Why does the Latin Catholic tradition not allow infants to receive Holy Communion?

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Why would the Roman Catholic Church have an age requirement to be able to receive holy communion, though allow other rites to thus by pass said cannon law an I am guessing there are cannon laws as there are pages here of people quoting it non stop…

Why be willing to accommodate one rite yet have a different standard for your own , which I would wager a guess has something to do with being universal and hoping to have said rite become apart of the RCC ?

The rules seem off hand very very confusing .

then to go through having to fight for human life from the death penalty to abortion, to then baptizing a child into the faith, but then saying hang on, this person is not of the age of reasoning yet so the child is not permitted to receive…

If this makes sense to anyone rock on cause it is beyond me.

We do not know nor are there any methods that can be put into place to determine if one is in communion with the Church to receive Our Lord, and it is of no concern to know amongst clergy, then one can always say well no one should receive because we are in a constant state of sin, or well an infant can not kneel an properly receive so that is the reason…

still confused

Why are infants allowed to be baptized if they can not choose to do so, and do not understand what is going on, if there is this debate of being able to have the ability to " reason " then that opens up a ton more debates on a range of issues.
 
church , rite, different religion, potatoe, potato, if whom ever is not apart of the Roman Catholic Church, why should the RCC allow for infant communion to those who practice that else where but not with in the RCC, why include that rule into " cannon law " that allows the RCC to provide for others outside of the RCC but not those in the RCC.
 
john78 said:
Why would the Roman Catholic Church have an age requirement to be able to receive holy communion, though allow other rites to thus by pass said cannon law an I am guessing there are cannon laws as there are pages here of people quoting it non stop…

Why be willing to accommodate one rite yet have a different standard for your own , which I would wager a guess has something to do with being universal and hoping to have said rite become apart of the RCC ?

The rules seem off hand very very confusing .

then to go through having to fight for human life from the death penalty to abortion, to then baptizing a child into the faith, but then saying hang on, this person is not of the age of reasoning yet so the child is not permitted to receive…

If this makes sense to anyone rock on cause it is beyond me.

We do not know nor are there any methods that can be put into place to determine if one is in communion with the Church to receive Our Lord, and it is of no concern to know amongst clergy, then one can always say well no one should receive because we are in a constant state of sin, or well an infant can not kneel an properly receive so that is the reason…

still confused

Why are infants allowed to be baptized if they can not choose to do so, and do not understand what is going on, if there is this debate of being able to have the ability to " reason " then that opens up a ton more debates on a range of issues.
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This is one of the main reason that anabaptists exist, because they believe infants are unable to fully comprehend and “choose” their faith. However in terms of the canon law, the “age of reason” only applies to receiving the eucharist I don’t believe it applies to baptism, as that would make little sense for our faith.

On the issue, does Canon 923 not allow any Catholic in Communion with Rome to receive the sacrament? If this child has indeed received Communion in the Byzantine Rite, then they should receive it in the Latin Rite. After all, Eastern Catholics accommodate Roman Catholics, why can we not accommodate our brothers and sisters?
 
still a very convoluted topic with even more convoluted answers none of which seem to make sense at a basic level that everyone can understand with ease,

All I have managed to gather from answers is something equivalent to the following.

Roman Catholic infants who are baptized can not receive until a certain age because of whatever code / x,y,z paragraph A subsection 4.5 of document 45 on this topic in yada yada,

yet all others who are in communion with the RCC are allowed to have their infants partake in holy communion because article 12 of the tribunal extraordinary 5th century first council of chapter 5.4 specifically says it can be done and thus all one needs to do is just refer back to the catechism of the catholic church for further clarification.

If anyone can make heads or tails out of this issue knowing all the protocols and rules, laws, documents, councils, etc, congratulations an you should probably be teaching religious education classes to catholic children prepping for their first communion and confirmation, and even more so if you can explain it at their level that doesn’t cause them to bleed from the ears.

If the Church can break down the rules to one page front and back on everything it would make life a lot easier.
 
john78 said:
still a very convoluted topic with even more convoluted answers none of which seem to make sense at a basic level that everyone can understand with ease,

All I have managed to gather from answers is something equivalent to the following.

