Many Catholics are asking the question. The
Holy See has already answered—emphatically. In these
responses to individuals the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments clarifies
the mind of the legislator, the Holy Father, in
promulgating the Roman Missal and the General Instruction
of the Roman Missal, including any national adaptations
confirmed by the Holy See. Identifying information has
been removed, as indicated by the Xs in the text.
Congregatio de Cultu Divino et Disciplina
Sacramentorum
Prot. n. xxxx/02/L
xx 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 s. 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 Institution 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 had 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. Cardinal Medina Estévez
Prefect
Francesco Pio Tamburrino
Archbishop Secretary
Congregatio de Cultu Divino et Disciplina
Sacramentorum
Prot. n. xxxx/02/L
xx July 2002
Dear Xxxx,
This Congregation for Divine Worship gratefully acknowledges receipt
of your letter, regarding an announced policy of denial of Holy
Communion to those who kneel to receive it at a certain church.
It is troubling that you seem to express some reservations about both
the propriety and the usefulness of addressing the Holy See regarding
this matter. Canon 212 s.2 of the Code of Canon Law states that
"Christ's faithful are totally free to make known their needs,
especially their spiritual ones, and their desire: to the Pastor of the
Church." The canon then continues in s.3: "According to their
own knowledge competence and position, they have the right, and indeed
sometimes the duty, to present to the sacred Pastor; their opinions
regarding those things that pertain to the good of the Church."
Accordingly, in consideration of the nature of the problem and the
relative likelihood that it might or might not be resolved on the local
level, every member of the faithful has the right of recourse to the
Roman Pontiff either personally or by means of the Dicasteries or
Tribunals of the Roman Curia.
Another fundamental right of the faithful, as noted in canon 213, is
"the right to receive assistance by the sacred Pastors from the
spiritual goods of the Church, especially the word of God and the
Sacraments." 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 s.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 Institution 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.
Please be assured that the Congregation takes this matter very
seriously, and is making the necessary contacts in its regard. At the
same time, this Dicastery continues to be ready to be of assistance if
you should need to contact it again in the future.
Thanking you for your interest, and with every prayerful good wish, I
am
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Mons. Mario Marini
Undersecretary
Congregatio de Culto Divino et Disciplina
Sacramentorum
Prot. N. xxxx/02/L
Rome, xx February, 2003
Dear _______:
This Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments has received your letter dated xx December 2002, related to
the application of the norms approved by the Conference of Bishops of
the United States of America, with the subsequent recognitio of
this Congregation, as regards the question of the posture for receiving
Holy Communion.
As the authority by virtue of whose recognitio the norm in
question has attained the force of law, this Dicastery is competent to
specify the manner in which the norm is to be understood for the sake of
a proper application. Having received more than a few letters regarding
this matter from different locations in the United States of America,
the Congregation wishes to ensure that its position on the matter is
clear.
To this end, it is perhaps useful to respond to your inquiry by
repeating the content of a letter that the Congregation recently
addressed to a Bishop in the United States of America from whose Diocese
a number of pertinent letters had been received. The letter states: "...
while this Congregation gave the recognitio to the norm
desired by the Bishops' Conference of your country that people stand for
Holy Communion, this was done on the condition that communicants who
choose to kneel are not to be denied Holy Communion on these grounds.
Indeed, the faithful should not be imposed upon nor accused of
disobedience and of acting illicitly when they kneel to receive Holy
Communion."
This Dicastery hopes that the citation given here will provide an
adequate answer to your letter. At the same time, please be assured that
the Congregation remains ready to be of assistance if you should need to
contact it again.
With every prayerful good wish, I am
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Mons. Mario Marini
Undersecretary
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