I My son is autistic and is now 17. He recieves Communion every time he goes to Mass on Sunday’s. He made his First Communion at age 9. He is non-verbal and is about 6 to 8 years old developmentally. Although he could not make a proper Confession, some prayers were said over him. He also recieved his Confirmation at age 14. I have never been told by anyone that he is not allowed to particpate in his Catholic Faith. My Pastor is very supportive of us. We teach him his CCD lessons at home at his level.
If they do not have the proper mental capacity then it’s a clean cut deal. It is not a punishment, or an injustice to withhold communion from those who do not have the capacity to comprehend the mystery. To do otherwise is an injustice. I have no knowledge of the particular circumstances, that is between the parents and the priest, but one should endeavor to ensure that one is not receiving Our Lord without knowledge of what is going on.
Well then, I guess they really shouldn’t have given Terri Schiavo communion as she really didn’t have the capacity to understand what she was receiving. I can see where “sufficient knowledge” might have a different interpretation when dealing with someone who is suffering from a disease.
Wouldn’t this be an entirely different situation? A child who has never and could never have the cognitive ability, vs someone who did have the cognitive ability and was given the sacrements at that time. Thus, Terri did have the ability to know right from wrong and thus the predisposition to sin (as all of us do, unfortunately) vs an eternal 3 year old who will never have the cognitive ability to distinguish right from wrong.
This is something I have touble reconciling.
As I posted earilier my very handicap Autistic, Mute, and developmentally delayed 17 year old son recieves every week. He is as pure and innocent as we all try to be. He knows he is going to Church because every Saturday night before bedtime prayers (I say them, he kneels at his bed) he signs “Church” For someone to say he or any of his peers are uncapable of understanding simply do not take the time to understand these sweet children themselves. They can be taught to Love God and understand in the simplest terms. 
It just takes time. When Jesus said “Let the little children come to me.” he never said leave the handicap ones home.BTW, he seems to have more understanding and devotion then most teenagers his age. God Bless my sweet boy and all the children of the world.
like it or not, canon law for the Latin Rite states that to receive holy communion the individual must have reached the age of reason, and be properly prepared and disposed, and the test of readiness is not thorough grasp of all Catholic doctrine, but the ability to distinguish between ordinary bread and wine and the Eucharistic species, belief and understanding, according to one’s capacity, that the Eucharist is indeed the real, sacramentally present Body and Blood of Jesus, and express a desire to receive the sacrament, and not under any canonical bar to the sacraments.
kaymart said:
annie,
Yes I understand why the changes occured but I think it is time the Church starts to explore restoring them, which is starting to happen.
Trelow,
In general yes, but I would hope that your priest would have a much greater knowledge of the limitations of your child. I would hope that in the least he would recommend that you spend a few months trying to help him to understand what is going on, then re-approach.
very true, but we are discussing a case in a family that belongs to the latin rite, so I don’t think further discussion in this vein will be helpful to this parent