Roman Catholic infants who are baptized can not receive until a certain age because of whatever code / x,y,z paragraph A subsection 4.5 of document 45 on this topic in yada yada,

yet all others who are in communion with the RCC are allowed to have their infants partake in holy communion because article 12 of the tribunal extraordinary 5th century first council of chapter 5.4 specifically says it can be done and thus all one needs to do is just refer back to the catechism of the catholic church for further clarification.

If anyone can make heads or tails out of this issue knowing all the protocols and rules, laws, documents, councils, etc, congratulations an you should probably be teaching religious education classes to catholic children prepping for their first communion and confirmation, and even more so if you can explain it at their level that doesn’t cause them to bleed from the ears.

If the Church can break down the rules to one page front and back on everything it would make life a lot easier.
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Most people will only ever have to worry about knowing the ‘rules’ for their own particular Church. And for most people, the majority of what is in Canon Law is not necessary to know inside and out, just like you don’t have to know the secular law inside and out with all its legalese - you just need to know the highlights (e.g., if you steal you’ll go to jail). And just as you’d hire a lawyer if you need to engage the secular law, you’d contact a canonist if you needed to engage Canon Law (e.g., to get an annulment).
 
That was one of my thoughts, too. What is the practicality of giving a modern Latin Rite host to an infant that may not even be on solid food yet? How is it done? I honestly don’t know - perhaps someone here can enlighten me.
 
JMJ_coder said:
Repent and believe in the Gospel. Still too long? 😉
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awesome you trumped my one page front and back set of rules, that did give me a chuckle, send that tid bit of information off to the Vatican let them know all the rules are too convoluted and to just stick with that right there. lol I am sure that will satisfy everyone globally .
 
you then are one of the few very intelligent teenagers in the world at 14, try teaching religious education to a bunch of smart mouthed kids , or teenagers with the mindset that love is love, so thusly why is homosexuality a big deal an looked against because the teenager has a relative who is a lesbian, ( literally know a teenager with that story ).

teenagers who can maturely understand the faith are few and far between , unfortunately rules need to be simplified to something so basic that it becomes almost impossible to argue.
Most people will only ever have to worry about knowing the ‘rules’ for their own particular Church. And for most people, the majority of what is in Canon Law is not necessary to know inside and out, just like you don’t have to know the secular law inside and out with all its legalese - you just need to know the highlights (e.g., if you steal you’ll go to jail). And just as you’d hire a lawyer if you need to engage the secular law, you’d contact a canonist if you needed to engage Canon Law (e.g., to get an annulment).
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ignorance of the law does not excuse someone from breaking the law, and any judge or police officer will probably tell someone that right off the cuff,

now how many are going to tell someone just because they didn’t know that there is something in canon law or the catechist that forbids something from being done or is considered a sin, they are going to tell that person hey you don’t need to know everything and because you didn’t know it wasn’t a sin.
 
JMJ_coder said:
That was one of my thoughts, too. What is the practicality of giving a modern Latin Rite host to an infant that may not even be on solid food yet? How is it done? I honestly don’t know - perhaps someone here can enlighten me.
(name removed by moderator);10954281:
A tube can be used for that purpose with the bread dissolved in wine, this is a perfectly legitimate method as far as I recall as there are a number of methods approved for conveying the Eucharist to a communicant. I’d say here a practical concern might arise where I could feel empathy for a Roman Catholic priest, Eastern Catholic priests are of course practised in communing infants and small children. Priests in the west are not and I remember a poster here where the priest was more than happy to commune her kids but felt unconfident doing it and asked for instruction from a local Eastern Catholic clergyman before he did.
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That’s correct. A Roman Catholic priest may commune under one or both species, together or separately. He may dip a finger into the chalice for a newborn. Infants can receive a tiny piece from the Body. Intinction. Tubes including eyedroppers and spoons are OK in the West. They have options that meet every circumstance. Most don’t have experience with this so it is explained as a refresher in the pamphlet.
stsophiaukrainian.cc/resources/traveling/
john78 said:
you then are one of the few very intelligent teenagers in the world at 14, try teaching religious education to a bunch of smart mouthed kids , or teenagers with the mindset that love is love, so thusly why is homosexuality a big deal an looked against because the teenager has a relative who is a lesbian, ( literally know a teenager with that story ).

