Q: Can a Eucharistic minister withhold Communion from someone?

[Itari]

I’ve asked this question to various people. The policy in the majority if not all of the US Dioscese is to not refuse communion to anyone who comes for it. There do tend to be exceptions in the cases of politicians. IE Joe Biden. Being a staunch supporter for abortion and having actively worked towards its proliferation he should know better and should not approach for communion. However even though denial of the sacrament would be the ‘correct’ thing to do it would be difficult if not even scandalous to refuse him.

Now one option is for those that wish to make a public point, standing for what the church believes in and refusing to give communion to public sinners. This would cause the public option to stir once more against the catholic church. But i don’t think than an Eucharistic minister, nor even the pastor of the parish, should be the one to deny communion but the local bishop. And we have all heard the outcry that resulted in. The best would be to speak with the offending person and ask them to refrain from receiving. But it is difficult knowing throwing pearls to hogs.

Now to someone only the EMHC knows to be in a situation of mortal sin should not refuse, but have a priest speak to them. I would go so far to say that an Eucharistic minister cannot deny communion because to do so would grant them a higher authority than what is given with the role. The priest is given the discernment in that matter not the EMHC, because to deny communion is to pass judgment on the person.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I disagree. If you are the spouse of a man committing adultery, you know that the sin is committed with full consent and full knowledge.

This is not only impossible to know, you have no right judging such a thing.

 

[Corki]

This is not only impossible to know, you have no right judging such a thing.

How is it impossible to know? In my example, as the spouse, I would have been there when he took his vows at our marriage. So, full knowledge is there. The only question could be consent - is it even possible to be coerced into adultery? Knowing that someone has committed a mortal sin has nothing to do with judging. Or rather, recognizing sin when we see it is something we are supposed to do. The prohibition against judging is with regard to the condition of someone’s soul.

Let me give you an easier example (since people tend to dismiss sins against the 6th commandment).

I have a 17 year old son. If my son gets up on Sunday morning and tells me he doesn’t want to do to Mass and stays home, he has committed a mortal sin. There is no question. I have first hand knowledge of his religious education - there is no question he has full knowledge. And no one is making him stay home, in fact I would be driving him to Church, so there is no question about consent. Deliberately missing Mass on Sunday is a mortal sin. Objectively and definitively. He and I would both know that he has committed a mortal sin.

If he were to show up at Mass the following Sunday and I was an EMHC, I could not withhold Communion. But this would NOT be because I am not certain he had sinned, because I would have the certainty. But I could not be certain he hadn’t gone to Confession in between time and I would not have the authority to refuse Communion.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

How is it impossible to know? In my example, as the spouse, I would have been there when he took his vows at our marriage. So, full knowledge is there. The only question could be consent - is it even possible to be coerced into adultery?

With the amount of anullments that are granted you can not know that full knowledge is present. You also can not know that full consent is present. There are other things that can affect consent that do not have to be coercion.

I am sorry, but marriage does not create some magical bond that allows you to know the soul of your spouse.

As for your son. No you do not know with out a doubt that full knowledge is there. While you have provided the education you do not know what was learned. You also do not know of full consent.

There could be issues that you are unaware of going on in his mind, Psychological issues that are not shared with you.

You can never say with out a doubt that a mortal sin has been committed by another nor do you have any right or duty to do so.

As for this thread the answer is no, a EMHC may not withhold communion from any one with out an express command from the priest or bishop.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

How do you know this person didn’t go to confession right before Mass? Has God given you the ability and authority to judge souls?

This. I am an EMHC, trained to bring communion to the sick and homebound, as well as to help at Mass. We have no way of knowing the state of someone’s soul, unless they committed a mortal sin right there in front of us! And then I think there would be more going on than distributing communion!

One thing we are concerned about during Mass is ensuring that the person consumes the communion right then. On Easter Sunday, I had to begin breaking the hosts and one young girl, I think just because she was suprised to receive half a host, took off after her sister (who had consumed) to show it to her! I paused, and thankfully an usher was watching also and saw that she did consume it.

That concerns me more than what I might or might not know about someone’s sex life at the moment they approached to receive. I can assure you that who the person is and what I know about them is the last thing on my mind as I distribute Our Lord!

 

[Mrs_Sally]

Most of the EMsHC in my parish would have no idea what is meant by “Real Presence” if you asked them. Absolutely none. It’s very much a social thing including mingling in the sacristy before Mass.

