Posted on 05/05/2020 5:31:55 PM PDT by ebb tide
DETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) - Many U.S. bishops are using fear of the Wuhan virus to illegally suspend the universal right of Catholics to receive Holy Communion on the tongue.
A well-placed source inside the Lansing diocese told Church Militant that Michigan's bishops are collectively working to find a way they can require people to receive Holy Communion only in the hand once public Masses resume.
Bp. Earl Boyea of Lansing
"They're kicking it around," and likely "trying to get permission through the Vatican," said the source.
"All Michigan bishops are involved in this, not just Lansing," the source added.
Michigan bishops know they need permission from Rome because the Vatican previously overruled attempts of bishops to ban Communion on the tongue in attempts to avoid germs.
In 2009, a lay Catholic in Britain facing restriction on receiving Communion on the tongue owing to the swine flu scare, wrote to the Congregation of Divine Worship (CDW) which responded:
This dicastery observes that its Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum (March 25, 2004) clearly stipulates that "each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion of the tongue" (n. 92) nor is it licit to deny Holy Communion to any of Christ's faithful who are not impeded by law from receiving the Holy Eucharist.
The Vatican followed up in 2004 with the CDW by publishing a universally binding instruction on the liturgy titled, "Redemptionis Sacramentum," which regulates Mass rubrics. Paragraph 92 of the instruction stipulates, "each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at his choice."
Unlike the stealth approach used by Michigan bishops, other prelates are more forthcoming about their plans to force each Catholic to receive the Eucharist in the hand, contrary to his well-formed conscience.
Each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue.Tweet
Orlando Bp. John Noonan announced May 1 that this change in how the Blessed Sacrament is received will be implemented once public Mass resumes.
"When we receive the Eucharist, it will be the Sacred Host alone; the Eucharist will be offered on the hand only," warned Noonan.
Bp. John Noonan of Orlando
The same video further instructs Catholics to make their hands into a throne to hold the "Bread of Heaven."
"When we receive the Sacred Host, we will receive in the hand," stated the commentator.
Noonan is far from alone. A statement from the Milwaukee archdiocese is telling parishioners that when public Mass resumes on May 31, "Communion is to be received ONLY in the HAND."
The archdiocese of Denver is likewise planning to force each faithful Catholic to receive Holy Communion in the hand, even if it violates his conscience.
"Similar to protocols established in early March, extra precautions will be taken, like suspending the distribution of the Precious Blood and receiving Holy Communion only on the hand," reported the Denver Catholic.
Bp. John Folda of Fargo
Similar statements are coming from multiple dioceses across the country including the dioceses of Salt Lake City and Fargo, North Dakota.
Fargo's Bp. John Folda seemingly contradicted himself on April 30 by telling his faithful they do have a right to receive the Blessed Sacrament on the tongue but that he was suspending that right anyway.
"Although the faithful are entitled to receive Holy Communion either on the tongue or in the hands," affirmed Folda, "in order to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus, the extraordinary measure will be taken of only receiving Holy Communion in the hand."
But at least two archbishops, including Abp. Alexander Sample of the archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, are saying that Communion on the tongue doesn't pose any greater health risk than does reception in the hand.
Through a statement from the archdiocese on Mar. 2, Sample affirmed that receiving Holy Communion on the tongue or in the hand posed equal health risks.
Abp. Alexander Sample of Portland
"This morning we consulted with two physicians regarding this issue, one of which is a specialist in immunology for the State of Oregon. They agreed that done properly the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue or in the hand pose a more or less equal risk," said the statement. "The risk of touching the tongue and passing the saliva on to others is obviously a danger, however the chance of touching someone's hand is equally probable and one's hands have a greater exposure to germs."
Archbishop José Antonio Eguren Anselmi of the Piura archdiocese made a similar assertion in March when assuring parishioners they would not be forced to receive the Blessed Sacrament in the hand.