teenagers who can maturely understand the faith are few and far between , unfortunately rules need to be simplified to something so basic that it becomes almost impossible to argue.

ignorance of the law does not excuse someone from breaking the law, and any judge or police officer will probably tell someone that right off the cuff,

now how many are going to tell someone just because they didn’t know that there is something in canon law or the catechist that forbids something from being done or is considered a sin, they are going to tell that person hey you don’t need to know everything and because you didn’t know it wasn’t a sin.
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We share full communion.

We–the Roman Catholics and the Ukrainian/Eastern Catholics
Share–I give to you, you give to me
Full–holding nothing back
Communion–the Eucharist

We share full communion.

If I go to your church, or you come to my church, we fully share communion with each other.

The idea that this is too complicated is one of the most commonly cited excuses for not teaching it in RCIA or CCD. It’s a simple concept. Preschoolers get it. Someone above said his Kindergarten class understood it without a problem.

They’re Catholic. They do things differently. It’s the same Jesus in the Eucharist and we share Communion with them.

It’s much harder to understand when your entire concept of the church is formed and you think you understand the whole, only to later discover huge pieces were missing, requiring you to mentally shift your frame of reference. It’s a shame that so many are put in that position. A bigger shame that so many refuse to correct it when they discover the tragedy.
 
CDB1718 said:
There is a weekly Liturgy on Saturday evening in Tulsa.
archpitt.org/component/zoo/item/tulsaok

If none of you are Byzantine, you might want to discern if now is a good time to contact your old Byzantine priest and change ritual churches so that the law affords you the protections for the life you were already living. You’ll need to commit to maintaining a Byzantine identity without nearby support, which will probably include monthly travels to Tulsa or our parish in DFW depending on where you are in Oklahoma. It wouldn’t be easy especially with a baby and Lord willing more in the future, but if it is important to you then you can make it happen.

If your daughter is canonically Latin, the tribunal will probably say she may not receive the Eucharist according to the Roman canons. Even though they allow Confirmation for infants in danger of death, they still restrict the Eucharist to those Roman Catholics who’ve attained the use of reason and can distinguish the Eucharist from ordinary bread. At 5 months old, there will be no question that she does not meet this criteria imposed on Roman Catholics.

If your daughter is canonically Byzantine and you don’t have access to an Eastern Catholic parish then the Roman Catholic bishop has a responsibility to provide for her care, including with regular reception of the Eucharist. First call the Roman Catholic tribunal and if that doesn’t help then call her Byzantine bishop.

If your daughter is Byzantine, this pamphlet might help.
stsophiaukrainian.cc/resources/traveling/
You can download the PDF and use 2-sided printing and it will fit on standard 8.5" x 11" paper.

http://www.stsophiaukrainian.cc/wp-...cs-Commune-at-a-Roman-Catholic-Mass-Front.png
http://www.stsophiaukrainian.cc/wp-...mune-at-a-Roman-Catholic-Mass-Inside-Left.png
http://www.stsophiaukrainian.cc/wp-...une-at-a-Roman-Catholic-Mass-Inside-Right.png
http://www.stsophiaukrainian.cc/wp-...ics-Commune-at-a-Roman-Catholic-Mass-Back.png
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Very helpful post thanks.
 
CDB1718 said:
That’s correct. A Roman Catholic priest may commune under one or both species, together or separately. He may dip a finger into the chalice for a newborn. Infants can receive a tiny piece from the Body. Intinction. Tubes including eyedroppers and spoons are OK in the West. They have options that meet every circumstance. Most don’t have experience with this so it is explained as a refresher in the pamphlet.
stsophiaukrainian.cc/resources/traveling/

We share full communion.

