Has this diocese changed the age of first communion?

[costanzo]

I am visiting my daughter in Denver. She tells me that soon children will be receiving baptism, confirmation and first communion at the same time.This is according to a homily she heard at her local parish.

I told that this cannot be since the child has to have reached the age of reason before receiving first communion.

Can you verify whether or not the above requirement for receiving Holy Communion is still in force?

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

The norm for the Western/Latin Church is that children do not receive first communion until they have reached the age of reason (canon 913 §1).

Perhaps your sister misunderstood what the priest was saying. The archdiocese of Denver has decided that children who receive first communion will also receive the sacrament of confirmation at the same time. A pastoral letter from the archdiocese states that by 2020 all Catholic children in the third grade in the archdiocese will receive confirmation and then their first Eucharist at the same Mass. The letter says that “this will make available every sacramental grace the Church has to offer to children who have reached the age of reason.”