Quick question on Holy Communion

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CatholicSamurai

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Can a child, baptized Roman Catholic, who has not yet received Holy communion (because he/she’s not old enough) receive Communion during Divine Liturgy at an Eastern Catholic Church? A simple yes or no would suffice but a little explanation is welcome. Thank you.
 
No. The reason for the negative answer is simple: as a Latin Rite Catholic the child would be bound to follow Latin law.

Deacon Ed
 
CatholicSamurai said:
Can a child, baptized Roman Catholic, who has not yet received Holy communion (because he/she’s not old enough) receive Communion during Divine Liturgy at an Eastern Catholic Church? A simple yes or no would suffice but a little explanation is welcome. Thank you.
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Mygut reaction is to say no, for the following reasons;
  • The child is not an Eastern Catholic. The child should be obedient to the Rite/Bishop of which she or he is a member and observe the directives for the Rite they belong to.
  • Eastern Rite children who receive the Blessed Eucharist have, according to the Traditions of the Rite they belong to, already received the Sacraments of initiation, Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy Eucharist… They did so as infants The Roman Rite child has not yet recieved these Sacraments and therefore is probably not properly prepared to receive.
    Again, my opinion is just that. I do not have full understanding, nor do I speak with authority here. I would suggest you ask your parish priest or, even better, your bishop.
It is good to see children so anxious to taste the flesh of the Son of Man, is it not!
 
No. My children receive Holy Communion at our Eastern Catholic church, but they were chrismated in the Orthodox church–just as they would have been in the Eastern Catholic church. At least that is how our priest explained it. Eastern Christians typically receive baptism, confirmation/chrismation and communion all at the same time, as infants or new converts.

This is not so in the Latin Rite. If you are attending an Eastern Catholic church, be advised that unless you indicate otherwise to the priest, he will offer the Eucharistic spoon to your child-- that at least is what our priest does. So you will want to speak to him, if you can, before the Liturgy, or somehow indicate your child has not been confirmed or is Latin Rite.
 
I figured ‘no’ was the answer. Thanks for confirming my thoughts. I appreciate it very much.
 
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