The American magazine Catholic Response
has published an English translation of a provocative article, originally
published in the official Vatican newspaper, calling for an end to the practice
of receiving Communion in the hand.
The article by Bishop Athanasius Schneider of
Karaganda, Kazakhstan, originally printed in L'Osservatore Romano,
examines the historical record of Catholic practice, concluding that the early
Church quickly developed the practice in which lay people Communion on the
tongue while kneeling. Only ordained ministers were allowed to touch the
consecrated Host with their hands.
By the 6th century, Bishop Schneider writes,
the Church had formed a consensus that Communion should be received on the
tongue, of reverence for the Eucharistic Lord. Pope Gregory the Great chastised
priests who resisted that consensus, and it was become an "almost universal
practice" in the early Church, the author says.
Kneeling to receive Communion was also a
pattern established early in Church history, Bishop Schneider reports. That
posture, too, was seen as a means of expressing reverence for Jesus in the
Eucharist, and "the most typical gesture of adoration is the biblical one of
kneeling."
By administering Communion on the tongue,
priests were able to foster greater devotion to the Eucharist; Bishop Schneider
remarks that that form is "an impressive sign of the profession of faith the in
the Real Presence."
He adds the argument that this form of
distributing Communion can prevent accidents. The author cites St. Cyril of
Jerusalem, who exhorted priests to use extra caution "so that no even a crumb of
the Lord's Body could fall to the ground."
The article published in L'Osservatore
Romano, and now translated in Catholic Response, summarizes the more
complete argument that Bishop Schneider put forward in his book, Dominus Est.
That book, released in Italy earlier this year, drew special notice for two
reasons. It was published by the official Vatican press, and a preface was
contributed by Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, the secretary of the Congregation for
Divine Worship, who said it was "high time to review" the policy of allowing
laymen to receive Communion in the hand.
Courtesy of
Catholic World News
