Communion refused

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According to Canon Law 915, Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.

Can. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.

Nowhere does it say they can inquire during the Communion procession.

Here’s an in-depth article:

 
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The Rule in the Church is either if you haven’t been to Confession since your last mortal sin, or if you haven’t been to Confession in a year or more - whichever of these two happens first - then you are to abstain from Communion until confessing and being absolved. @Fauken
 
In the Eastern Churches they often ask peoples names if they don’t know them, and if they don’t recognize someone as practicing orthodox Catholic Christianity they will deny them Communion. @Cruciferi
 
Right, that’s what I thought. So what did she say that made you claim she was in either category?
 
I think there’s a cultural - ritual problem here.

Im looking at this from an Eastern Christian perspective where its routine for Priests to deny Communion or ask questions before giving Communion.

You and others are viewing from the Western perspective, where this traditionally takes place outside the context of Divine Liturgy.
 
Absolutely, it is the practice of multiple Eastern Catholic Churches.
 
Spyridon said:
The Rule in the Church is either if you haven’t been to Confession since your last mortal sin, or if you haven’t been to Confession in a year or more - whichever of these two happens first - then you are to abstain from Communion until confessing and being absolved.
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This is not correct.
 
@Don_Ruggero, I didn’t catch what was wrong with his statement. Can you please tell me what I missed?
 
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Did we all miss something here? I believe the original person who posted said that this happened in Mexico, and her daughter does not speak Spanish. Maybe there are cultural differences that would be obvious if the child was not used to going through the Communion line in Mexico, compared to the US?
I had a priest question my visiting nieces when they went through the Communion line once. We explained to them that they could only get a blessing, yet this one rascally niece tried to get Communion. Our priest asked whether she had received instruction, which alerted us to what she was doing, and we then escorted her away. (I believe she was behind us in the line). I was glad the priest questioned her - - although I feel like it made us look bad. But we did explain it to her.
 
Spyridon said:
I think there’s a cultural - ritual problem here.

Im looking at this from an Eastern Christian perspective where its routine for Priests to deny Communion or ask questions before giving Communion.

You and others are viewing from the Western perspective, where this traditionally takes place outside the context of Divine Liturgy.
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This question was asked in the traditional Catholicism sub-forum…not in the sub-forum for the Churches of the East.

Why do you presume that this lady, attending her mother’s burial in Mexico, is both a subject of one of the Eastern Churches and that this occurred in an Eastern Church? And why are you applying the discipline and customs of the East to her?
 
When should he do that then? He may never see the person again!
 
Loud-living-dogma said:
I had a priest question my visiting nieces when they went through the Communion line once. We explained to them that they could only get a blessing, yet this one rascally niece tried to get Communion. Our priest asked whether she had received instruction, which alerted us to what she was doing, and we then escorted her away. (I believe she was behind us in the line). I was glad the priest questioned her - - although I feel like it made us look bad. But we did explain it to her.
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Oh, I have had occasion as a priest to ask an adult if they are Catholic because they seemed clueless. I have had occasion to ask a child if they have received their First Communion because they are visitors unknown to me and of a height and other circumstance where they could have or not.

It is not possible, however, to interrogate a person…when they last went to Confession and such things. The canon quoted above, together with surrounding canons, delineates the matter. Once I know they are Catholic and that they are seeking the sacrament, the reasons for denying the sacrament are very strict.

Which, again, is why the diocese should be informed of what the priest said and did.
 
This is a good response. I’m wondering if the OP was dressed inappropriately. That may have got the whole ball rolling.
 
espiishope247 said:
There were people at that service that were not catholic and also homosexual and he gave them all communion
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I’m not quite understanding this. How are you aware who was Catholic and who was homosexual? I thought non-Catholics were not allowed to receive communion? A priest wouldn’t have been letting that happen, I don’t think?? I don’t know, maybe I’m interpreting your post incorrectly.

Also, I found this answer on the apologetics section of this website
“A person who is conscious of a grave sin is not to . . . receive the body of the Lord without prior sacramental confession unless a grave reason is present and there is no opportunity of confessing; in this case the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible” (CIC 916).
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The requirement for sacramental confession can be dispensed if four conditions are fulfilled: (1) there must be a grave reason to receive Communion (for example, danger of death), (2) it must be physically or morally impossible to go to confession first, (3) the person must already be in a state of grace through perfect contrition, and (4) he must resolve to go to confession as soon as possible.
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Hope_Philomena said:
I’m not quite understanding this. How are you aware who was Catholic and who was homosexual? I thought non-Catholics were not allowed to receive communion? A priest wouldn’t have been letting that happen, I don’t think?? I don’t know, maybe I’m interpreting your post incorrectly.
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I’m guessing that this involves a busy-body relative who has an axe to grind with the OP and not with the OP’s other family members. The OP more than likely would know who among her family is not Catholic.
 
Okay, here’s my sense of the whole situation. My theory only!

The original person who posted this is from Mexico. Her mother was ill, and so the original poster and her daughter went to Mexico (probably to the original poster’s hometown?) to visit. The mother passed away, and there was some kind of rosary and communion service (may or may not have been a Mass?). The daughter of the poster maybe looks Mexican, but does not speak Spanish and appears “American”. Presumably the priest did not know the poster and her daughter. The poster knows people from the town (since she grew up there?), and knows who is or is not a practicing Catholic, etc. Since the priest did not know the poster and her daughter, or they appeared “foreign” to him in some way, he questioned whether they were in a state of grace. Maybe have been clumsily handled, sounds like it is not the normal way of doing this.
 
How does your priest query in your area?

In my church, I’ve seen priests ask, “Have you had your first communion?” when it’s obvious a kid or teenager doesn’t belong in the communion line and has no clue what to do.

It’s not really a stretch for a priest to ask, “When was your last confession?” or something along those lines when it’s an adult, especially with a language barrier in place.

I agree that yes, generally, people
“presume the integrity of the persons presenting themselves for Holy Communion”
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and
“trust in this fact is to be presumed unless proven clearly, otherwise.”
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But by the same token,
“The recipient of Holy Communion also makes declarations by presenting himself for Holy Communion: 1) That he or she is a Catholic; and 2) That he or she accepts the teaching of the Catholic Church in toto and is not consciously or intentional dissenting from known doctrines or dogmas, from whatever the Church professes and believes to be revealed by God; and 3) That he or she is not conscious or gave or serious sin. Therefore a strong responsibility falls on the one coming forward to receive Holy Communion. Since priests and deacons cannot know the state of each person in most circumstances, the fundamental responsibility is on the one who comes forward to receive.”
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So if you have an OP who’s talking vaguely about “yeah, I’m totally going to go to confession once I get back home” and “I went to a church service” , you kind of have to wonder if she sent out any signals of unfamiliarity that prompted the priest to ask her about whether or not she’s a Catholic who accepts church teaching— which includes things like “go to Mass every Sunday” and “go to Confession at least once per year” and things like that. And for someone who thought their faith was important enough that their child “spent her entire life in Catholic school”, it shouldn’t be a surprise.
 
midori said:
How does your priest query in your area?
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What do you mean by “my priest”? I am the priest. Are you asking me what directives I might have given to other priests in my diocese when I was an official in our curia?
midori said:
It’s not really a stretch for a priest to ask, “When was your last confession?” or something along those lines when it’s an adult, especially with a language barrier in place.
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It doesn’t matter whether a lay person thinks it is a stretch or not…it is a matter of what canon law allows and what it does not allow.
 
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