Radio Show

Can a Eucharistic Minister Deny Me the Eucharist?

 

In this podcast, Father Dave answers a question e-mailed to him about being denied Communion. The listener writes that she was recently hospitalized for cancer surgery in a hospital outside of her home parish’s area, so she requested to be visited by a Eucharistic Minister from a local church when she was in the hospital. “The Eucharistic Minister that visited me said I could not receive Communion, because I told him I had not been to confession in the last year, after he asked me this. … Would you please shed some light on this restriction? I attend Mass every week and have not committed any mortal sin.”

Situations like these really get Father Dave’s goat for a number of reasons. First of all, Father Dave says, “The call to ministry — not just mine, as an ordained priest, or for a nun or brother, but even and perhaps even especially for lay ministry in the Catholic Church — is a call to serve others. It is not a call to be the gatekeeper or the traffic cop. While that may be necessary in some situations, I would say there are very few situations in which that’s really our job… We are called to serve, love, and be merciful to others.”

Brett wonders if the Eucharistic Minister might have had a legitimate reason, even if it wasn’t the most pastoral decision: “What about even if you were being a stickler?”

Father Dave explains that “even to the letter of the law, the Eucharistic Minister was wrong.” In terms of denying the Eucharist to someone for not having received the Sacrament of Reconciliation in more than a year, Father Dave says, “What the minister was thinking of is that there is one of the precepts of the Church which says that at least once a year, Catholics are called to confess any mortal sin.”

This requirement began in the 20th century with Pope Pius XII, who strongly encouraged the faithful to frequently receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, because some Catholics would refrain from receiving the Eucharist for years due to an unconfessed mortal sin.

However, the listener said she had not committed any mortal sins since her last confession, and it is not up to the Eucharistic Minister to decide not to believe her, especially not while she’s lying in a hospital bed recovering from cancer surgery. The listener said that the Eucharistic Minister had asked her when her last confession had been, which, as Father Dave points out, “is not part of the rite.” It is not the job of the Eucharistic Minister to “vet,” as it were, the sick Catholic asking for Communion.

So, while the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a wonderful and important part of our Catholic faith and our relationship with God, Father Dave says this Eucharistic Minister’s decision to deny someone Communion, even though she had not committed a mortal sin since her last confession, is incorrect. Father Dave wishes the listener well and hopes she is recovering successfully from her surgery and that she has had the chance to partake in the Eucharist since her unfortunate encounter. (Original Air 02-03-17)


Photo credit: A eucharistic minister distributes Communion during Mass at Transfiguration Church in Brooklyn, N.Y. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)