We–the Roman Catholics and the Ukrainian/Eastern Catholics
Share–I give to you, you give to me
Full–holding nothing back
Communion–the Eucharist

We share full communion.

If I go to your church, or you come to my church, we fully share communion with each other.

The idea that this is too complicated is one of the most commonly cited excuses for not teaching it in RCIA or CCD. It’s a simple concept. Preschoolers get it. Someone above said his Kindergarten class understood it without a problem.

They’re Catholic. They do things differently. It’s the same Jesus in the Eucharist and we share Communion with them.

It’s much harder to understand when your entire concept of the church is formed and you think you understand the whole, only to later discover huge pieces were missing, requiring you to mentally shift your frame of reference. It’s a shame that so many are put in that position. A bigger shame that so many refuse to correct it when they discover the tragedy.
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a lot people tend to think their child an rationally understand everything at an early age, when in reality anyone can confuse a preschooler or kindergardner rather easily if one wanted to, anyone can explain why 1 + 1 = 2. simple math for a simple mind, but then I expand on that same simpleness to a child in a quick method and jump into advance math that simple answer loses its meaning.

still no one seems able to easily explain why the RCC has an age limit for those who are Roman Catholic and why their infant can not receive holy communion, yet if one comes from another what ever the proper terminology is that I do not care to learn and is visiting a RCC an asks that their infant be allowed to receive holy communion because they are far from home then it is allowed because of all the reasons that are too convoluted .

it is good for to be tolerant or accepting to one but not to our own infants is basically the message, but that is wrong because someone can quote Canon Law or something else which is very convoluted an makes no sense.

basically one has to study canon law an etc to actually understand why any of this makes sense.

but thanks for responding anyhow. ill be sure to repeat myself again later when someone else can not simplify the answer at all once again. I don’t mind doing things repeatedly until either someone gets tired of repeating their same convoluted answer and pointing out how children will say they say understand everything when we all know good an well they don’t. they understand a little, at best or until someone can give me a logical simple answer that actually makes sense with out blowing a gasket.
 
john78 said:
you then are one of the few very intelligent teenagers in the world at 14, try teaching religious education to a bunch of smart mouthed kids , or teenagers with the mindset that love is love, so thusly why is homosexuality a big deal an looked against because the teenager has a relative who is a lesbian, ( literally know a teenager with that story )…
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Maybe I am just lucky, but I recently spend a week at Scout camp with the troop from my parish. We had a great late night at the campfire discussion on the Thomistic understanding of Virtue ( and yes several boys quoted Aquinas to support their premises) And it was not any adult who brought the topic up either

👍
 
john78 said:
still no one seems able to easily explain why the RCC has an age limit for those who are Roman Catholic and why their infant can not receive holy communion, yet if one comes from another what ever the proper terminology is that I do not care to learn and is visiting a RCC an asks that their infant be allowed to receive holy communion because they are far from home then it is allowed because of all the reasons that are too convoluted .
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From what I understand of Catholic practice, it seems that:
  1. Each person belongs individually to a specific Church. Churches include: Latin, Melkite, etc.
  2. Each Church (Latin, Melkite, etc.) has their own set of rules based on their own traditions and customs.
  3. Each individual person is obedient to the rules of their specific Church, regardless of whatever parish they may be attending.
So, when a person belongs to the Melkite Church (for example), they’re obedient to the Melkite Church’s rules and what-not even when they’re visiting, or regularly attending, parishes of other Churches. Now, it gets confusing because it seems that parishes must allow for the individual to participate according to the Melkite Church’s rules, even if the parish itself isn’t Melkite. 🤷

This is my simple understanding of it as a non-Catholic. I disagree strongly with how individualized it is, but my opinion’s irrelevant I suppose.
 
