A reader writes:
I’m not a Catholic, but I do study Catholic theology. I find it addictive.
Cool! Me, too!
My uncle, who lives in Florida, is Catholic. My mother recently went to visit my aunt and uncle. She went to mass with them, this is the first mass she ever attended. A friend of my aunt and uncle (who happenes to be a former nun) encouraged my mother to go up recieve communion. She gave her quick instructions, and told my mother that this was okay. I told my mother that this was a big "NO, NO"! I told her that the Catholic communion was, without a doubt, closed. She said that the ex-nun assured her it was okay.
My mother hopes that she didn’t do anything wrong. Did she? Did the lady do something wrong by telling to her to partake in communion?
Based on what you’ve said about the situation, you are correct that Church law would not permit your mother to receive Communion under these circumstances. There are limited circumstances in which a non-Catholic can receive Communion, but this does not appear to be one of those cases.
So you don’t just have to take my word on it, here’s what the Code of Canon Law says:
If the danger of death is present or if, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or conference of bishops, some other grave necessity urges it, Catholic ministers administer these same sacraments [penance, the Eucharist, and the anointing of the sick] licitly also to other Christians not having full communion with the Catholic Church, who cannot approach a minister of their own community and who seek such on their own accord, provided that they manifest Catholic faith in respect to these sacraments and are properly disposed (Canon 844 ยง4).
This applies to Protestants, which I assume your mother is. (Eastern Orthodox fall under a different provision.)
The Church allows limited reception of Communion in these cases because of how important it is for a person in grave need (e.g., a dying person) to be united with Jesus eucharistically, but because of the separations which regrettably divide the Christian community at present, a regular sharing of the Eucharist would not be possible.
One reason for this, from a Catholic point of view, is that many Protestants (and certainly most in the country) do not share the Church’s faith in the Real Presence. St. Paul is emphatic about the need to recognize the Real Presence of Christ in order to receive Communion (1 Cor. 11:28-30), so it is not possible to extend the offer of Communion to a great many Protestants without violating St. Paul’s injunction.
That being said, your mother should not feel guilty. She was assured by someone who she should have been able to count on to tell her the truth about this matter, and thus she acted in good conscience. She was doing something that she thought was appropriate and, I assume, was trying to please God in so doing. God honors and accepts her good motives and attempt to please him.
The ex-nun, on the other hand, did objectively mislead your mother. Whether the ex-nun is culpable for this, I cannot say. Her training in Church teaching and law may have been so poor that she is not culpable for having misrepresented matters to your mother. On the other hand, she may harbor a dissident attitude that rejects and seeks to undermine the sacramental discipline of the Church. Ultimately, only she and God know her heart.
Hope this helps!
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Good post, I linked it on my blog.
Thank You for your help Jimmy. My mother felt terrible about the whole thing. I told her about needing to be in “communion” with the catholic church before taking the bread. Your explanation makes good sense.
I’ve always wondered about the canon you quote, since it specifies those “who cannot approach a minister of their own community”. But since we don’t accept Anglican or Protestant orders, if such a person WAS properly disposed, then going to his own minister wouldn’t help anyway. Is that clause only intended for Eastern Orthodox (and suchlike)? Could a Protestant who’d come to accept the Real Presence receive the Eucharist on his death bed, from a Catholic priest, even though a Protestant minister was standing next to him? Hypothetically?