Receiving the Sacraments outside one's parish

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I’ve recently seen a claim that if you wish to receive a Sacrament somewhere other than one’s own parish, you need permission of both Pastors. I know this may apply to Matrimony, but does it also apply to Confession and Communion?
 
No. You can attend Mass at any Catholic church you wish, either Eastern or Latin. And you can go to confession where you want, either at your parish or elsewhere.
 
It would likely apply to a First Confession or a First Communion. The parishes generally want their parishioners to complete the preparation under the guidance of their own pastor, unless some special arrangement is made otherwise.

Once you have received the preparation and made your First Confession or First Communion, then you can make subsequent confessions or receive Holy Communion anywhere you happen to be, from any Catholic priest.

The one-time sacraments of Confirmation and Matrimony would also need to be received in your home parish unless you get permission to go elsewhere.

Anointing of the Sick can be received in any parish (or in a hospital, etc.) as long as you meet the criteria.
 
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Only applies to the Sacraments that are done once:

Marriage
Baptism
Confirmation
Holy Orders

At least in the US, pastors will ask permission from the official pastor before including a child in a First Communion Ceremony, it is not required but is courteous.
 
If you are confessing with a priest that doesn’t know you he may tacitly try to understand if your state of life allows for receiving the sacrament. Or he may just ask directly if you are divorced or in cohabitation.

Also, the claim from the OP could be historical. At least in the 15th century you’d receive communion only once a year and there was a doorman at the parish church’s door that knew everyone to make sure no one would would enter for communion that wasn’t in a state that allowed for receiving it. (I am not entirely sure but I think at some point in time the doorman was a minor order.) Those in a state that allowed for receiving communion also required them to have given due contribution to church expenses and books were kept with their names organized by parish. Those books are today considered extremely precious historical documents because they kept record of every church going inhabitant that lived in that parish at the given time.
 
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Would you point me to some documentation so I can read about this? Not having any luck with my own google terms
 
TheLittleLady said:
Would you point me to some documentation so I can read about this? Not having any luck with my own google terms
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I’m going to bed for the night but I’ll try to find one article about this tomorrow. [Wikipedia isn’t very helpful regarding the old minor orders these days. The other article will be in Portuguese but you’ll be able to translate it.]
 
Os nomes das ruas e dos habitantes da Mouraria, bairro lisboeta, entre 1610 e 1910 constam de documentos recentemente descobertos numa despensa daquela paróquia e podem servir de censos e mapa para uma Lisboa anterior ao terramoto de 1755.
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The names of the streets and inhabitants of Mouraria, a Lisabon neighborhood, between 1610 and 1910 are among the documents recently discovered in a small storage of that parish and can serve as census and map of Lisabon before the 1755 earthquake.
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À frente de cada nome estão traços verticais feitos por sacerdotes, ao longo dos anos, para identificar quem se confessou e comungou por altura da Páscoa, como obrigavam os ditames do Concílio de Trento (século XVI).
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In front of every name are vertical dashes made by the priests, over the years, identifying those who confessed and received communion at Easter, as was obligatory by the prescriptions of the council of Trent (15th century).
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Mark1970 said:
I’ve recently seen a claim that if you wish to receive a Sacrament somewhere other than one’s own parish, you need permission of both Pastors. I know this may apply to Matrimony, but does it also apply to Confession and Communion?
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It does not apply to communion and confession.

It only applies to Baptism, First Confession, First Holy Communion, Confirmation, and Holy Matrimony.

God Bless
 
adgloriam said:
If you are confessing with a priest that doesn’t know you he may tacitly try to understand if your state of life allows for receiving the sacrament
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That’s not been my experience in USA. I’ve confessed to probably 50 different priests since 2016. I rarely go to the same one twice, and only 2 of them know me. I will concede that in some confessions I have stated that I’m married when I was, and widowed more recently, but even when I didn’t mention a spouse I never got asked about my state in life.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I never got asked about my state in life.
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That is most probably because, in your case Bear, the moment you start speaking it becomes abundantly clear to the priest that you know what you are doing and he can rest at ease in good conscience, starting with: “(…) It’s been a few weeks since my last confession.”
 
While I will not have the time to sit down and give sufficient time to the entire document until the weekend, it seems that this was found to be the practice at one place. Every parish keeps record books and Sacramental registers today.

Yesterday the documents of Trent are exactly where I was searching for such a requirement (to keep a log and check people in as they came to mass but only after they paid a fee) and a brief search did not turn up anything.

My gut says that this is speculation instead of something required of the Church, I will do more reading!
 
