EMHCs: what do you do when people approach you in the communion line for blessings?

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What complicates things is that in some areas, Bishops and Clergy allow and promote the practice and that, I’d wager, less than 1% of EMHCs have even heard of any of these authoritative documents.
 
Newbie2 said:
What complicates things is that in some areas, Bishops and Clergy allow and promote the practice and that, I’d wager, less than 1% of EMHCs have even heard of any of these authoritative documents.
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Unfortunately, an individual bishop does not have the authority to insert anything into the Mass. As I stated in a previous post, the only ones who petition are the national epixcopal conferences. If the Holy See grants them the recogitio, then, it can happen. But, in and of themselves, they can do nothing with recogitio from the Holy See.
 
Newbie2 said:
What complicates things is that in some areas, Bishops and Clergy allow and promote the practice and that, I’d wager, less than 1% of EMHCs have even heard of any of these authoritative documents.
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Bingo!
 
benedictgal said:
Unfortunately, an individual bishop does not have the authority to insert anything into the Mass. As I stated in a previous post, the only ones who petition are the national epixcopal conferences. If the Holy See grants them the recogitio, then, it can happen. But, in and of themselves, they can do nothing with recogitio from the Holy See.
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Yet they do. 🤷
 
Why do I say that bishops and their priests allow their EMHC’s to give “blessings” or “simulated blessings”? That’s what I’m saying. They (some, not all) do this despite what the documents say.
 
FrDavid96 said:
Here’s what I do. Quietly ask the person “are you receiving?” if the answer is yes, give Communion. If the answer is no, I find some very polite and kind way of asking the person to move along depending on the circumstances. If the person asks for a blessing, I say “that’s not part of the Mass.”
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Can you imagine being a non-Catholic attending a funeral or wedding and after being instructed by the priest on who is invited to receive Communion and told that those not receiving Communion may come up for a blessing, so the non-Catholic approaches the EMHC and is told very politely and kindly “please move along”.
 
Newbie2 said:
Why do I say that bishops and their priests allow their EMHC’s to give “blessings” or “simulated blessings”? That’s what I’m saying. They (some, not all) do this despite what the documents say.
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Whether or not they do it does not mean that they have the authority to do it. Many people drive 20 MPH over the speed limit. That doesn’t make it right or legitimate. It just means that they don’t get caught.
 
zab said:
Can you imagine being a non-Catholic attending a funeral or wedding and after being instructed by the priest on who is invited to receive Communion and told that those not receiving Communion may come up for a blessing, so the non-Catholic approaches the EMHC and is told very politely and kindly “please move along”.
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The problem is that the priest should not be inviting anyone in the first place. This is a communion line, not a blessing line.
 
zab said:
The question is -the problem is before you now. What do you do.
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I think this is the third time I’ve answered it: I simply and politely tell them that we are not allowed to do this in as polite and as charitable a manner as I can do. It’s called being honest and being faithful to what the liturgy requires.
 
FrDavid96 said:
Whether or not they do it does not mean that they have the authority to do it. Many people drive 20 MPH over the speed limit. That doesn’t make it right or legitimate. It just means that they don’t get caught.
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Obviously.

BTW, I’m not crazy about the practice myself, but it’s in our parish, the Priest and Bishop are OK with it, and it looks like it ain’t gonna change. 🤷

Did I answer your question from post #85?
 
benedictgal said:
I think this is the third time I’ve answered it: I simply and politely tell them that we are not allowed to do this in as polite and as charitable a manner as I can do. It’s called being honest and being faithful to what the liturgy requires.
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Yeah, we can go round and round in circles. You are saying that I should very politely and kindly tell the person that the priest should not have invited them forward because we do not have the authority to bless them.
 
zab said:
Yeah, we can go round and round in circles. You are saying that I should very politely and kindly tell the person that the priest should not have invited them forward because we do not have the authority to bless them.
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That is true. We cannot give what we don’t have. We don’t have the faculty to bless. We have the authorization to only distribute Holy Communion in the case of a genuine need. But, that is it. Please refer to the 1997 docment from the Congregation for Clergy called On Certain Questions Concerning the Collaboratino of the Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of the Priest. It spells out what we can and cannot do. The document is still in force and was the precursor to Redemptionis Sacramentum.
 
I guess there is no neat and easy solution to my original question.

It would be so much less messy if priests and bishops just did their jobs, or at least didn’t encourage illicit novelties.
 
