Non-Catholics Receiving Communion

Hello Father,

I have many non-Catholic friends that don't understand why they cannot receive communion if they go to a Catholic church when their churches offer communion to everyone. How do I explain this to them?

Thanks,
Kim


Kim,

The reason that many non-Catholic Christians have difficulty understanding why they cannot receive Holy Communion in the Catholic Church is because they have a fundamentally different understanding of both the Church and the Eucharist. Catholics understand the Church to be established by Christ on his twelve apostles with St. Peter as the head. The descendants in the Faith down throughout history is the college of bishops under the Pope. When Jesus gave us the real presence of His Body and Blood at the Last Supper He entrusted it to His Church under their leadership. While we rejoice in the shared Christian faith that our non-Catholic brothers and sisters have we also must recognize the sad and deep divisions that still exist in us as Christians whom our Lord commanded that we should all be on. Many Christians think that joint reception of communion is part of that road toward unity. However, for Catholics the reception of the Holy Eucharist is a sign of that unity. Receiving the Eucharist is not merely a sign of our Christian belief but is supposed to fully manifest the reality of our Christian faith. This means that when we receive Holy Communion we believe that it is truly the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ (which almost no non-Catholics believe). We believe in the Church that Christ established (as Catholics understand that). We believe in all that the Church teaches in her name. This is clearly not the case for non-Christians. Even when one may come to believe these things it is important that they come into the Church for belonging to the institutional Church is part of the command of Christ that we all be one in faith in Him. Therefore, to receive the Body of our Lord into our own bodies is an act of saying yes to these realities. If we do not hold to these realities than in effect the reception of Holy Communion becomes a dishonest act. As the Scriptures tells us anyone who receives the Body and Blood of our Lord unworthily brings condemnation upon themselves. This is why it is also wrong for Catholics who are greatly at odds with the Church's teaching (such as abortion or the practice of artificial contraception) to receive Holy Communion. Such is the reasoning as to why the Catholic Church does not practice inter-communion. Such is also the reason why Catholics are not supposed to receive communion from other Christian bodies. Some may perceive this as denying people our Lord but this is not really the case. True, the Lord invites all to his table but we have our part to do. The Church does not deny Holy Communion but rather people deny it to themselves by the way that they live their lives. When we say yes to the realities mentioned above we say yes to our Lord in the fullest sense. Then we can truly rejoice at the reception of our Lord in the Eucharist. Lastly, while some non-Catholics may not accept this we ask that they respect the practice of our Church as we do theirs.

Fr. Pisut