First communion for a non catholic

[faye_13]

can a child that is not baptized in the catholic church make his first communion in the catholic church, and are there any exceptions to the rule if the answer is no?

 

[YinYangMom]

can a child that is not baptized in the catholic church make his first communion in the catholic church, and are there any exceptions to the rule if the answer is no?

a. is the child baptized in a church in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?

b. when you say ‘make his first communion’ do you mean be allowed to register for the classes of instruction which lead to his receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist or do you mean his going into a Catholic church and for the first time go up to the priest to receive the host without having any prior instruction?

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Hello.

In order to receive communion in the Catholic Church, a person must be a baptised Catholic (Latin or Eastern) in a church which is in FULL communion with Rome; or a baptized Christian according to a church which uses the trinitarian Formula (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) with either immersion, pouring, or sprinkling of water, who BEFORE receiving communion undergoes instruction in the Catholic faith and is received into the Catholic community (this usually takes several months, most often from September to Easter of the following year). And on top of this, that person must be in a STATE OF GRACE. What is that? It means the person must not have committed a mortal sin. If the person has committed a mortal sin but has confessed to a priest and been forgiven, the person may receive communion. Otherwise–no communion until the sin is confessed AND forgiven by the priest.

IOW, if a child is a baptized Christian but NOT a Catholic or NOT received into the Catholic church, that child MAY NOT RECEIVE COMMUNION in the Catholic Church.

The reason? Because to Catholics the Eucharist is not just a “symbol” of Jesus. It is not even “consubstantial” as many Lutherans believe, sort of “both Jesus and bread”. It is the very body and blood, Soul and Divinity, of Jesus Christ. It is not a “right” for ANYBODY to receive, nor is it a gift that requires NOTHING from ourselves. St. Paul tells us that we must take the Body and Blood WORTHILY, and warns us of the consequences of failing to do so.

Of course I realize that there is probably nothing physical to stop a person from letting his or her non-Catholic child walk up in the communion line and “take the bread”–look, little Buffy and little Desmond just received first communion, how cute! And if that is what “having first communion” means to those parents, they are going to be the ones answering for the sacrilege they encourage their children to commit, the mortal sin of receiving unworthily.

I hope this does not sound like a big “we get the real stuff and you others don’t, neiner-neiner” because it is NOT. We would LOVE to have EVERYBODY on earth be ABLE to receive this gift, but that would involve everybody becoming Catholic Christians who both truly believe in the Eucharist AND who approach the sacrament free of serious sin and with full knowledge of their actions.

I would certainly pray that more people become aware of the gift of the Eucharist AND that they will do the right thing. . .learn about the Catholic faith, and hopefully become strong, committed Catholic Christians, so that one day we will all be in communion together.

 

[SMHW]

can a child that is not baptized in the catholic church make his first communion in the catholic church, and are there any exceptions to the rule if the answer is no?

My first reaction is to say, NO!

But perhaps I am misunderstanding you. You would need to give some additional information.

Was this child baptized in some other Christian church? Are this child’s parents Catholic? Do the parents intend for the child to be raised Catholic? Has this child been raised in a Catholic environment? Are the parents converting? Is some relative other than the parents wanting the child to make First Communion in the Catholic Church?

Generally any child old enough to make his/her first Communion is considered to have reached the age of reason. In that case they would need to be received into the church as a catechumen or candidate if they are not already Catholic. Such a child would normally make his/her First Communion at the Easter Vigil.

I am not positive about this but if the parents become Catholic before their child reaches the age of reason, that child would be considered to be Catholic even if baptized in some other Christian church. But there would no doubt need to be some proof of that child’s baptism. I’m sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Superstar905]

I think you should “ask an apologist”.