Question about communion in Eastern Catholic Churches

[Peter_J]

I didn’t want to derail the Eastern toddlers receiving communion in Latin Church thread, but I have a related question going in the other direction: Do Eastern Catholic Churches invite un-confirmed (un-chrismated) children to communion, if they have already had First Communion in the Latin Catholic Church?

In your answer, please indicate whether your speaking of all Eastern Catholic Churches or only some of them.

 

[Creo]

I’m fairly sure the Greek Orthodox church requires confirmation.

 

[Shiranui117]

I’m fairly sure the Greek Orthodox church requires confirmation.

Yes, but this is about Eastern Catholics, and not Eastern Orthodox.

Anyway, to the OP’s question, I’m not entirely sure. I think the Eastern Catholic priest in question would simply tell the parents of the Latin child to do what’s canonically appropriate. If there’s nothing barring the kid from taking Communion, I don’t think it would be a problem.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

It is probably a non-problem. Most Western parents would never think to ask, and the Eastern priest and congregation would never notice. It differs from the other case in that a small child receiving in the West would be noticible.

 

[Peter_J]

It differs from the other case in that a small child receiving in the West would be noticible.

True.

My impression is that, at least for most EC parishes in the US, this is a matter of voluntary latinization. That is to say, the Vatican does not required them to commune pre-confirmation Latin Catholics who have made their First Communion (boy that’s a mouthful), but mostly they would anyhow because they don’t want to harm relations with Latin Catholics.

 

[CDB1718]

The overriding principle here is that we’re in communion with each other and our own churches have responsibility for us. The Roman Catholic Church gets to tell a Roman Catholic child when that child may receive. Once a person’s church tells him he may receive, he has the right to receive in any of the Catholic Churches which share communion.

That’s why a chrismated Eastern Catholic infant has a right to receive in a Roman Catholic church and why a Roman Catholic child who received First Communion but isn’t confirmed has a right to receive in an Eastern Catholic church.

Priests have discretion in who they admit to the Eucharist in their churches because it is their job to protect the Eucharist from profanation. Denying the Eucharist is a serious step which should always be done when there is reason and should never be done frivolously or for convenience. That’s not the way we do things and my congregation doesn’t know any better are not reasons the Eucharist should be denied, east or west.

 

[Peter_J]

The Roman Catholic Church gets to tell a Roman Catholic child when that child may receive.

So does that mean the Pope decides?

 

[andrewstx]

I thought that EC and EO children were all chrismated the same time as thier baptism?

 

[Peter_J]

I thought that EC and EO children were all chrismated the same time as thier baptism?

*Generally *EC children are chrismated the same time as their baptism, but there have been cases of EC Churches adopting the Latin practice. (I think that’s more relevant to the other thread than to this one.)

 

[CDB1718]

So does that mean the Pope decides?

The pope decides what? I don’t follow your thinking.

I think the current norms for the Roman Catholics are that the bishop may choose a standard age of First Communion and of Confirmation between the ages of 7 and 16 for his diocese. Infants and children younger than that should receive Confirmation if in danger of death. I don’t know if priests have authority to make that call and if they do if it is inherent or if it is delegated.

So my answer would be that the Roman Catholic bishop decides when a Roman Catholic person receives and he does so in accordance with the Roman Catholic canons and norms. To be clear, I am saying Roman Catholic to mean those of the sui iuris ritual church.

 

[Peter_J]

I didn’t want to derail the Eastern toddlers receiving communion in Latin Church thread, but I have a related question going in the other direction: Do Eastern Catholic Churches invite un-confirmed (un-chrismated) children to communion, if they have already had First Communion in the Latin Catholic Church?

After pondering this question, I’m inclined to say that the answer is obvious: I seriously doubt that Easter Catholic priests deny – or would even want to deny – communion in such a case. (Although I strongly disagree with those who think that the Pope or the Latin Catholic Church *insist *that they commune those persons.)

As Joe Kelly pointed out, Latin Catholic priests denying communion to younger EC children (who have been confirmed) is a different situation – and we’ve already seen, on the other thread, that that does happen.

 

[CDB1718]

(Although I strongly disagree with those who think that the Pope or the Latin Catholic Church *insist *that they commune those persons.)

I’m still not following you. It is the nature of being* in communion *with each other that we commune each other. That’s not the pope telling the Eastern Catholics that they must commune unconfirmed Roman Catholics who received their first communion. It is the nature of our mutual relationship with each other that we welcome Roman Catholics to our table. We respect their ability to self-govern, which means they get to set their own rules for their own faithful.

 

[Peter_J]

That’s not the pope telling the Eastern Catholics that they must commune unconfirmed Roman Catholics who received their first communion.

It seems to me that no one in the Latin Catholic Church tells them that they must commune unconfirmed Roman Catholics who received their first communion. I believe they do it because they don’t have a problem with it.

 

[Peter_J]

Good question. This is basically part 3 of a 3 part conversation. First we had a thread Eastern toddlers receiving communion in Latin Church about whether EC children under 7 would be allowed to commune in an LC parish, then Question about communion in Eastern Catholic Churches about whether an EC priest is obliged to give communion to LC children who haven’t yet been confirmed. (The latter thread is mostly theoretical: in practice, an EC priest will surely not object to giving communion to an LC child who has not yet been confirmed, even though the traditional order is Baptism-Confirmation-Eucharist for both the East and the West.)