Movie: Cesar Chavez- Communion in hand

[CathConvert602]

Was watching Cesar Chavez, and in a scene during his '68 fast they showed a Priest handing out Communion in the hand. Would this have been in practice at that time? Or is this Hollywood “artistic liberty”?

 

[Estevao]

I think it’s possible but it would depend on how obedient the priest and the bishops were, and how far the practice had spread. Communion in the hand started in the 1960s in Holland and Germany, it was opposed by the Pope but it grew, and in 1969 this document was released by the congregation for divine worship after a survey of the world’s bishops, which paved the way for an indult for communion in the hand, but that didn’t come in the USA until 1977.

When therefore a small number of episcopal conferences and some individual bishops asked that the practice of placing the consecrated hosts in the people’s hands be permitted in their territories, the Holy Father decided that all the bishops of the Latin Church should be asked if they thought it opportune to introduce this rite. A change in a matter of such moment, based on a most ancient and venerable tradition, does not merely affect discipline. It carries certain dangers with it which may arise from the new manner of administering holy communion: the danger of a loss of reverence for the august sacrament of the altar, of profanation, of adulterating the true doctrine.

Three questions were asked of the bishops, and the replies received by 12 March 1969 were as follows:

1. Do you think that attention should be paid to the desire that, over and above the traditional manner, the rite of receiving holy communion on the hand should be admitted?

Yes: 597

No: 1,233

Yes, but with reservations: 315

Invalid votes: 20

1. Is it your wish that this new rite be first tried in small communities, with the consent of the bishop?

Yes: 751

No: 1,215

Invalid votes, 70

1. Do you think that the faithful will receive this new rite gladly, after a proper catechetical preparation?

Yes: 835

No: 1,185

Invalid votes: 128

From the returns it is clear that the vast majority of bishops believe that the present discipline should not be changed, and that if it were, the change would be offensive to the sentiments and the spiritual culture of these bishops and of many of the faithful.

Therefore, taking into account the remarks and the advice of those whom “the Holy Spirit has placed to rule over” the Churches,[11] in view of the gravity of the matter and the force of the arguments put forward, the Holy Father has decided not to change the existing way of administering holy communion to the faithful.

The Apostolic See therefore emphatically urges bishops, priests and laity to obey carefully the law which is still valid and which has again been confirmed. It urges them to take account of the judgment given by the majority of Catholic bishops, of the rite now in use in the liturgy, of the common good of the Church.

Where a contrary usage, that of placing holy communion on the hand, prevails, the Holy See—wishing to help them fulfill their task, often difficult as it is nowadays—lays on those conferences the task of weighing carefully whatever special circumstances may exist there, taking care to avoid any risk of lack of respect or of false opinions with regard to the Blessed Eucharist, and to avoid any other ill effects that may follow.

In such cases, episcopal conferences should examine matters carefully and should make whatever decisions, by a secret vote and with a two-thirds majority, are needed to regulate matters. Their decisions should be sent to Rome to receive the necessary confirmation,[12] accompanied with a detailed account of the reasons which led them to take those decisions. The Holy See will examine each case carefully, taking into account the links between the different local churches and between each of them and the Universal Church, in order to promote the common good and the edification of all, and that mutual good example may increase faith and piety.

ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDWMEMOR.HTM

 

[Maxirad]

In the 1976 Dirty Harry movie The Enforcer, people are seen receiving Holy Communion on the tongue.

 

[pensmama87]

Was watching Cesar Chavez, and in a scene during his '68 fast they showed a Priest handing out Communion in the hand. Would this have been in practice at that time? Or is this Hollywood “artistic liberty”?

I find that Hollywood gets a lot of Catholic stuff wrong. Some material gets meticulously researched, but then it seems like stuff about the Church is a “Hey Jake, didn’t you go to Catholic school til eighth grade? Tell us about [x].” Then they go with that.

I don’t think Hollywood is Church-friendly, but this honestly doesn’t seem like something they would depict in a certain way to prove a point. I doubt anyone mainstream in Hollywood even knows that how one receives communion can be controversial in Catholic circles.

Isn’t there a saying about not attributing to malice what can be explained by ignorance?