Refusal of Communion

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A priest recently told a friend of mine that if some protestants came up to receive Communion in a Catholic church and the Priest knew they were protestants you could not refuse them under Canon law.
This does not sound correct to me ,Is there any Canon law experts out there who can clear this up for me.🙂
 
It is completely correct, and should be done by the priest to prevent serious spiritual harm to the Protestant.
 
robin_hood said:
A priest recently told a friend of mine that if some protestants came up to receive Communion in a Catholic church and the Priest knew they were protestants you could not refuse them under Canon law.
This does not sound correct to me ,Is there any Canon law experts out there who can clear this up for me.🙂
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I do not know off the top of my head if Canon Law requires the priest to refuse them Holy Communion. I know that they are prohibited from approaching and never should be invited to receive no matter how “special” the occasion. In practice usually the priest would give them Holy Communion if they approach in public, and then speak with them after Mass. Explaining why they should not approach again. If they do this again after being told not to approach, they would be refused.
 
For further confusion, or clarification, as the case me be… If you are serving as an emHC and someone you know to be Protestant comes up to receive Communion, you cannot refuse them. If the priest identifies someone to you in the Congregation and directs you to refuse them Communion, you are to refuse them.
 
The priest in question said that under Canon law you could not refuse Holy Communion to a protestant if they went to receive.
I have scanned Canon law and see no such law (have I missed something) now there are grave circumstances under Canon law when protestants can receive Holy Communion.
But this circumstance was two healthy protestants known to be non Catholic by the Priest and the Parish.
The question is under Canon law is the Priest unable to refuse communion to them as the Priest claims.:confused:
 
Reminds me of when my father died. The priest invited those who were “able” to receive communion to come up at the proper time. That was around the time I was “coming home " myself and I didn’t because I had not been to confession. I was horrified when some of my family, Catholic in name, went to receive communion. Afterwards I asked them and the response was " If I can’t receive it at my fathers funeral…” Unfortunately, the priest didn’t know it and a funeral was the last place I wanted to make a scene.
Kathy
 
robin_hood said:
The priest in question said that under Canon law you could not refuse Holy Communion to a protestant if they went to receive.
I have scanned Canon law and see no such law (have I missed something) now there are grave circumstances under Canon law when protestants can receive Holy Communion.
But this circumstance was two healthy protestants known to be non Catholic by the Priest and the Parish.
The question is under Canon law is the Priest unable to refuse communion to them as the Priest claims.:confused:
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I would guess what he is looking at is Can. 843.

Can. 843~1 Sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who opportunely ask for them, are properly disposed and are not prohibited by law from receiving them.

However he didn’t read the next one, Can 844.

Can. 844~1 Catholic ministers may lawfully administer the sacraments only to catholic members of Christ’s faithful, who equally may lawfully receive them only from catholic ministers, except as provided in~~2, 3 and 4 of this canon and in can. 861~2.

2,3, and 4 do not normally apply in this case. 861-2 is speaking of Baptism in case of necessity and no Catholic minister is available
 
I heard a someone speak about receiving Eucharist once, and the one thing that stood out in my mind is that when you receive Communion you’re bringing Christ’s judgement upon you and if you are in a state of mortal sin then you must face the consequences of your actions.

Whether or not this is a true statement, was irrelevant to me with regards to the context it was given. It’s like most things in our faith, we are faced with the responsiblity, on many occasions, of making decisions and on Judgement Day we will be with Christ who determines if our actions are meritorious or if they deserve some purification…

Just my random thoughts…

SG
 
It’s the devil, I tell ya, it’s the devil . . .

Of course, I’m saying that tongue-in-cheek . . . maybe.

When has common sense left our faith?

I read these posts and the ambiguity in them leaves me shaking my head.

How are we as EMHC’s to protect the sacredness of the Blessed Sacrament but then simultaenously give Jesus away to any person who approaches to receive Him even though we KNOW the person to not be Catholic or worse yet, they KNOW we KNOW they’re not Catholic.

Is the devil messin’ with our minds? How did we get so confused about the Holy Eucharist?

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating the judgment of each individual approaching to receive Communion. But if someone famous attended a Catholic Mass and got in line to receive Communion and we knew they were not Catholic, why on earth would a priest or EMHC give them Communion? Why wouldn’t we simply withhold the host and say “Receive Jesus in your heart” (the spiritual communion) and leave it at that. No big show, no public humiliation.

I think I know one of the reasons why. Because our Bishops have been extremely wishy-washy on this subject. No one wants to offend anyone in the least or give the impression of offending someone in the slightest. In the meantime, the protection of the Blessed Sacrament is the casualty.

It is very frustrating.
 
robin_hood said:
The priest in question said that under Canon law you could not refuse Holy Communion to a protestant if they went to receive.
I have scanned Canon law and see no such law (have I missed something) now there are grave circumstances under Canon law when protestants can receive Holy Communion.
But this circumstance was two healthy protestants known to be non Catholic by the Priest and the Parish.
The question is under Canon law is the Priest unable to refuse communion to them as the Priest claims.:confused:
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Yes the Priest can and should do so.
 
People serving as emHC have no authority to deny someone who presents themself for Communion the Sacrament. If the priest or celebrant directs them to deny someone, it is on the authority of that cleric that they deny them.

