Should a diocese use the term "eucharistic ministers"?

[Michael038]

My parish and my diocese refers to lay ministers of Communion as eucharistic ministers. I have seen several threads here that states that this is an improper title and that we should be called extraordinary ministers of holy Communion. Is my diocese in error for calling us eucharistic ministers?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

I have not seen documentation from your diocese using that term, so I cannot comment on what your diocese is or is not doing. If writers for the diocese do use the term eucharistic minister, they may be speaking loosely, without intending to use an incorrect term.

Nevertheless, the appropriate title is extraordinary minister of holy Communion. The reason this term is more appropriate is because it emphasizes that lay ministers of Communion are not ordinary ministers of Communion, as are the clergy (bishops, priests, deacons). In other words, it better preserves the distinction between the clergy and the laity. For more information, please see the Vatican document linked below.

Recommended reading:

Redemptionis Sacramentum by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments