| The practice of criticizing
Catholics as disobedient or even denying them Holy
Communion for the manner in which they attempt to receive it (kneeling,
genuflecting, tongue etc.) continues in some places despite letters such
as the following from the Holy See, prohibiting such denials and
threatening canonical sanctions against priests who do so. The following was published
in the November/December 2002 issue of Notitiae, the journal of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The
bishop to whom it was addressed was not identified.
Prot. n. 1322/02/L
Rome, 1 July 2002
Your Excellency,
This
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has
recently received reports of members of the faithful in your Diocese being
refused Holy Communion unless while standing to receive, as opposed to
kneeling. The reports state that such a policy has been announced to
parishioners. There were possible indications that such a phenomenon might
be somewhat more widespread in the Diocese, but the Congregation is unable
to verify whether such is the case. This Dicastery is confident that Your
Excellency will be in a position to make a more reliable determination of
the matter, and these complaints in any event provide an occasion for the
Congregation to communicate the manner in which it habitually addresses
this matter, with a request that you make this position known to any
priests who may be in need of being thus informed.
The Congregation in fact is concerned at the
number of similar complaints that it has received in recent months from
various places, and considers any refusal of Holy Communion to a member of
the faithful on the basis of his or her kneeling posture to be a grave
violation of one of the most basic rights of the Christian faithful,
namely that of being assisted by their Pastors by means of the Sacraments
(Codex Iuris Canonici, canon 213). In view of the law that "sacred ministers may not
deny the sacraments to those who opportunely ask for them, are properly
disposed and are not prohibited by law from receiving them" (canon
843 § 1), there should be no such refusal to any Catholic who presents
himself for Holy Communion at Mass, except in cases presenting a danger of
grave scandal to other believers arising out of the person's unrepented
public sin or obstinate heresy or schism, publicly professed or declared.
Even where the Congregation has approved of legislation denoting standing
as the posture for Holy Communion, in accordance with the adaptations
permitted to the Conferences of Bishops by the Institutio
Generalis Missalis Romani n.160, paragraph 2, it has done so with the
stipulation that communicants who choose to kneel are not to be denied
Holy Communion on these grounds.
In
fact, as His Eminence, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has recently emphasized,
the practice of kneeling for Holy Communion has in its favor a
centuries-old tradition, and it is a particularly expressive sign of
adoration, completely appropriate in light of the true, real and
substantial presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the consecrated
species.
Given
the importance of this matter, the Congregation would request that Your
Excellency inquire specifically whether this priest in fact has a regular
practice of refusing Holy Communion to any member of the faithful in the
circumstances described above and—if the complaint is verified—that
you also firmly instruct him and any other priests who may have such a
practice to refrain from acting thus in the future. Priests should
understand that the Congregation will regard future complaints of this
nature with great seriousness, and if they are verified, it intends to
seek disciplinary action consonant with the gravity of the pastoral abuse.
Thanking
Your Excellency for your attention to this matter and relying on your kind
collaboration in its regard,
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Jorge A. Card. MEDINA ESTÉVEZ
Prefect
Francesco
Pio TAMBURRINO
Archbishop Secretary
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