That is very, very sad. This diocese and others I am familiar with require several hours of training which covers concepts like “real presence” as well as the practical part of where to stand etc, which is usually the shorter part.

Also, in this diocese, EMHCs cannot volunteer, but must be asked by the pastor. So the first “cut” is having the pastor know you and feel that you are a good candidate. Then there is a diocesean training, finally the practical training at the parish level.

EMHCs are scheduled, because the pastor knows that they will always be needed. It is better to have people scheduled and know they will be there, than to have to scramble at each Mass. Our training also includes the simple math of counting ciboria, counting ordinary ministers (priests, deacons) and then subtracting!

Our EMHCs don’t vest in albs, don’t process, and don’t mingle in the sacristy. We sit in the pews until the “Lamb of God” and approach only if 1) we are scheduled 2) math tells us we are required or 3) some unforseen circmstance means more EMHCs are needed than were scheduled. This can all be done discreetly without running up to the altar, pushing to grab a ciboria, or any other nonsense!

 

[Corki]

With the amount of anullments that are granted you can not know that full knowledge is present. You also can not know that full consent is present. There are other things that can affect consent that do not have to be coercion.

This is not relevant. An annullment might point to the fact that one or both spouses did not have the needed information at the time of their wedding but has nothing to do with the amount of knowledge they have regarding actions during the course of the marriage.

Please give me an example of how someone could commit adultery without full consent?

I am sorry, but marriage does not create some magical bond that allows you to know the soul of your spouse.

Of course not. That is why I have said, repeatedly, that you don’t know if the person may have confessed and actually be in a state of grace. But it IS possible to know that a person has committed a mortal sin.

As for your son. No you do not know with out a doubt that full knowledge is there. While you have provided the education you do not know what was learned.

Wrong. I do know what he learned. I either graded or reviewed all of his tests. I was there for his First Communion interview. I know for a fact that he knows that missing Mass, without a serious reason, is a mortal sin.

You also do not know of full consent.

Yes, in the hypothetical I gave, I DO know. He told me he didn’t want to go to Mass. He consented to missing Mass.

There could be issues that you are unaware of going on in his mind, Psychological issues that are not shared with you.

Having some psychological issue is not a release from consent. Does he have the ability to say “yes” or “no” to the sin? In this case, he did.

You can never say with out a doubt that a mortal sin has been committed by another

Yes, you can.

nor do you have any right or duty to do so.

I agree, you rarely have a right or duty to “say” anything. But you certainly have a duty to recognize mortal sin.

As for this thread the answer is no, a EMHC may not withhold communion from any one with out an express command from the priest or bishop

Exactly.

A) If you have personal knowledge of the communicant’s mortal sin, you still **cannot **deny Communion if he/she come to you for it.

B) If you know that the person is not a Catholic, you should not give him/her Communion.

C) If the priest or bishop has given instructions that the person is not to receive Communion, you** must **not give him/her Communion.

 

[EasterJoy]

A EMHC distributes Holy Communion under exactly the conditions the bishop says, with the understanding that when the EMHC goes through formation and learns the conditions and discerns that he or she cannot do that, then the EMHC must recuse himself or herself from the duty.

I don’t know any bishops that give EMsHC the permission to withhold Holy Communion from anyone, excepting of course that EMsHC are given the duty to prevent the faithful from liturgical abuses such as self-communicating. Although it is theoretically possible to bar notorious sinners from Holy Communion, having EMsHC enforce some sort of “Ten Most Sinning List” is not practically possible. It is would be a disaster. I can’t say some bishop has no authority to try some variation on that, but I don’t see it happening.

 

[Corki]

I don’t know any bishops that give EMsHC the permission to withhold Holy Communion from anyone, excepting of course that EMsHC are given the duty to prevent the faithful from liturgical abuses such as self-communicating. Although it is theoretically possible to bar notorious sinners from Holy Communion, having EMsHC enforce some sort of “Ten Most Sinning List” is not practically possible. It is would be a disaster. I can’t say some bishop has no authority to try some variation on that, but I don’t see it happening.

There are a few notorious cases in the US where the official word went out from the Bishop. One was the former govenor of Kansas and the other, off the top of my head was in either Lincoln or St. Louis and involved members of CTA and Catholics for Choice. (CfC actually went to the Rota to complain but it was upheld). But, yes, it is very rare.

