A few words about Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion

Posted At : August 10, 2008 11:07 AM | Posted By : name
Related Categories: Catechism,Church Bulletin Archives

August 10, 2008 - St. Joseph Church Bulletin, Girardville, PA

[Please note that nothing that I write here is “just my opinion”. Everything I write here is fact. Everything I write here is based on Church law and can easily be documented. If anyone tells you that anything I write here about terminology or about the role of Extraordinary Ministers is incorrect or slanted or out of date or “the opinion of a right-winger”, please tell that person to produce the evidence.]

#1 — There is no such thing in the Catholic Church as an Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister (or Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist). There never has been and there never will be. The only kinds of “Eucharistic ministers” that exist or that have ever existed are bishops and presbyters. Bishops and presbyters (what we commonly call “priests”) are the only persons who have the power to offer the Mass, i.e. to consecrate the bread and wine. Because bishops and presbyters are the only ministers of the Eucharist, then the term “ordinary minister of the Eucharist” is superfluous and is never used, because it implies that there might be some “extraordinary minister of the Eucharist”, but there is not. Not even a deacon is a minister of the Eucharist! Bishops and presbyters are both “sacerdos”, but a deacon is not a “sacerdos”. One must be a “sacerdos” to be a minister of the Eucharist.

#2 — We have to distinguish between “Holy Eucharist” and “Holy Communion”. The terms are not interchangeable. “Holy Communion” is the act whereby a person receives the Holy Eucharist from some other person (known as a “minister of Holy Communion”). There are ordinary ministers of Holy Communion and there are extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. The ordinary ministers of Holy Communion are three and only three: bishops, presbyters (priests) and deacons.

#3 — In ideal circumstances, there will always be a sufficient number of Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (OMHC) to take care of the needs of the congregation. In less-than-ideal circumstances, there might be a need for the bishop — usually at the request of the pastor of the parish — to appoint one or more laypersons to serve as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHC).

#4 — Very important to note is this: It is considered desirable — even ideal — that laypersons should assist the priest at Mass as lectors, cantors and servers. A pastor does well if he tries to recruit and encourage laypersons to fill these roles at Mass. A pastor should look for opportunities to include as many members of his parish as possible (as long as they are competent) in the roles of lector, cantor and server. However, it is not considered desirable — and it is far from the ideal — that a pastor should look for opportunities to include laypersons as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. If there is a clear and unmistakable NEED for a parish to have EMHC, then the pastor would probably do well to train a few (a very few) members of his congregation to serve as EMHC and then ask the bishop to appoint them. However — and here is where the liberal Catholic will exit screaming — it is always sad to see laypersons distributing Holy Communion. Why? Because it implies one of two things: (a) that the diocese / parish is not producing sufficient priests and deacons to tend to the needs of the people or (b) that the element of Catholic faith known as “Eucharistic awe” has been sadly diminished in favor of some sort of “Fellowship of Word and Bread” and the parish is moving towards Catholicism Lite — an ersatz religion for which our fathers were definitely not chained in prisons dark.

#5 — Some priests, may God forgive them, have gone so far as to concoct situations in which laypersons will distribute Holy Communion while they (the priests) busy themselves with something else. Pope John Paul II said that priests who do this betray a “reprehensible” attitude.