The question here is poorly worded.
- Only priests can give communion?
The answer to that is no. Any ordained cleric has the right to give out communion. This includes the deacon, priest and bishop.
- Only priest can consecrate?
The answer is yes. To consecrate you must be a priest. This includes the bishop, since the bishop has the fulness of the priesthood as Jesus Christ did. Therefore, a presbyter and a bishop are the only ones who can consecrate, even though the presbyter, whom today we call the priest, does not have the fullness of the priesthood, can still consecrate bread and wine.
That begs the next question, what about lay men and women?
Lay men and women are not Eucharistic Ministers. They can be commissioned as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. This was often done in the early Church for those communities that did not have a deacon to bring them communion. The Eucharist was often kept at a designated house where the faithful would gather and a lay person would distribute Holy Communion to the faithful. But this was not the ordinary way of doing things. This was an exception to the rule. Thus, they are extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion.
Must one have consecrated hands to distribute communion?
No. Absolutely not. The deacon’s hands are not consecrated. However, he is an ordinary minister of the Eucharist, not an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, since a deacon is as much a cleric as a presbyter and a bishop. The annointing of the hands is for the purpose of consecrating, not for the purpose of celebrating the other sacraments or distributing the Eucharist. Therefore, those who say that they will not receive communion from an EMHC because his or her hands are not annointed are incorrect in their statement. The deacon’s hands are not annointed either. But in the New Testament, the deacons were the delegates, not of the presbyter, but of the Apostles or bishops. Today the theology of the diaconate remains the same. A deacon is the official delegate of the local bishop. When he distributes communion he does so in the name of the bishop, just as Steven and he early deacons did so in the name of the Apostles.
In these discussions we tend to forget the deacons, whose role in the liturgical life of the Church has always been an ordinary role, not extraordinary. They have been around since the first generation Christians.
The answer to the question “Only priests can give communion?” is, No. The difference between an EMHC and a deacon is that the deacon does not need permissioin to distribute Holy Communion. He does not need to be commissioned. Like the priest and the bishop, the deacon can distribute Holy Communioin at any time, to any Catholic who asks for it, without consulting. It is his right to do so, as an ordained cleric. The EMHC cannot give out Holy Communion without the permission of the local pastor or if in a religious house, without the permission of the priest presiding at the mass.
There is one more rule that has not been mentioned here. Since some priests are members of religious orders, they are obviously both priest and religious. As religious men, they cannot celebrate mass without the permission of their religious superior. In these cases the religious state prevails over the priesthood. The individual must first act as a religious, which means that he must have the permission of the superior of the house to celebrate mass. Obviously, when he celebrates mass, he also distributes communion. But the religious superior has the authority to deny any priest in his house to celebrate mass. In most communities of monks and friars only one ordained member celebrates mass for the community while all the members of the community attend the mass, this includes the non-clerical and the ordained priests in the house. In other words, the community mass is celebrated by the appointed priest and if there are other priests in the house, they must attend mass like any other brother. They cannot assume permimssion to celebrate mass.
That being said, in most religious communities where they have priests, the permission is granted to all the ordained to celebrate mass. But most is not the same as all. Some religious superiors do not give a blanket permission. They reserve the right to assign the daily mass to different priests and the others may not celebrate mass, if it’s not their turn to do so.
Most of the laws that we read on deacons, priests and bishops are written for diocesan clergy. The laws that govern religious clergy are not usually available to the general public, because they vary for the different forms of religious life: monastic, mendicant, and clerks regular and they do not apply to the celebration of the mass in public places such as parishes.
The priest who is also a religioius is not covered in the scriptures, because there were no such men before the final canon of scripture was written. This came later with the Desert Fathers and Mothers who wrote rules for their hermits, some of whom were deacons, priests and bishops. They wrote into their respective rules the conditions under which a priest could celebrate mass. But these rules remain in effect to this day. However, they are neither part of scripture or canon law. They are part of what is called common law of the institute.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
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