I used to be an EMHC, but am not anymore, partly because I disagree with the massive amount of EMHC’s used.

I would say “I don’t have the authority to bless in the name of the Church, but Father can. I can say a prayer. Talk to Father after Mass.”

Really, those in the line for Communion should be receiving Holy Communion. Blessings should take place outside of Mass.
 
Lepanto said:
I guess there is no neat and easy solution to my original question.
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I would surmise that there are a number of us who employ a “stop gap” non-blessing that doesn’t rock the boat in the parish, but isn’t right either, but few really want to speak about it here and get raked over the coals.
It would be so much less messy if priests and bishops just did their jobs, or at least didn’t encourage illicit novelties.
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Bingo. 👍
 
Because the answer to much of this discussion can be found in another thread, I decided to repeat it here.
Cardinal Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, has said that they examined this when they wrote the Document on the Eucharist, Redemtionis Sacramentum, and they decided *“to say nothing about it in order to allow freedom to the diocese, therefore the bishop has the right to say, please don’t do it this way or do it the other way. " It is not a point worth fighting over, therefore, follow the directive of the bishop.” *
So the question of whether or not people should be invited up for “a blessing” has been answered by the proper authority. However, proper instruction of EMHC remains necessary in those dioceses’ where the bishop has allowed this practice.
 
zab said:
Because the answer to much of this discussion can be found in another thread, I decided to repeat it here.
Cardinal Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, has said that they examined this when they wrote the Document on the Eucharist, Redemtionis Sacramentum, and they decided *“to say nothing about it in order to allow freedom to the diocese, therefore the bishop has the right to say, please don’t do it this way or do it the other way. " It is not a point worth fighting over, therefore, follow the directive of the bishop.” *
So the question of whether or not people should be invited up for “a blessing” has been answered by the proper authority. However, proper instruction of EMHC remains necessary in those dioceses’ where the bishop has allowed this practice.
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Zab, I respectfuilly disagree with your interpretation of what Cardinal Arinze said. This would only be applicable for the celebrant and where children are involved. However, the fact remains that an EMHC is not commissioned to bless anyone during the Mass. Please refer to the document that the Congregation for Clergy issued in 1997:
§ 2. To promote the proper identity (of various roles) in this area, those abuses which are contrary to the provisions of canon 907 are to be eradicated. In eucharistic celebrations deacons and non-ordained members of the faithful may not pronounce prayers — e.g. especially the eucharistic prayer, with its concluding doxology — or any other parts of the liturgy reserved to the celebrant priest. Neither may deacons or non-ordained members of the faithful use gestures or actions which are proper to the same priest celebrant. It is a grave abuse for any member of the non-ordained faithful to “quasi preside” at the Mass while leaving only that minimal participation to the priest which is necessary to secure validity.
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I have mentioned in this thread and others that I had a conversation with a cleric from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. During the course of the conversation, I asked the cleric about EMHCs “imparting” a blessing in lieu of distributing Holy Communion. He said that this was wrong because all we are commissioned to do is distribute Holy Communion, not anything else.

Furthermore, this “blessing” were it to occur, should only be imparted by the celebrant or another priest/bishop assisting at Mass as during the Holy Sacrifice only they impart blessings.

The cleric asked me to reduce the question to writing. The letter has already been sent and it has reached the Congregation. An answer should be forthcoming in the next few months.
 
benedictgal said:
Zab, I respectfuilly disagree with your interpretation of what Cardinal Arinze said. This would only be applicable for the celebrant and where children are involved. However, the fact remains that an EMHC is not commissioned to bless anyone during the Mass. Please refer to the document that the Congregation for Clergy issued in 1997:

I have mentioned in this thread and others that I had a conversation with a cleric from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. During the course of the conversation, I asked the cleric about EMHCs “imparting” a blessing in lieu of distributing Holy Communion. He said that this was wrong because all we are commissioned to do is distribute Holy Communion, not anything else.

Furthermore, this “blessing” were it to occur, should only be imparted by the celebrant or another priest/bishop assisting at Mass as during the Holy Sacrifice only they impart blessings.

The cleric asked me to reduce the question to writing. The letter has already been sent and it has reached the Congregation. An answer should be forthcoming in the next few months.
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Cardinal Arinze did not say that it would only be applicable in a Mass where children are involved. He even mentioned times when a non-catholic would come forward. Was the cleric that you spoke to on the phone involved in the discussion with Cardinal Arinze and other prelates when examining this matter? And I never said that EMHC can give a blessing.
 
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