that respect, my previous answer was not
entirely correct.
Mike is correct, the woman had no authority to distribute
Communion to her son but I still would say the
woman was within her rights as an Eastern Rite Catholic,
to request Communion for her son.
John
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Mary
Ann replied:
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Lorraine —
Both of my colleagues are right. She has the right
sacramentally, but each Church asks its members to
respect the rule of the other Church, which means
she should not have taken the cup to give to her
son.
Mary Ann
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Lorraine replied:
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Thanks everyone for your answers.
I have an additional follow up if I may.
- Are there churches out there that claim to be
Catholic but are not in communion with the Church?
I ask this because she did not say she was from
the Eastern Rite, just that she was Orthodox Catholic.
We have a Byzantine rite church in our town and her
reply to me seemed like she had no recourse but to
attend our Roman Rite Church for Communion.
Thanks,
Lorraine
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John
replied:
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Hi Lorraine,
You said:
- Are there churches out there that claim to be
Catholic but are not in communion with the Church?
Yes, there are, but I've never heard of one going by the name Orthodox Catholic. I assumed she's Eastern Rite,
because is common for Eastern
Rite Catholics to identify themselves with their
Orthodox counterparts.
They float back and forth, in how they identify
themselves, irrespective of any canonical restrictions.
John
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