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sfo

I would not agree with you from my own experience.

Before I became canonically Eastern I was an EMHC in my local RC Parish - I had served in that capacity for some many years.

I was told off in no uncertain terms for Communing a young Eastern child - the family had sat in the pew in front of me so I had been able to observe them .

The child - maybe 4 yrs old came to me with her Mama - I raised my eyebrows at the Mother and she gently nodded - so I did administer Communion to the wee one . BTW that small child Received with more reverance than many of the adults in the Parish.

There are many members here who can give you their own experiences - many have been told that their child cannot receive the Sacrament as it would be difficult for Latin Catholics to understand that Eastern Catholic Children Receive Communion from their Baptism.

Like everything else in life there are exceptions and not everyone knows "the rules." I was just speaking from my own experience. Maybe I've just lucked out and been in churches where the people don't get very excited about things. I read something "official" but can't think for the life of me what it pertained to, that at least in danger of death, children "with sufficient understanding" even under the age of seven can receive the Eucharist and Anointing of the Sick. Things change, and people's understanding and attitudes usually take a while to catch up. For instance, my mother was confirmed on the same day she received the Eucharist at age seven. I was confirmed when I was twelve, but both my kids weren't confirmed until they were in high school, which is pretty much the norm now. They were astounded that we were confirmed "so young."

sfo - you did not pick up my meaning - I should obviously have made it more clear .

Here I was talking about ignorance of people in the RC Church - we have instances among our members [ EC} where their children have been refused Communion in a Latin Church because their children were 'too young'

This despite explanations beforehand.

You must have been lucky - there is a sad lack of knowledge about the Eastern Catholic Churches among both laity AND clergy in the West

When I was a Melkite, I personally knew a woman through my homeschooling group who was Baptized, Chrismated and Communed in the Melkite Church as an infant.

In 1996, the pastor of a prominent North Hollywood Catholic Church near St. Anne Melkite Church re-confirmed her when she returned to the Catholic Church along with her protestant husband when they wanted to have their marriage blessed. The pastor confirmed her and then gave her "First Holy Communion" because he did not recognize the Melkite Church as a Catholic Church but thought that it was in schism. Dumb. He was going to re-baptize her too. Dumber.