www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West UGC Baby receiving Communion in an RC church

Cmoore

I think that most EC parents who are away from their home Parish , are likely to arrange to see the RC Priest in advance of taking their small child with them for Reception of Communion.

All of us are aware of the necessity of care and safety of the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ

This topic came up at an adult education study at my parish recently. An Eastern Catholic family was in an area that was not served by any Eastern Catholic jurisdiction, so therefore the family attended a RC church.

Apparently, there was a whole argument of "would it scandalize the faithful" if an Eastern Catholic child communed at a Roman Catholic church. The ordinary of that diocese said that it would and prohibited the child from receiving communion in that parish.

Instead of looking at this as an opportunity for catechesis, it was looked as sinful and therefore prohibited.

(Let me add that there was also an illicit practice of the woman receiving the host in her hand, then taking a portion of it and giving it to her child... but that's another argument altogether).

Ridiculous indeed. How many years after Vatican II, and we are still being discriminated against.

We know the RC's dont give communion to their own children so why expect them to do it for others. As said above make an arrangement if it is possible for the children to take comunion at a time that suits the priest and that may mean the children being given communion after Mass. Yes, RC's might be scandalised and it is their church, so what. When in Rome and all that.

Sounds reasonable to me. I propose then by your above view that all Latins visiting a Byzantine church must follow, When in Constantinople.

I don't have a problem with making arrangements with the priest before hand so as not to blind side him. A heads up would be the nice thing to do.

Scandal? It is about time that folks are taught that we exist and there would be no scandal with proper catechisis.

In Christ:
Einar

Ultimately it is the priest who really can decide in his parish who to give communion to, he is the guardian. Didn't someone once say the church isn't a democracy? I have learned and know that if I am visiting a parish that I should call or speak with the priest before Liturgy about whether or not I am permitted to receive Communion in his parish. I've even witnessed traveling Greek Catholics call the priest beforehand about receiving. My two cents; give the priest a call and have a discussion about it before hand.

I don't see scandal at all. Children at a small age spit out food. I wouldn't call it scandal but if it is different than what the child is use to how would anyone know the reaction. They have non concecrated hosts that children get to taste before their first holy communion. They do need to be catechised. We all do. I don't think any of us are above that statement. Anyway I think if presented properly and with enough preparation there should be no problem. But who am I? We are all human so there will be mistakes made.

There should only be "scandal" in scandalous behaviours, we shouldn't allow others to be "scandalized" by behaving properly - that silence (the failure to act) is of itself sinful.

Matthew-
Congratulations on the birth of your daughter Felicity Irene! I'm glad you're all able to return to your home parish.

I pray the priest in Fort Bragg will follow through with finding out more, that his Bishop advising him is well informed, and that he will then take the opportunity to do some teaching in his own parish on this.

My children have severe disabilities. There is no end to the ignorance of people, no offense meant to them, and I tire of making basic explanations year after year. But if we are not teachers then people will not gain an understanding. I'm a Latin Catholic and sometimes I feel like a broken record saying "well, in the Eastern Rites..." when someone makes a blanket statement about Catholics that I just can't let slide- many I do- because it isn't what ECCs do.

Pope John Paul II of blessed memory made it abundantly clear in his Apostolic Letter Orientale Lumen that "...the first need for Catholics is to be familiar with that tradition [ancient tradition of the Eastern Churches], so as to be nourished by it and to encourage the process of unity in the best way possible for each." Our Holy Father Benedict XVI has made clear his shared perspective on this I think.

I hope we can continue to help the Latin priests and faithful increase in an awareness and appreciation of both lungs of our Church. I'm so sorry for the ignorance that caused your family this distress. As we know this problem happens. May we all help make it be less frequent.

I am a Greek Catholic in exile. My two children under the age of 5 both receive communion ever Sunday in the local RCC. Before I moved I had my priest email the RCC priest explaining my situation. Next I went and scheduled a meeting with the priest and explained the situation. After that I haven't had a problem.

If you have a problem just have the RCC priest contact his Bishop. The matter should be cleared up.

JFYI, the priest breaks a piece the host in half. He gives me one half and he breaks the other half in two and gives each piece to my children. This happens in under 5 seconds. We have never had a dirty look or ever been questioned. Also, the RCC is quite large that we go to.

Hope this helps!
Ray

Thank you Ray! It SHOULD be that easy everywhere.

I suggest folks read what our hierarchs in Australia have said on this and related matters, See this thread in News!

I had to travel 120 miles to attend my Byzantine Catholic parish. When I couldn't make it, my family and I would walk across the street to the Roman Cathedral whose rector was a canon lawyer and the president of the canon law society about 10 years ago. An issue came up concerning communication of our young children who had already been communicated in the Byzantine Church. The former president of the canon law society presented the issue on a private forum for canon lawyers. He told me the results. One of the lawyers (from the northwest I believe) said that communicating children below the age of reason was contrary to the "spirit" of Roman canon law. Twenty or thirty some canon lawyers responded to him by saying that my children had every right under Roman canon law to receive communion. I believe they relied on canon 912 which states:



My emphasis.

They may have also considered canon 701 of the canons for the Oriental Churches which states:



My emphasis.

A baptized infant communicated in his own rite is "by law" not prohibited from receiving holy communion.

As a practical matter, since communion is often administered in the Roman Rite only under one species, we would wait until our little ones decided that they were going to join their siblings for communion, which means we didn't take our infants to communion in the Roman cathedral, but the 1-2 year olds often went up on their own. Furthermore, we always went to receive communion from the priest and not a Eucharistic minister.

Even where I now live, my youngest children, ages 3 and 5, regularly receive communion in a Roman Church even at the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite!

Hope this helps.

There is in fact no such thing as an "age of reason" requirement to receive in the Latin Church (see, e.g., Robert F. taft, SJ, "Liturgy in the Life of the Church"). The present custom--and it is just a custom--is (as Father Taft points out), an historical accident. Through the 13th century, children in the West received all three sacraments of initiation, in the proper order, and having been chrismated, they became regular communicants (within the context of the time, which would be infrequently, by our standards). Only a century or so later, again following Taft, did the argument about the need to comprehend the mystery (think on the meaning of that, for a moment!) was formulated as a post hoc rationalization for what had by that time become the standard usage in the Latin Church.

Taft also points out that the Council of Trent did not ban infant communion, but merely said it was unnecessary. He notes that the Council could not reject infant communion without rejecting infant baptism, because the arguments made against baptism (e.g., by the Anabaptists) were exactly the same as those used against infant communion.

The current regulations concerning the age of reason and communion in the Latin Church are actually being interpreted backwards: rather than being the minimum age at which a child can be admitted to communion, it represents the maximum age at which a child must begin receiving the Eucharist on a regular basis.

Vatican II set as one of its objectives the restoration of the integrity of the rites of initiation within the Latin Church, meaning a return of its usage to that of the undivided Church, including the order of the sacraments, the theology of the sacraments, and the admission of all baptized and chrismated persons to communion, regardless of age.

Taft's essay addresses a wide range of issues, but the section on infant communion is particularly brilliant and should be read aloud in every Latin parish.