At the school I teach at, my principal is a practicing Catholic, a reader, and serves as emHC. Our administrator is a Protestant. If the administrator presented himself at Mass to the principal serving as emHC, the principal would be obligated to give him Holy Communion, unless the pastor told him not to give Holy Communion to the administrator.

This isn’t a wishy-washy loophole. This is to protect the faithful from people serving as emHC who might think they “know better.”

Going back to the above example. Let’s say in casual conversation, I told my principal on Monday morning that I missed Mass over the weekend. Saturday night, he is serving as an emHC, and he remembers our conversation from Monday morning. He cannot deny me Holy Communion because he thinks my soul might be in a state of mortal sin. How does he know that I didn’t go to Confession and receive absolution? He doesn’t. That’s why people serving as emHC don’t have the authority to deny people Holy Communion.
 
MusicMan said:
People serving as emHC have no authority to deny someone who presents themself for Communion the Sacrament. If the priest or celebrant directs them to deny someone, it is on the authority of that cleric that they deny them.

At the school I teach at, my principal is a practicing Catholic, a reader, and serves as emHC. Our administrator is a Protestant. If the administrator presented himself at Mass to the principal serving as emHC, the principal would be obligated to give him Holy Communion, unless the pastor told him not to give Holy Communion to the administrator.

This isn’t a wishy-washy loophole. This is to protect the faithful from people serving as emHC who might think they “know better.”

Sorry, absolutely and positively cannot agree. In fact, double quadruple cannot agree, especially with the example you’ve given. To knowingly allow inter-faith communion with someone you know for a fact is not Catholic simply because they present themselves at Holy Communion is wrong, wrong, wrong. The Catholic Church does not recognize inter-faith Communion, period.

Going back to the above example. Let’s say in casual conversation, I told my principal on Monday morning that I missed Mass over the weekend. Saturday night, he is serving as an emHC, and he remembers our conversation from Monday morning. He cannot deny me Holy Communion because he thinks my soul might be in a state of mortal sin. How does he know that I didn’t go to Confession and receive absolution? He doesn’t. That’s why people serving as emHC don’t have the authority to deny people Holy Communion.

No one has said that anyone, priest or EMHC, should withhold communion based on perceived “sinfulness”. I’m talking about withholding Holy Communion from someone that we know is not Catholic or tells the EMHC that he/she is not Catholic.
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Why do we go through the trouble to catechize First Communicants and RCIA candidates if everyone and anyone of any faith can receive Communion in a Catholic Church without hesitation whether they’re Catholic or not?
 
Lay people serving as emHC cannot refuse someone Holy Communion on their own authority. It doesn’t matter who they are. The authority to refuse someone Holy Communion rests with the pastor and the diocesesan bishop. It doesn’t matter if you agree with me or not, to the best of my knowledge, that’s simply the way it is.
 
az_4_faith said:
Why do we go through the trouble to catechize First Communicants and RCIA candidates if everyone and anyone of any faith can receive Communion in a Catholic Church without hesitation whether they’re Catholic or not?
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We teach potential first communicants, catechumens and candidates that we are to discern our worthiness before receiving the Blessed Sacrament (1 Corinthians 11:27-29). We tell them that we are compounding our sin when we receive the Eucharist unworthily. And we tell them that some people will receive the Eucharist unworthily, but we’re not their judges, God is.

Yes, as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, it can hurt to give Holy Communion to someone you know is living with someone they’re not married to (etcetera) … but they’re accountable before God, not us.

However, I don’t know how well I’d abide by this if a pro-abortion politician steps before me to receive Holy Communion … I’m grateful that hasn’t happened yet. I’d have to pray big time, I guess, if that happens … and also talk with my pastor.
 
pray4peace said:
Yes, there are exceptions when Non-Catholics may receive the Eucharist. Here is the link I found on it:

catholic.com/library/cag_ecclesia_de_eucharista.asp

I hope this helps some.
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In the above link it says:
In the case of Protestant Christians, however, the **requirements **are more extensive. Due to the absence of valid holy orders in their communities, Protestants do not have valid Eucharists. They also frequently do not share the Church’s beliefs concerning the Eucharist.
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As a result, the Code provides that “if the danger of death is present or other grave necessity, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or the conference of bishops, Catholic ministers may licitly administer these sacraments to other Christians who do not have full communion with the Catholic Church, who cannot approach a minister of their own community and on their own ask for it, provided they manifest Catholic faith in these sacraments and are properly disposed” (§4).
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It is only in danger of death or other grave necessity, and in the judgment of the bishop, the exception could be made.
 
MusicMan said:
Lay people serving as emHC cannot refuse someone Holy Communion on their own authority. It doesn’t matter who they are. The authority to refuse someone Holy Communion rests with the pastor and the diocesesan bishop. It doesn’t matter if you agree with me or not, to the best of my knowledge, that’s simply the way it is.
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All the more reason to cut down the number of extraordinary ministers.
 
My dad was a Missouri Synod Lutheran. To receive the Lord’s Supper in his church, one had to inform the pastor either in person or by letter by the night before. MSLs from out of town had to present a notice from their Pastor to vouch that they were MSL in good standing. Things may have changed in the last 50 years, but those who would hand out the Eucharist like it was popcorn to all comers because that is so nice do not have a clue about how and why things are the way they are. I suspect it is not just the Catholic Church that has restrictions.
 
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