Thanks. As someone with little knowledge about the Latin approach to the subject, this was an informative passage.
 
neokarny said:
From what I understand of Catholic practice, it seems that:
  1. Each person belongs individually to a specific Church. Churches include: Latin, Melkite, etc.
  2. Each Church (Latin, Melkite, etc.) has their own set of rules based on their own traditions and customs.
  3. Each individual person is obedient to the rules of their specific Church, regardless of whatever parish they may be attending.
So, when a person belongs to the Melkite Church (for example), they’re obedient to the Melkite Church’s rules and what-not even when they’re visiting, or regularly attending, parishes of other Churches. Now, it gets confusing because it seems that parishes must allow for the individual to participate according to the Melkite Church’s rules, even if the parish itself isn’t Melkite. 🤷

This is my simple understanding of it as a non-Catholic. I disagree strongly with how individualized it is, but my opinion’s irrelevant I suppose.
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hey my opinion is also irrelevant if not completely worthless at all times so no worries , plus you just mentioned a bunch of stuff I have no understanding of at all an I have been Catholic all my life so considering you know as much as you do says a lot .
 
CDB1718 said:
There is a weekly Liturgy on Saturday evening in Tulsa.
archpitt.org/component/zoo/item/tulsaok

If none of you are Byzantine, you might want to discern if now is a good time to contact your old Byzantine priest and change ritual churches so that the law affords you the protections for the life you were already living. You’ll need to commit to maintaining a Byzantine identity without nearby support, which will probably include monthly travels to Tulsa or our parish in DFW depending on where you are in Oklahoma. It wouldn’t be easy especially with a baby and Lord willing more in the future, but if it is important to you then you can make it happen.

If your daughter is canonically Latin, the tribunal will probably say she may not receive the Eucharist according to the Roman canons. Even though they allow Confirmation for infants in danger of death, they still restrict the Eucharist to those Roman Catholics who’ve attained the use of reason and can distinguish the Eucharist from ordinary bread. At 5 months old, there will be no question that she does not meet this criteria imposed on Roman Catholics.

If your daughter is canonically Byzantine and you don’t have access to an Eastern Catholic parish then the Roman Catholic bishop has a responsibility to provide for her care, including with regular reception of the Eucharist. First call the Roman Catholic tribunal and if that doesn’t help then call her Byzantine bishop.

If your daughter is Byzantine, this pamphlet might help.
stsophiaukrainian.cc/resources/traveling/
You can download the PDF and use 2-sided printing and it will fit on standard 8.5" x 11" paper.

http://www.stsophiaukrainian.cc/wp-...cs-Commune-at-a-Roman-Catholic-Mass-Front.png
http://www.stsophiaukrainian.cc/wp-...mune-at-a-Roman-Catholic-Mass-Inside-Left.png
http://www.stsophiaukrainian.cc/wp-...une-at-a-Roman-Catholic-Mass-Inside-Right.png
http://www.stsophiaukrainian.cc/wp-...ics-Commune-at-a-Roman-Catholic-Mass-Back.png
Click to expand...
I just wanted to say all I did was look at the picture and then scroll really fast past everything else, the information was too long for me to spend even 3 seconds trying to read or want to read due to the enormous length of it an I just enjoy now seeing this posted over an over again because I am rather enjoying scrolling past it; but will acknowledge there probably is good information here for someone to read that has the time an enjoys reading very long posts of information on cannon law quotes.
 
john78 said:
I just wanted to say all I did was look at the picture and then scroll really fast past everything else, the information was too long for me to spend even 3 seconds trying to read or want to read due to the enormous length of it an I just enjoy now seeing this posted over an over again because I am rather enjoying scrolling past it; but will acknowledge there probably is good information here for someone to read that has the time an enjoys reading very long posts of information on cannon law quotes.
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I think the guy whose Byzantine daughter was denied the Eucharist will be invested enough to read a pamphlet on the topic.
 
john78 said:
I just wanted to say all I did was look at the picture and then scroll really fast past everything else, the information was too long for me to spend even 3 seconds trying to read or want to read due to the enormous length of it an I just enjoy now seeing this posted over an over again because I am rather enjoying scrolling past it; but will acknowledge there probably is good information here for someone to read that has the time an enjoys reading very long posts of information on cannon law quotes.
Click to expand...
It took me all of three minutes to read it, just saying.
 
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