Can a Catholic receive communion in a Protestant church?

US Catholic ^ | 08/30/2011 | Kevin Considine

[SeekAndFind]

Should you pass on communion at a Lutheran church or participate fully?

You are at the wedding of a beloved family member or friend, which is taking place at a Lutheran church. You gladly accepted the invitation to celebrate this happy day with the bride and groom. But then there is a call to come to the table of the Lord’s Supper, to receive communion. This is the awkward moment you knew was coming. Can you, and should you, a practicing Catholic, accept the invitation?

According to the Code of Canon Law, receiving communion in a Protestant church is generally not permissible. According to canon 844, “Catholic ministers may licitly administer the sacraments to Catholic members of the Christian faithful only and, likewise, the latter may licitly receive the sacraments only from Catholic ministers.” The key term here is licit. If a Catholic receives communion from a Protestant minister, it is generally considered “illicit” or unlawful.

The reason for the Catholic Church’s general rule against sharing in the Eucharist with other churches is that a person can only be in full communion with one church. As a Catholic, the core of one’s union with Christ is union with the church. The center of this union lies in the reception of the sacrament of the Eucharist during Mass, which is both a confession and embodiment of unity with the Roman Catholic Church.

But canon 844 includes an exception to the rule “whenever necessity requires or general spiritual advantage suggests, and provided that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided.”

The Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism said that, as a general rule, common worship and eucharistic and other sacramental sharing should “signify the unity of the church.” But it acknowledges that such sharing can also be seen as advancing unity. In fact, according to the decree, “the gaining of a needed grace sometimes commends” it.

Still, within the confines of canon law, the exceptions to the rule are rather limited, and receiving communion from a Lutheran pastor during a wedding would normally be seen as “illicit” for Catholic wedding guests. At the same time, some Catholics would like to, and do, receive communion on these rare occasions.

These Catholics, after a careful examination of their conscience, find compelling reasons to “gain a needed grace” by receiving communion in a Protestant church. And it is also true that eucharistic sharing has occurred at the highest levels of the church. Even Jesus occasionally broke the religious law of his day, though he did so to fulfill the “spirit” of the law.

So it is possible that one could follow Jesus’ lead. In our example a compelling reason might be to demonstrate one’s deep love and commitment to nurturing the relationship of the newly married couple. Intercommunion could be a “yes” to God by witnessing to God’s presence in the marriage and committing to God’s work of salvation in their lives.

In the end, this may be fulfilling the “spirit” of canon law while going against the letter.

-- Kevin Considine, a Ph.D. candidate in theology at Loyola University in Chicago. This article appears in the October 2011 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 76, No. 10, page 46).

[Mrs. Don-o]

Christ's Peace to you! Since you are "a churchless methodist who goes to mass and hasn't taken commnunion in 3 years," I can take the opportunity to thank you for doing the right thing. You have respected our Sacraments by refraining from receiving them. It shows that you take our belief seriously.

I don't presume to know what your other beliefs or convictions might be, but I do appreciate your thoughtfulness on this one. You have a hold on the truth. I will pray that that "hold" will bring you along, at last, to the fullness of the Feast.

[narses]

And this from a Ph. D. - just goes to show. Feel free to pick apart the errors here. The short answer, btw is NO, the longer answer is NO, NEVER.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Oh, you know we Catholics don't worship idols.

We worship felt banners.

:o/

[katana]

Most definitely in the denomination I and my family belong to (Disciples, the ones with the Chalice and Cross of St. Andrew as their "symbol").

The only requirement is the communicant "accepts Christ as his Lord and Savior" - to quote the weekly lead in by minister.

Grape juice rather than wine and the Deacons serve instead of a Priest, but we take Holy Communion as something any professing Christian can partake in with us. I'd say about a quarter or more of our congregation is former (or is it "lapsed" / "retired"?) Roman Catholic.

Trivia: it's the denomination Reagan belonged to. Eureka College (and Mt. Union, Hiram, and quite a few others) is associated with the denomination.

[katana]

I should add, of course, that my understanding is the RCC considers it Verboten. The phrasing of the question is a bit imprecise.

[Charles Henrickson]

But it is NOT a sacrament in protestant churches.

Lutherans believe it is indeed a sacrament. In the Small Catechism, under "The Sacrament of the Altar," we teach:

What is the Sacrament of the Altar?

It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink.

[AnAmericanMother]

Correct. This seminarian is all wet and needs to go back and read Canon 844 more carefully. Maybe he needs to repeat a year or two, or take a remedial reading course.

