My CCC - the version revised from the Editio Typica in the early 90s - refers to “Eucharistic Ministers”. It was my understanding that there was no such thing and that the proper term is “extraordinary minister”. Which is it?
God Bless.
Extra Ordinary Eucharistic Ministers should not be the norms and if they are used habitually its a disobedience to the Roman Catholic Church.
ewtn.com/library/Liturgy/EXTRMIN.HTM
On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful (1997)
If I may be pardoned for saying so, the Holy See is very Roman in its way of moving: things happen at a slow pace, with many siestas, in spite of the appearance of general hustle and bustle. One might consider how painfully slow was the official response to Martin Luther back in the 16th century; the time it took to form up a solid counterattack unfortunately gave heresy all the time it needed to spread. But even a lazy dog who likes to take life slowly will, if often enough provoked, snap to its feet and give a good hard bite. A bite of this sort in regard to the question of lay ministers was given in 1997, this time by the Congregation for the Clergy, in what is surely the most important document on the subject to date. Everyone who is involved in any way with liturgical planning or ministries should get a copy of this document and read it carefully.5 Promulgated, like the other documents, by the authority of the Holy Father, it deserves not only a respectful reading but a total adherence of mind and will.
The Introduction states the general subject of the instruction and insists on the grave duty of pastors, above all bishops, to implement the discipline legislated by the Church.6 “Though being born in very difficult and emergency situations and even initiated by those who sought to be genuinely helpful in the pastoral moment, certain practices have often been developed which have had very serious negative consequences and have caused the correct understanding of true ecclesial communion to be damaged.” Later, after it has summarized the “absolutely irreplaceable” state and functions of the ordained priesthood, the instruction urges “a continuing, zealous and well-organized pastoral promotion of vocations so as to provide the Church with those ministers which she needs and to ensure a proper seminary training for those preparing for the Sacrament of Holy Orders,” noting that “any other solution to problems deriving from a shortage of sacred ministers can only lead to precarious consequences.” We are reminded that “all the faithful have a responsibility to foster a positive response to priestly vocation;” this is “especially true for those nations where a strong sense of materialism is evident.”
Having said that pastors ought to be familiar with the principles behind the Church’s discipline, Section 4 of Part I then makes a forceful general statement: “Therefore a consistent, faithful, and serious application of the current canonical dispositions throughout the entire Church, at the same time avoiding the abuse of multiplying ‘exceptional’ cases over and above those so designated and regulated by normative discipline, is extremely necessary.” The document continues:
Where the existence of abuses or improper practices has been proved, pastors will promptly employ those means judged necessary to prevent their dissemination and to ensure that the correct understanding of the Church’s nature is not impaired. In particular, they will apply the established disciplinary norms to promote knowledge of and assiduous respect for that distinction and complementarity of functions which are vital for ecclesial communion. Where abusive practices have become widespread, it is absolutely necessary for those who exercise authority to intervene responsibly so as to promote communion which can only be done by adherence to the truth. Communion, truth, justice, peace and charity are all interdependent terms.8
In Part II, “Practical Provisions,” the, instruction reviews a number of particular matters, e.g., the legitimate roles of the laity in the reading of Scripture and of public prayers, parameters for Sunday celebration in the absence of a priest, and the apostolate to the sick9 Article 8, which addresses “The Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion,” deserves to be quoted in full, with certain key statements emphasized.
The non-ordained faithful already collaborate with the sacred ministers in diverse pastoral situations, since “This wonderful gift of the Eucharist, which is the greatest gift of all, demands that such an important mystery should be increasingly better known and its saving power more fully shared.” Such liturgical service is a response to the objective needs of the faithful, especially those of the sick, and to those liturgical assemblies in which there are particularly large numbers of the faithful who wish to receive Holy Communion.
§1. The canonical discipline concerning extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion must be correctly applied so as to avoid generating confusion. The same discipline establishes that the ordinary minister of Holy Communion is the Bishop, the Priest and the Deacon. Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are those instituted as acolytes and the faithful so deputed in accordance with Canon 230, §3.10 A non-ordained member of the faithful, in cases of true necessity, may be deputed by the diocesan bishop, using the appropriate form of blessing for these situation, to act as an extraordinary minister to distribute Holy Communion outside of liturgical celebrations ad actum vel ad tempus or for a more stable period.11 In exceptional cases or in unforeseen circumstances, the priest presiding at the liturgy may authorize such ad actum.
§2. Extraordinary ministers may distribute Holy Communion at eucharistic celebrations only when there are no ordained ministers present or when those ordained ministers present at a liturgical celebration are truly unable to distribute Holy Communion. They may also exercise this function at eucharistic celebrations where there are particularly large numbers of the faithful and which would be excessively prolonged because of an insufficient number of ordained ministers to distribute Holy Communion. This function is supplementary and extraordinary and must be exercised in accordance with the norm of law. It is thus useful for the diocesan bishop to issue particular norms concerning extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion which, in complete harmony with the universal law of the Church, should regulate the exercise of this function in his diocese. Such norms should provide, amongst other things, for matters such as the instruction in eucharistic doctrine of those chosen to be extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, the meaning of the service they provide, the rubrics to be observed, the reverence to be shown for such an august Sacrament and instruction concerning the discipline on admission to Holy Communion.
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; **
association with the renewal of promises made by priests at the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, as well as other categories of faithful who renew religious vows or receive a mandate as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion;
the habitual use of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion at Mass, thus arbitrarily extending the concept of “a great number of the faithful.”
This carefully worded article systematically closes off all possible avenues for misinterpreting or misapplying the Church’s discipline on lay ministers of the Eucharist. Noteworthy is the insistence that such lay ministers are, and must always remain, extraordinary.
They are to be called upon “in cases of true necessity,” “only when there are no ordained ministers present” or when those who are present are “truly unable” to give out communion. If the entire pool of available ordained ministers at a parish, chaplaincy, monastery, or other location of Mass is insufficient for distributing communion to “particularly large numbers of the faithful,” then and only then is it possible that extraordinary ministers may have a legitimate role to play. Bishops are exhorted to issue particular norms “in complete harmony with the universal law of the Church”: a bishop is simply not allowed, although he may disobediently choose, to issue norms at variance with the universal discipline of the Church. All pastors of souls are urged to take decisive steps to prevent and correct any and every abuse against this discipline. Among the “certain practices” which “are to be avoided and eliminated where such have emerged,” forceful mention is made of "the habitual use of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion at Mass, thus arbitrarily extending the concept of “a great number of the faithful.’”
