Can she receive Communion?

[CindyI]

My mother-in-law has Alzheimer’s disease, I would say moderately severe. She generally is not aware of her surroundings and does not know who anyone is except maybe my husband. Is she entitled to receive Communion? The priests at our church have been giving her Communion but my husband said tonight the priest did not.
Thank you.

Cindy

 

[LilyM]

I don’t think there’s any cut and dried rule for such situations, and for diseases such as Alzheimers where (from my understanding) sufferers can have much more and much less lucid days, there really shouldn’t be either.

As an argument in favour, Eastern Catholics are actually baptised, chrismated (confirmed) AND given first communion ALL when they’re very young indeed - probably too young to have a conscious awareness of the sacraments.

An exception would be if she started, for example, spitting out or pocketing the Host instead of consuming it, and a prudent priest would probably cease at that point. If this isn’t happening, then just let them judge on a case-by-case basis.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

For several years I managed those who brought communion to the home bound. The rule I developed, with the pastor’s approval, was that if the patient could recognize that the Communion was something special they could receive. Essentially the same as the rule for children receiving their first Communion.

We had one man who was completely out of it. Nearly unconscious. However, whenever I held a host in front of him and said “The Body of Christ” he would make the sign of the cross.
We judged that sufficient. That was probably the limiting case.

One must judge each case each day. If one errs, one should err in favor of giving the sacrament.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

She may receive Communion if she recognizes it as the Body and Blood of Christ. It is inappropriate to give Communion to someone who does not recognize Whom they are receiving.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

My mother-in-law has Alzheimer’s disease, I would say moderately severe. She generally is not aware of her surroundings and does not know who anyone is except maybe my husband. Is she entitled to receive Communion? The priests at our church have been giving her Communion but my husband said tonight the priest did not.
Thank you.

Cindy

Yes, if she can respond and consumes the Host without any problem. Care should be taken to insure this.

 

[CindyI]

Thank you for the replies. I need to talk to my husband about it. I don’t know how much she understands and I can’t ask her. She doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Italian.

Cindy

 

[yellowbird]

Thank you for the replies. I need to talk to my husband about it. I don’t know how much she understands and I can’t ask her. She doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Italian.

Cindy

She has my prayers Cindy, as do all who love her. I volunteer weekly at a nursing home… I get a very small sampling of what your lives must be like. My heart breaks for all involved.

God Bless.

 

[CarmeliteGirl25]

My mother-in-law has Alzheimer’s disease, I would say moderately severe. She generally is not aware of her surroundings and does not know who anyone is except maybe my husband. Is she entitled to receive Communion? The priests at our church have been giving her Communion but my husband said tonight the priest did not.
Thank you.

Cindy

I would guess that your concern is that she has a mortal sin on her conscience and that she should not be receiving Communion. If she has been diagnosed as having moderately severe Alzheimer’s, then she is released from culpability (acknowledging what she did was a sin). People with mental disorders are not barred from receiving Communion. My elderly family friend has been Catholic all her life and has never received the Sacrament of Reconciliation since she was a small child. She has a mental illness and has the mentality of a 7 year old. She receives Communion in a nursing home now from the Catholic priest.

I think this would help you also:

penitents.org/mentalillness.htm

God bless you!

 

[Lainey63]

For several years I managed those who brought communion to the home bound. The rule I developed, with the pastor’s approval, was that if the patient could recognize that the Communion was something special they could receive. Essentially the same as the rule for children receiving their first Communion.

We had one man who was completely out of it. Nearly unconscious. However, whenever I held a host in front of him and said “The Body of Christ” he would make the sign of the cross.
We judged that sufficient. That was probably the limiting case.

One must judge each case each day. If one errs, one should err in favor of giving the sacrament.

A few years ago my stepmother who had been a devout catholic since I have known her had a massive stroke with severe brain damage. When the EM came to give her communion she stated the very same rule and I can somewhat understand it-but I was quite upset that this woman (my stepmother) who had been devoted to God through the RCC was now being abandoned. Anyway the EM did end up giving her communion & she came everyday after to give my stepmother communion up until the day she passed away which was about a year later. I know that it really wasn’t anything I said but something the EM recognized in my stepmother-but I still do believe that was the most important time in my stepmother’s life that she needed God and Holy Communion I was amazed how quickly someone can be abandoned in their time of suffering-just like Jesus was.

 

[FrDavid96]

My mother-in-law has Alzheimer’s disease, I would say moderately severe. She generally is not aware of her surroundings and does not know who anyone is except maybe my husband. Is she entitled to receive Communion? The priests at our church have been giving her Communion but my husband said tonight the priest did not.
Thank you.

Cindy

Cindy,
Obviously you have some concerns here. You realy should ask the priest WHY he didn’t administer Communion to her. A person who is a victim of Alzheimers is certainly able to receive Communion, but all we posters can do here is to speculate on what the reasons might be that the priest did not do so–and there could be any number of possible answers to that. The first thing to do is to ask the priest.