As it happens, I'm very familiar with 844, because when we left the Episcopal Church and went Straight Over to Rome, we consulted with our new rector regarding reception of the Eucharist before we were confirmed. He relied upon the precedent in the chancery of a couple who were ultra-high-church Piskies (as we were) who received in the Catholic Church in remote North Georgia because the local Episcopal parish was "low". Thus sec. 4 of Canon 844:

If there is a danger of death or if, in the judgement of the diocesan Bishop or of the Episcopal Conference, there is some other grave and pressing need, catholic ministers may lawfully administer these same sacraments to other christians not in full communion with the catholic Church, who cannot approach a minister of their own community and who spontaneously ask for them, provided that they demonstrate the catholic faith in respect of these sacraments and are properly disposed.

Since we met these requirements vis a vis belief in the doctrines of the Church, including the Real Presence (I told you we were "high"), and our own ministers were unavailable because the Episcopalians had all gone stark raving mad, we were allowed to receive, after making good Confessions. But only after consultation with proper authority, not on our own.

Taking Communion is a significant and symbolic act. It states that you are "in communion" with the church or denomination in which you receive -- i.e. that you subscribe to all their beliefs and are a member of that community.

A Catholic cannot in good conscience "commune" with a church that is not in line with his beliefs, and the canons forbid his doing so. And a Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist, LCMS, whatever, should likewise refrain from communing with any church that does not adhere to his beliefs.

The Episcopalians, of course, don't believe in much of anything, so they let anybody come forward who feels like it. Reason # 4,729 why I am no longer an Episcopalian.

[Mrs. Don-o]

"Or you can call us anathema, shake the dust off your holy feet, and refuse to share a sacred meal with “Protestants.”

It's not a question of insult or rejection. Catholics are convinced that the Sacrament of the Eucharist signifies,and effects, "full union," just as sexual union signifies, and effects, the Sacrament of Matrimony. This is no exaggeration, but a valid analogy, as we see it.

So I may love you with a sincere love, but that doesn't mean I'm authorized to share the act of marriage with you. That's not to anathematize you or to refuse you something you've a right to expect. That's just to say that, although we may love and respect each other abundantly(and I hope we may do so all the more), we ought not to act out a level of union which we do not, in fact, possess.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Bless you a thousand times!

[bicyclerepair]

My daughter went to a Lutheran church until 6th grade. She received her communion in the Lutheran church.

For middle school she went to a Catholic church. She was all excited to receive her first communion there and they yanked her from line.

Catholicism has been hijacked.

Why can’t priests reproduce? So the assets aren’t liquidated among offspring?

[paterfamilias]

The reason is that Catholics believe in the True Presence. Protestants do not.

Additionally, Catholics must fast and be in a state of grace to receive Communion.

At most weddings and funerals (occasions when non-Catholics may be attending the Mass), the priests usually announce that Communion is limited to Catholics in order to avoid the embarassment that you felt. Also, the missalettes in the pews also list the rules for reception of Communion, generally inside the back cover.

I am sorry for your predicament. It should not have happened.

[stranger and pilgrim]

Natural communion is merely a visible for the spiritual communion that feeds the soul — taking in God’s word (bread) and spirit (wine). If you do the spiritual, the natural doesn’t really matter.

But, that said, if a Catholic BELIEVES it is a sin to take communion at a non-Catholic church, it is:

“whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

[paterfamilias]

Is your daughter Catholic or not?

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thanks, by the way, for several very informative posts about Lutheran practice. I found them interesting and useful.

I always love it when someone like you gets on these sometimes wild and contentious threads and just shares information in an accurate and charitable manner.

As we say in Tennessee, "I 'preciate 'ja!"

[TheRightGuy]

got news for you ... it is the Lord’s Table, not the pope’s.

it is most certainly considered a sacrament in my protestant church, as is baptism.

[narses]

Why can’t priests reproduce? So the assets aren’t liquidated among offspring?

You need help.

[Gamecock]

Nope. That may be true in some liberal Protestant churches, but it is not the case in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), nor in the Wisconsin Synod (WELS) or the ELS.

Nor in a confessional Reformed church. (OPC, PCA, URCNA)

[TheRightGuy]

I am a member in a Disciples church as well. It’s too bad the National Assembly has been hijacked by the lefties. Thank goodness our local congregations have a great deal of autonomy.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I'm sorry, but I'm not clear about your situation. Am I correct in thinking your daughter was not Catholic? And somebody didn't realize that until the last minute? It sounds dreadfully awkward and painful, and I am very sorry it happened that way.

BTW priests can have kids. For instance, married men can become priests, e.g. in the 21 (out of 22) Catholic churches of the East --- churches which are in union with us in the West. And even in the Latin (Western) Church, widowers with children can be priests. It's heart-warming to see the priest's kids at the ordination.

[trisham]

No Catholic child receives communion without proper preparation and instruction. No child that did not receive that preparation and instruction could expect to receive communion.