Due to many readers' requests we present below the official
Vatican Documents on Communion in the hand together with the introduction and
footnotes that we published in 1981 in The Fatima Crusader, Issue No. 7.
The
following are the official rules that must be followed if Communion in the hand
is to be given. If these 7 conditions are not present in a location, then it is
always forbidden for a priest to give Communion in the hand.
The Regulations of the Vatican Concerning Communion in the
Hand
Due to the interest and requests addressed to the Editor for
this information, we present the following translation of the letter which the
Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship1 sends to those Conferences of
Catholic bishops which have petitioned the Pope and which have received
permission from His Holiness to allow the practice of giving Holy Communion in
the hand. It is then the responsibility of each Ordinary, that is the bishop or
Archbishop in charge of a diocese to allow or not allow this practice within
the confines of his territory. For those places where this practice is
legitimately allowed, the Bishop Ordinary is advised that this practice be
allowed only under the following conditions as set out by this letter of
permission.
Unofficial Translation2
The instruction (in the preceding, Memoriale Domini)3 is
completed in pastoral matters by this letter which concedes to Episcopal
Conferences the indult4 of distributing Holy Communion in the hand of the
Faithful. This letter has all the conditions necessary for allowing the use of
this indult.
Your Excellency,
In reply to the request presented by Your Episcopal Conference
asking for permission to distribute Holy Communion by giving the Host into the
hand of the Faithful, I hereby transmit the following communication:
While recalling the subject of the enclosed instruction of May
29, 1969, by which the traditional practice is maintained, the Holy Father has
taken into consideration the reasons in support of your request and the results
of the vote taken in this matter. He grants that, in the territory of Your
Episcopal Conference, each bishop, according to his prudence and his
conscience, may authorize in his own diocese the introduction of the new rite
for the distribution of Holy Communion. This is granted on condition that every
occasion of scandal on the part of the Faithful and all danger of irreverence
towards the Eucharist is avoided.
In this matter, the following norms are to be followed:
1. The new manner of giving Communion must not be imposed in
such a way that the traditional practice is excluded. It is especially
important that each one of the Faithful has the possibility to receive Holy
Communion on the tongue, wherever the new practice is legitimately allowed, and
at the same time as other persons who receive the Host in the hand. In effect,
the two ways of receiving Communion may co-exist without difficulty in the same
liturgical action. The purpose of the foregoing is so that no one will find in
the new rite a cause to have his own spiritual sensibilities towards the
Eucharist disturbed and so that this Sacrament, which is of its nature a source
and cause of unity, does not become an occasion of discord among the Faithful.
2. The rite of giving Holy Communion in the hand must not be
used without discretion. In effect, since we are dealing with a human attitude,
it is linked with the sensibilities and the preparation of the one who assumes
it. It is convenient therefore to introduce this practice gradually, beginning
with groups and social environments (milieu) which are more suited and more
prepared. It is above all necessary that the introduction of this rite be
preceded by adequate catechesis, in order that the Faithful understand exactly
the meaning of the gesture and may perform it with the respect due to this most
august Sacrament. The result of this catechesis must be such as to exclude any
appearance that the Church is weakening in any way her faith in the Eucharistic
presence, and such that there is no danger of profanation or even the
appearance of danger of profanation.
3. The possibility offered to the Faithful to receive in his
hand and to put in his mouth the Eucharistic Bread must not offer to him an
occasion of considering It to be like ordinary bread or something merely
blessed; on the contrary, this possibility of receiving in the hand must5 augment in the Faithful the sense of his dignity as a member of the Mystical
Body of Christ, into Which he is incorporated by Baptism, and by the grace of
the Eucharist, and this possibility also must5 increase his faith in the
great reality of the Body and Blood of the Lord Which he touches with his
hands. His attitude of respect will be proportioned to how he carries out this
sacred gesture.
4. Regarding the manner of doing this, the guidelines of the
old tradition should be followed which make evident the ministerial function of
the priest or the deacon so that he is the one who places the Host in the hand
of the communicant ...6 the Faithful receiving Communion must consume the Host
before returning to his place. The part of the minister will be underlined by
the customary formula: "The Body of Christ", to which the communicant will
reply, "Amen."
5. Whatever manner is adopted, one must take care to not drop or
lose any particles of the Eucharistic Bread, one must also take care to see
that the hands are suitably clean, and that there be observed the proper
composure of gestures according to the customs of the various peoples.
6. In the case of Communion under both species distributed by
intinction, it is never permitted to place in the hand of the Faithful the Host
which has been dipped in the Blood of the Lord.
7. Bishops who permit the introduction of the new manner of
giving Holy Communion are requested to send after six months a report to this
Sacred Congregation concerning the results of this concession.
I take this occasion to express to Your Excellency, my
sentiments of profound esteem.
Signed by the Cardinal Prefect
and the Archbishop
Secretary
| Footnotes |
| 1. |
The Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship is now known as
The Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship. This Sacred
Congregation has general competence over the ritual and pastoral aspects of
divine worship in the Roman and other Latin rites. This Sacred Congregation
supervises the discipline of the Sacraments without prejudice to the
competencies of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and other
curial departments. |
| 2. |
Taken from the Acta Apostolicae Sedis 1969, pages
546-547. |
| 3. |
In the volume for 1969 of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis the Instruction Memoriale Domini immediately precedes this letter. This
Instruction confirms that the law of the Church for the Latin Rites is that
Holy Communion is to be received on the tongue. In 1980, the Instruction Inaestimabile Donum issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments
and Divine Worship, dated April 3, 1980, confirmed that the Instruction Memoriale Domini is still in effect. |
| 4. |
An indult is a permission granted by a legitimate authority. |
| 5. |
In order to permit the use of this indult, two "musts" are
required in this paragraph, namely; the sense of dignity of the Faithful thus
receiving must be increased, and the communicant's faith in the great reality
of the Eucharist must be increased. |
| 6. |
In the original norms laid down, the option of the Faithful
himself picking up the Consecrated Host was mentioned but shortly thereafter
this option was no longer allowed. And it was definitely forbidden by authority
of Pope John Paul II as can be seen in the Instruction Inaestimabile
Donum, published in English in early June 1980 issue of L'Osservatore
Romano. This document was approved by Pope John Paul II in April 1980. |
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