EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS – ARE THEY LICIT?
This is an important question. Every Weekend in some parishes one will see an army of Extraordinary ministers walk up on the altar to distribute Holy Communion with the pastor. I am going to be blunt, No, they are not licit except in cases of real necessity. Unless a person believes it is okay to disobey and ignore decrees from Rome. Pope John Paul II issued an encyclical in 1980 titled Inaestimabile Donum. In it he decreed, concerning Extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist are NOT TO BE USED EXCEPT IN CASE OF REAL NECESSITY:
Number 10. ‘’The faithful, whether religious or lay, who are authorized as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist can distribute Communion only when there is no priest, deacon or acolyte, when the priest is impeded by illness or advanced age, or when the number of the faithful going to communion is so large as to make the celebration of Mass excessively long. [20] Accordingly, a reprehensible attitude is shown by those priests who, though present at the celebration, refrain from distributing Communion and leave this task to the laity.’’ Note the words, ‘only.’
This was from Pope John Paul II. This is an instruction, a decree from Rome, as Fr. Robert Brown informed this author many years ago, ‘’To correct abuses in the liturgy.’’ So if it’s written to correct abuses, how is it okay for the clergy to ignore it? It’s not. It’s a sin of disobedience, and if it’s ongoing, then the American bishops who do not follow it are in schism.
Is it permissible to receive Holy Communion from an Extraordinary minister? Only if there is a real necessity, according to what the document sates above. Otherwise, it is not permissible, say, for instance, if the clergy use them at daily Masses where there is no need for them. This is oftentimes the case, at a great many daily Masses they are used routinely. So, what happens if we choose unnessasarily to receive from them? We too would be guilty of disobedience and would sin. It is a sin to disobey the pope in anything but sin. Therefore, Fr. Nicholas Gruner stated, “We would then be part of the problem.’’
Fr. Gruner goes on to explain why we should not receive Holy Communion in the hand. He explains most of all, that Particles break off in the hand, and if people do not look in their hands for Particles, and a Particle falls to the ground, the recipient is guilty of sacrilege. ‘’Whether knowingly or unknowingly,’’ Fr. Says, ‘’a sacrilege has been committed.’’ These Particle, the Church teaches, is God, Jesus Christ himself. Ask yourself, if you have been taking Holy Communion in the hand for a long time, “How many sacrileges have I been guilty of?’’ Because Particles do break off. Haven’t you ever noticed how scrupulously the priest purifies the vessels after Holy Communion?
Why Catholics Should not Receive Communion in the Hand – Part 1 https://bit.ly/2OvMKFT
Why Catholics Should not Receive Communion in the Hand – Part 2 https://bit.ly/2Yq6Vcf