"Holy Communion can continue to be received in the usual way at the choice of the faithful Christian, that is, either in the mouth or in the hand," said Eguren, "since world experts in immunology point out that the risk of contagion, between ... communion in the mouth or in the hand is the same."
Regardless of the fact that Catholics have a universal right to receive Holy Communion reverently on the tongue, many have contacted Church Militant in the last two months saying they fear that lawless bishops may soon attempt to strip them of this right. The risk of profanation may move many of them to avoid receiving the Eucharist altogether.
The Catholic Church teaches that the Eucharist is not a symbol, but the real body, blood soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, requiring that He be received with the utmost reverence.
Ping
Some of the faithful have attempted to sway him on Twitter, citing this very clear canon law ruling on the rights of the laity, plus the public health testimony that the hands are germier than the mouth, to no avail., He won't be persuaded, neither by scientific fact nor by canon law.
:o(
Read the book, “Get Us Out of Here: by Maria Simma and you will never, never, never again receive Communion in your hand. It is a practice that makes Christ very unhappy.
**But at least two archbishops, including Abp. Alexander Sample of the archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, are saying that Communion on the tongue doesn’t pose any greater health risk than does reception in the hand.
Through a statement from the archdiocese on Mar. 2, Sample affirmed that receiving Holy Communion on the tongue or in the hand posed equal health risks. **
Pass this information on to him with the hotlink in it.
The Vatican has also made it clear that Well-disposed individual members of the faithful moreover are not to be chastised by priests celebrating the Novus Ordo mass (also referred to as the Ordinary Form of the Mass) if they choose to receive the Most Holy Sacrament while in a kneeling posture.
When in a kneeling posture before the altar, one always receives on the tongue, never in the hand.
The prohibition these Bishops are contemplating would therefore constitute a two-fer. No more kneeling to receive, and no more reception on the tongue.
But wait. There’s more.
During Traditional Latin Masses, also referred to as the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, reception of the Most Holy Sacrament takes place exclusively while kneeling at the altar rail, and on the tongue. The only exception to receiving while on one’s knees is if there is a medical or physical difficulty that practically prevents it. And there has never been any provision for receiving in the hand during a TLM/Extraordinary Form Mass.
But wait. There’s even more!
A few days ago, Cardinal Sarah weighed in and underscored the absolute right on the part of a well-disposed member of the faithful to receive the Most Blessed Sacrament on the tongue
Cardinal Sarah is not Pope. But as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, he outranks everyone else who isn’t Pope, with the possible exception, after a recent reorganization, of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State.
Cardinal Sarah would most likely need to be contradicted by none other than Pope Francis himself in order for local ordinaries (bishops and archbishops in charge of actual dioceses) in America and elsewhere to feel themselves free to institute the ban they are currently contemplating with respect to reception on the tongue.
If Pope Francis chooses not to contradict Cardinal Sarah, look for local ordinaries worldwide to react (once the Sunday Mass precept is reinstituted) by instructing priests and pastors to refrain from distributing the Host to anyone after priestly consecration and consumption. In other words, for the time being at least, the priest who says Mass will be the only one permitted to consume the Host.
The following comment was recently left at ChurchMilitant.com in response to the originally posted article (On research, Fr. Robideau appears to be a priest in the diocese of Lansing, Michigan who, with the permission of his local ordinary, currently specializes in celebrating the traditional Latin mass (TLM)):
Jeffrey Robideau
a day ago
edited
I am a priest and I distribute holy communion on the tongue exclusively and it has been a long time since anyone has licked my finger. When it happens, it is usually because the communicant does a scooping motion with their tongue as I place it there.
It is very important that you hold still until the host is there and then to pull the tongue straight back into the mouth.
That little lesson set aside, back in my pagan days where I did give communion in the hand, I touched each and every hand. With the tongue, I very rarely have any contact as described above. So you tell me which one is safer.
As a cute note: a parishioner called me to ask what I was going to do on this issue. She had told a friend that I would rather die than to place communion in the hand. She wanted to confirm that She was correct. I confirmed it.
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