Can I continue receiving Communion before Confirmation

[Rau]

In fact, if you were Baptized Catholic, you have access to Reconciliation and the Eucharist and the Sunday obligation applies to you so you shouldn’t be leaving Mass for Breaking Open the Word,

I don’t know what that means. It is commonplace for children to participate in something aimed at them in place of the homily.

 

[MarkRome]

RCIA Candidates and Catechumens/Elect are dismissed after the homily for Breaking Open the Word. They do not stay for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This practice is meant for the unbaptized but in some parishes all in RCIA go. Those Baptized Catholics often miss out on receiving the Eucharist unless they attend another Mass.

 

[Dovekin]

if you were Baptized Catholic, you have access to Reconciliation and the Eucharist and the Sunday obligation applies to you so you shouldn’t be leaving Mass for Breaking Open the Word, or you should be attending another Mass in addition to fulfill the obligation.

The uncatechized do not have access to reconciliation or Communion except in the context of the Easter Vigil when they will receive their first Communion. They should not be dismissed with the catechumens, but they should not receive Communion. The clearest statement of this seems to be in the combined rites of welcome and acceptance in the Appendix to the RCIA, where the catechumens “along with the candidates” are instructed not to receive communion if they cannot be dismissed. At least, that is the clearest I saw with a quick look.

The whole point of the process is to prepare people to receive Holy Communion; it does not make sense for participants to receive before the Easter Vigil. Catechesis is about spiritually and intellectually preparing them for their first Communion.

All of what I have been saying is based on the RCIA, which took effect about 40 years ago. Fifty years ago was different and 60 years ago was before the Council and under a very different regimen. (which may be the regimen used in communities that use the EF) But 50 years ago was a unique time, after the 1917 Canon Law no longer applied strictly but before the new rules were established.

 

[MarkRome]

I was thinking of the OP who stated he already received First Communion and only lacked Confirmation, so he most certainly can and should receive Communion (if he is in a state of grace). He is also under Sunday obligation as are all Catholics. My point is that I routinely have RCIA candidates who are Baptized and received First Communion attending Breaking Open the Word while missing the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which they should not.

 

[Vico]

…
But shouldn’t one receive all the necessary instruction BEFORE being received into full communion?

That is an interesting question. The eastern canon law requires profession of faith with proper preparation, but I found no direct Latin equivalent. The Latin priest might both be able to receive into full communion and to confirm:

Latin Canon law.
CIC

Can. 883 The following possess the faculty of administering confirmation by the law itself:
…
2/ as regards the person in question, the presbyter who by virtue of office or mandate of the diocesan bishop baptizes one who is no longer an infant or admits one already baptized into the full communion of the Catholic Church …

Eastern canon law.
CCEO

Canon 897
A member of the Christian faithful of an Eastern non-Catholic Church is to be received into the Catholic Church with only the profession of the Catholic faith, after doctrinal and spiritual preparation according to each one’s condition.

Chrismation

Canon 696
1. All presbyters of the Eastern Churches can validly administer this sacrament either along with baptism or separately to all the Christian faithful of any Church sui iuris including the Latin Church.

 

[Phemie]

Phemie:

…
But shouldn’t one receive all the necessary instruction BEFORE being received into full communion?

That is an interesting question. The eastern canon law requires profession of faith with proper preparation, but I found no direct Latin equivalent. The Latin priest might both be able to receive into full communion and to confirm:
Latin Canon law.

Can. 883 The following possess the faculty of administering confirmation by the law itself:
…
2/ as regards the person in question, the presbyter who by virtue of office or mandate of the diocesan bishop baptizes one who is no longer an infant or admits one already baptized into the full communion of the Catholic Church …

Once the Bishop has approved the reception into full communion, the law gives the priest the faculty to confirm.

As I recall from my studies of the R.C.I.A some 20 years ago, if the person is prepared enough to make a profession of faith and renounce their prior faith, they are prepared enough to be confirmed. I’ll have to dig up my Rite and see what it says.