TheLittleLady said:
While I will not have the time to sit down and give sufficient time to the entire document until the weekend, it seems that this was found to be the practice at one place. Every parish keeps record books and Sacramental registers today.

Yesterday the documents of Trent are exactly where I was searching for such a requirement (to keep a log and check people in as they came to mass but only after they paid a fee) and a brief search did not turn up anything.

My gut says that this is speculation instead of something required of the Church, I will do more reading!
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Remember that we did not have universal Code of canon law until 1917.

Before that time, any such laws would have been local ones. That might mean local to the city, or even as broad as an empire. Also, they varied by time, so the practice of the 12th century in one place might differ from the same place in the 17th century.

There was indeed a minor order of Porter (ie doorkeeper). It existed in the Latin Church until the 1970s and Eastern Churches still have it (although for some, it subsists in one of the other orders). Part of the Porter’s role was to make sure that only the faithful were admitted to Mass. By 1610, however, that was mostly symbolic.

I haven’t seen the documents from Lisbon myself (certainly not in person, but not seen images on the internet either). But what’s been posted seems entirely reasonable and certainly believable. We know about the “Easter Duty” established by Trent. It makes perfect sense that the pastor would have made marks in the Baptismal register to record those who made their Easter Duty.

Even today, there’s great variety among baptismal registers. The requirements vary by country, since each bishop conference can make its own minor changes. They also vary by publisher.
 
Exactly, only the faithful to be admitted, membership roles, etc. The part about paying the doorkeeper in order to get in? Digging in Trent this weekend!
 
TheLittleLady said:
Exactly, only the faithful to be admitted, membership roles, etc. The part about paying the doorkeeper in order to get in? Digging in Trent this weekend!
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I’m making an educated guess here because I haven’t seen the documents.

Still, my guess is that it’s a reference to some kind of annual membership dues and not some kind of “price of admission” such as would be charged at something like a theater.
 
I would suggest checking with your priest. Until recently (in our diocese), families living within one parish who attend a different parish regularly could receive their first sacrament of reconciliation and holy communion at their preferred parish, or at the parish with the program they prefer. It has just changed so that everyone needs to live in the postcode (zip code) of the parish, or have permission from the priest from the parish they should be attending. I think that they are flexible where families prefer to attend the parish church attached to their child’s school as it helps the child and their families to be in a familiar community with support should they need it.

I guess that it varies depending one where you are in the world.
 
@FrDavid96 thank you for the informative post I really appreciate it because it clarified some points I wasn’t sure about.
FrDavid96 said:
I haven’t seen the documents from Lisbon myself (certainly not in person, but not seen images on the internet either).
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Portuguese parish archives that have been digitized are available here: Registos paroquiais Torre do Tombo. I tried searching for the specific documents mentioned that kept note of confessions and communion but was unable to find them - also because I can’t be sure the parish hasn’t changed name over the centuries. Those specific registers might be kept in separate books from the baptisms that have not been digitized since they have a lesser importance for genealogy. I’m starting to think I’ll try to find the priest mentioned in the article personally to ask him.
TheLittleLady said:
(to keep a log and check people in as they came to mass but only after they paid a fee)
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@TheLittleLady I never said the Porter charged an entry fee. I said his job was to know folks and their standing, which would have been settled well beforehand.

Payment of church contributions (aka taxes) was carefully registered. Some villages were basically the property of a given monastery or other religious authority/institution - thus non payment could bare from the sacraments at some point before secular justice acted. Let’s not forget even the nobility incurred excommunication should they trespass on belongings of a religious authority.

The figure of the Porter seems to have some potential overlap with the tax collector since in rural areas the contribution was also gathered door to door, normally a measure of corn/wine/produce. And at least in the early 20th century I know of cases were for some sacraments a price was demanded/charged (otherwise the parish priest himself could incur poverty and hunger.)

For all these reasons, historically, it is quite likely you were bound to a parish where you were well known to receive the sacraments.
 
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adgloriam said:
Payment of church contributions (aka taxes) was carefully registered. Some villages were basically the property of a given monastery or other religious authority/institution - thus non payment could bare from the sacraments at some point before secular justice acted. Let’s not forget even the nobility incurred excommunication should they trespass on belongings of an religious authority.

The figure of the Porter seems to have some potential overlap with the tax collector since in rural areas the contribution was also gathered door to door, normally a measure of corn/wine/produce. And at least in the early 20th century I know of cases were for some sacraments a price was demanded/charged (otherwise the parish priest himself could incur poverty and hunger.)
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Sure, however, this seems to be a local thing, not a universal norm.
 
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