Can my children receive Communion if their mother won't allow it?

[bhughesiii]

I have two children and I am no longer married to their mother. She despises the Catholic Church for some reason, and although the children want to be a part of the Catholic Church, she will not allow it. They become sad when it comes time for Communion and they cannot go receive it with me. This is something they really want, but because they are 9 and 6 years old and their mother does not feel as though they can make that decision (even though she says that they have reached the age of reason), they have not been baptized.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Your children cannot receive Communion until they are baptized. If they are of the age of reason (your nine-year-old certainly is, your six-year-old perhaps is), then they have the right to ask for baptism and your ex-wife should respect that. That said, you likely will have difficulty finding a priest or deacon who will agree to baptize the children against their mother’s wishes until they are older and more clearly capable of making their wishes known. I recommend consulting with both the St. Joseph Foundation and with a family lawyer, both of which can help you navigate the canonical and civil legal issues involved.

In the meantime, I recommend that you teach your children the value of offering up their hurt over not being able to receive Communion at this time, perhaps asking Jesus to use their hurt to obtain for them the grace of baptism and for their mom the grace of conversion. God bless.