Non-Catholic Christians and the Eucharist

A question often arises about the Eucharist of our brothers and sisters of the Christian faith who are not Catholic. There is a similar question about our fellow Christians and their participation in the Catholic Mass. This can be a delicate matter.

As Catholics we are committed to the one Church, established by Christ. All of us who were baptized validly (with water and the invocation of the names of the persons of the Trinity, exactly as in Matthew 28:19) are members of the Church. However, as you will recall from last week’s column, there is sadly a division over certain aspects of our faith and Church hierarchy, and this spills over into an understanding of the Eucharist and the Real Presence of Jesus.

As most of us realize, we request our Christian brethren to refrain from partaking in the Eucharist at a Catholic Mass. This is done out of respect for our belief in the Real Presence and our acknowledgment of the differences that exist in our doctrines. We are happy, however, to have persons of all faiths, especially fellow Christians, to worship with us at Mass.

There is no restriction on our attendance at services in Christian houses of worship (please note, of course, that this is not a substitute for the obligation to attend Mass each Sunday). However, the Catholic Church forbids us to partake in the Eucharist at these services for exactly the same reason as the prior paragraph. It is disrespectful for us to do so. There is no problem participating in prayers, psalms and hymns that are not contradictory to the Catholic faith.

Despite these differences in our understanding of the Eucharist, let us continue to commit ourselves to and pray for unity among all Christians, united in the one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

"Catholic ministers may lawfully administer the sacraments only to catholic members of Christ’s faithful, who equally may lawfully receive them only from catholic ministers." - Code of Canon Law, No. 844, Section 1

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Contact me at eucharist@stmli.org.