 

[thistle]

An EMHC may not refuse Communion to anyone.

By the way, looking at the thread title the OP seems to think an EMHC is a Eucharistic Minister. This of course is wrong. The Eucharistic Minister is the priest. A lay person is not a Eucharistic minister.

 

[Corki]

An EMHC may not refuse Communion to anyone.

Unless they are following direct instruction to do so by their Bishop or priest.

(and **maybe **if they know the communicant is not Catholic)

 

[Kevin812]

I can not every imagine a case where the good Priest or Bishop would consult and/or advise the EMHC to deny communion to a specifically named person. This would be creating grounds for Public Scandal, and a Canonical and potential Civilly complaint.

Simply put, it is none of the EMHC business. Concerns must be raised in private with proper church authority. EMCH have no church standing other than passing out communion.

 

[Cristiano]

As an EMHC only once I was being instructed not to give communion to an individual but to direct the individual to the priest. Unless I get a direct and explicit instruction from my bishop or my pastor I do not have any authority to deny communion to anyone.

 

[Kevin812]

I suspect a priest can not and may not even tell the EMHC to deny an individual communion.

 

[Corki]

I can not every imagine a case where the good Priest or Bishop would consult and/or advise the EMHC to deny communion to a specifically named person.

It is really rare. Someone earlier in this thread gave the example of the Rainbow Sash protestors. The Bishop told everyone they were not to be given Communion.

Many years ago, I was an EMHC at a chapel where we had a number of homeless people drift in during Mass and sometimes come to Communion. One of these men had a serious mental illness. Father caught him taking the host out of his mouth one time and putting it in his pocket. After that, the EMHCs were instructed to not give him Communion but to direct him over to Father.

So, there are a few, rare cases where the direction is given not to give someone Communion.

This would be creating grounds for Public Scandal, and a Canonical and potential Civilly complaint.

OTOH, giving Communion to someone who is well known in the parish to be living in a way not consistent with Church teaching could be the sin of giving scandal which would be much worse. Since there is no “right” to Communion, there is no canonical complaint one could initiate, unless they were permanently barred for no reason. (See what happened with the Catholics for Choice appeal to the Rota)

I can’t for the life of me conceive of a civil issue here or any civil department with the authority to even take such a complaint, let alone act on it.

 

[Cristiano]

I suspect a priest can not and may not even tell the EMHC to deny an individual communion.

Yes he can and he may tell and EMHC to deny communion, he is the pastor and the ordinary minister. He can reserve for himself the authority to distribute communion to specific individuals. The problem arises when a Catholic is denied communion without accordance to the code of canon law.

 

[Kevin812]

“OTOH, giving Communion to someone who is well known in the parish to be living in a way not consistent with Church teaching could be the sin of giving scandal which would be much worse.”

Unless one is the local Ordinary or priest (who must consult with the Ordinary), it is none of one’s business. Otherwise, one is engaging in scandal.

 

[Oneofthewomen]

snipped to address specific point

OTOH, giving Communion to someone who is well known in the parish to be living in a way not consistent with Church teaching could be the sin of giving scandal which would be much worse.

IMHO, the whole idea of what you say here is scandalous to me.
Just because I have “seen” something, I still do not know the state of the persons soul.
I am really starting to wonder, do I need a little card from my confessor to present to any of you EM’sHC who feel that you have the right to deny me communion?

Unless told to do so by a priest or Bishop, which we all seem to agree only happens for very grave and rare reasons-
***NO EMHC IS ALLOWED TO REFUSE COMMUNION TO ANYONE.
PERIOD!
END OF DISCUSSION!!! ***

 

[Kevin812]

Yes he can and he may tell and EMHC to deny communion, he is the pastor and the ordinary minister. He can reserve for himself the authority to distribute communion to specific individuals. The problem arises when a Catholic is denied communion without accordance to the code of canon law.

I simply disagree.

Please provide evidence on the matter of a priest requiring an individual from only receiving from him, the priest.

 

[Cristiano]

I simply disagree.

Please provide evidence on the matter of a priest requiring an individual from only receiving from him, the priest.

As I previously said that happened to me, it was in regard to inappropriate handling of the Blessed Sacrament. Please see post #55 too.