EMHC's receiving communion at the same time as the priest

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brianwalden

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I recently moved to the diocese of Albany, NY and noticed that at every parish I go to including the Cathedral the priest gives communion to the EMHC’s before he receives it. They then hold onto it and receive it just an instant after he does so they seemingly receive it simultaneously with the priest. To me this seems to be an attempt to undermine the priesthood by attempting to elevate the mere lay EMHC’s up to his vocation. Can someone tell me if there’s something against this in the rubrics. Please cite specific examples. If this is a violation who should I report it to as it appears to be something that comes from the bishop since it happens all over the diocese.
 
brianwalden said:
I recently moved to the diocese of Albany, NY and noticed that at every parish I go to including the Cathedral the priest gives communion to the EMHC’s before he receives it. They then hold onto it and receive it just an instant after he does so they seemingly receive it simultaneously with the priest. To me this seems to be an attempt to undermine the priesthood by attempting to elevate the mere lay EMHC’s up to his vocation. Can someone tell me if there’s something against this in the rubrics. Please cite specific examples. If this is a violation who should I report it to as it appears to be something that comes from the bishop since it happens all over the diocese.
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From August 15, 1997
Ecclesiae de Mysterio: On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priest (Prot. 0)
**Part II, Article 8. The Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
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**(…)To avoid creating confusion, certain practices are to be avoided and eliminated where such have emerged in particular Churches:
  • extraordinary ministers receiving Holy Communion apart from the other faithful as though concelebrants;
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Thanks, where do I go if I can’t get a response from the diocese?
 
EMHC’s are not even supposed to be up at the altar until after the priest has recieved Holy Communion himself
GIRM 162 … These ministers should not approach the altar before the priest has received Communion, and they are always to receive from the hands of the priest celebrant the vessel containing either species of the Most Holy Eucharist for distribution to the faithful.
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Thanks that’ll be good follow-up if I actually get a response from the diocese - I’ve noticed that they don’t always respond if you ask a question about the possible abuses.
 
brianwalden said:
Thanks that’ll be good follow-up if I actually get a response from the diocese - I’ve noticed that they don’t always respond if you ask a question about the possible abuses.
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Perhaps you could report this abuse to Cardinal Burke at the Congregation for Divine Worship:

**Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship
Piazza Pio XII 10
00193 Rome, VATICAN CITY **

or email the Pope: **benedettoxvi@vatican.va**
 
nymid said:
Perhaps you could report this abuse to Cardinal Burke at the Congregation for Divine Worship:

**Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship
Piazza Pio XII 10
00193 Rome, VATICAN CITY **

or email the Pope: **benedettoxvi@vatican.va**
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Surely Cardinal Burke is Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the “supreme court” of the Church, and not the Congregation for Divine Worship. And just as surely there are intermediate steps for dealing with this situation short of going straight to the Vatican on an issue of EMHC’s receiving the Eucharist. Honestly?
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
Surely Cardinal Burke is Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the “supreme court” of the Church, and not the Congregation for Divine Worship. And just as surely there are intermediate steps for dealing with this situation short of going straight to the Vatican on an issue of EMHC’s receiving the Eucharist. Honestly?
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Honestly.

VATICAN, July 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pope Benedict XVI has named Archbishop Raymond Burke as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

The appointment of Archbishop Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura (the Vatican’s highest court), is significant due to the fact that it is this congregation that oversees the distribution of Holy Communion…

lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jul/10070912.html

As has been established, the Bishop of Albany will not be jumping to correct this abuse.

If more started reporting liturgical abuses to Rome, perhaps things would start to change.
 
nymid said:
As has been established, the Bishop of Albany will not be jumping to correct this abuse.

If more started reporting liturgical abuses to Rome, perhaps things would start to change.
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It doesn’t matter whether or not one thinks the local bishop will act, lower levels usually must be delt with first before a higher one will take up the issue. The usual steps are: Pastor then Bishop then CDWS. I know that when many bishop’s offices receive a complaint their first question is, “Have you tried talking to the pastor about this?”
 
Seatuck said:
For me it was a matter of waiting and praying and not serving anymore when it began to consume my peace at Mass.
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That’s also how I dealt with the abuse of EMHCs. I still remained a reader and served in other ways but I couldn’t in good conscience distribute Communion when available priests were sitting down watching me.
 
brianwalden said:
I recently moved to the diocese of Albany, NY and noticed that at every parish I go to including the Cathedral the priest gives communion to the EMHC’s before he receives it. They then hold onto it and receive it just an instant after he does so they seemingly receive it simultaneously with the priest. To me this seems to be an attempt to undermine the priesthood by attempting to elevate the mere lay EMHC’s up to his vocation. Can someone tell me if there’s something against this in the rubrics. Please cite specific examples. If this is a violation who should I report it to as it appears to be something that comes from the bishop since it happens all over the diocese.
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Talk to the pastor at a private meeting. Ask him to explain that at every parish that you have attended mass the EMCH"S held onto the hosts to receive together.Tell him, in a polite way that this is prohibited. If no satisfaction is given write the ordinary next.
You could ask if the rest of the congregation that receives Holy Communion might be allowed to join in this show of solidarity with the priest by holding on to the Host until they all return to their pews and receive together.Or perhaps that those who attend Mass without the complete family might be able to take the Host HOME WITH THEM to join together in a family unit to receive. I am not sure if he will agree to those proposals
but he has shown his willingness to permit abuse.
Make sure you are willing to finish what you start, this will be hard.
 
brianwalden said:
I recently moved to the diocese of Albany, NY and noticed that at every parish I go to including the Cathedral the priest gives communion to the EMHC’s before he receives it. They then hold onto it and receive it just an instant after he does so they seemingly receive it simultaneously with the priest. To me this seems to be an attempt to undermine the priesthood by attempting to elevate the mere lay EMHC’s up to his vocation. Can someone tell me if there’s something against this in the rubrics. Please cite specific examples. If this is a violation who should I report it to as it appears to be something that comes from the bishop since it happens all over the diocese.
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The two priests who celebrate Mass at my parish (the Pastor and the missionary who lives at our rectory) do the same thing. The missionary pushes it one step further by not distributing to the EMHCs and altar servers but passing the ciborium around and having them take the Host from the ciborium.

Not only is this against all rubrics, but it causes confusion when someone else celebrates Mass and follows the rubrics. I’ve seen the Bishop give them Communion, after he’d received of course, and they just stood there holding on to the Host, waiting. They were confused and so was the Bishop who couldn’t figure out what they were waiting for.
 
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