An extraordinary minister of Holy Communion in the Catholic Church is, under the 1983 Code of Canon Law, "an acolyte, or another of Christ's faithful deputed", in certain extraordinary circumstances, to distribute Holy Communion. The term "extraordinary" distinguishes such a person from the ordinary minister of Holy Communion, namely a bishop, priest or deacon.[1] Under ordinary circumstances, only bishops, priests, and deacons may distribute Communion in the Catholic Church.
An ordinary minister (priest, foreground) and extraordinary minister (layman, background) distribute Holy Communion.
The 1983 code permits that "[w]here the needs of the Church require and ministers are not available, lay people, even though they are not lectors or acolytes, can supply certain of their functions, that is, exercise the ministry of the word, preside over liturgical prayers, confer baptism and distribute Holy Communion, in accordance with the provisions of the law."[2] The term "lay people" does not distinguish between men and women.
The extraordinary minister's function is to distribute Holy Communion, either within Mass or by taking it to a sick person, when an ordained minister (bishop, priest or deacon) is absent or impeded.[3]
In order to avoid confusion about this function, an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion is not to be called a "special minister of Holy Communion", nor an "extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist", nor a "special minister of the Eucharist".[4]
Ten years before publication of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, some of these expressions were used in the instruction of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments Immensae caritatis of 29 January 1973. They are now reprobated.[5]
The only minister of the Eucharist (that is, someone able to confect the Eucharistic species with bread and wine) is a priest or bishop.[6]
Appointment
An instituted acolyte is an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion by virtue of his institution.[7] Such acolytes are, in practice, seminarians or former seminarians, or those in deacon formation, although canon law allows the ministry to be conferred on any lay people, men or women, who have the age and qualifications that the episcopal conference is to lay down.[2][8] The local bishop, pastor, or priest celebrant may depute other lay Catholics for the temporary function of extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, either for a single occasion or for a specified period of time, if there are reasons of real necessity. The commissioning need not take a liturgical form, but an appropriate blessing, which should in no way resemble ordination, may be imparted. In special cases of an unforeseen nature, the priest celebrating Mass may grant permission for a single occasion.[7]
Extraordinary, not ordinary
Redemptionis sacramentum states: "If there is usually present a sufficient number of sacred ministers for the distribution of Holy Communion, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion may not be appointed. Indeed, in such circumstances, those who may have already been appointed to this ministry should not exercise it. The practice of those priests is reprobated who, even though present at the celebration, abstain from distributing Communion and hand this function over to laypersons."[9] The document adds: "the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion may administer Communion only when the Priest and Deacon are lacking, when the Priest is prevented by weakness or advanced age or some other genuine reason, or when the number of faithful coming to Communion is so great that the very celebration of Mass would be unduly prolonged. [...] [A] brief prolongation, considering the circumstances and culture of the place, is not at all a sufficient reason".[10]
For a time, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion in the United States were allowed to purify the Communion vessels (such as ciboria and chalices), an action that the 2010 General Instruction of the Roman Missal expressly reserves for priest, deacon and instituted acolyte.[11] The special indult authorizing that practice for three years, beginning in 2002, was not renewed.[12]
^Purification of Sacred Vessels by Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
Works cited
Code of Canon Law (CIC). Vatican Publishing House. 1983.
May 20, 2023
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This article relies excessively on references to primary sources Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources Find sources Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message An extraordinary minister of Holy Communion in the Catholic Church is under the 1983 Code of Canon Law an acolyte or another of Christ s faithful deputed in certain extraordinary circumstances to distribute Holy Communion The term extraordinary distinguishes such a person from the ordinary minister of Holy Communion namely a bishop priest or deacon 1 Under ordinary circumstances only bishops priests and deacons may distribute Communion in the Catholic Church An ordinary minister priest foreground and extraordinary minister layman background distribute Holy Communion The 1983 code permits that w here the needs of the Church require and ministers are not available lay people even though they are not lectors or acolytes can supply certain of their functions that is exercise the ministry of the word preside over liturgical prayers confer baptism and distribute Holy Communion in accordance with the provisions of the law 2 The term lay people does not distinguish between men and women Contents 1 Function 2 Appointment 3 Extraordinary not ordinary 4 References 4 1 Works citedFunction EditThe extraordinary minister s function is to distribute Holy Communion either within Mass or by taking it to a sick person when an ordained minister bishop priest or deacon is absent or impeded 3 In order to avoid confusion about this function an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion is not to be called a special minister of Holy Communion nor an extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist nor a special minister of the Eucharist 4 Ten years before publication of the 1983 Code of Canon Law some of these expressions were used in the instruction of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments Immensae caritatis of 29 January 1973 They are now reprobated 5 The only minister of the Eucharist that is someone able to confect the Eucharistic species with bread and wine is a priest or bishop 6 Appointment EditAn instituted acolyte is an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion by virtue of his institution 7 Such acolytes are in practice seminarians or former seminarians or those in deacon formation although canon law allows the ministry to be conferred on any lay people men or women who have the age and qualifications that the episcopal conference is to lay down 2 8 The local bishop pastor or priest celebrant may depute other lay Catholics for the temporary function of extraordinary minister of Holy Communion either for a single occasion or for a specified period of time if there are reasons of real necessity The commissioning need not take a liturgical form but an appropriate blessing which should in no way resemble ordination may be imparted In special cases of an unforeseen nature the priest celebrating Mass may grant permission for a single occasion 7 Extraordinary not ordinary EditRedemptionis sacramentum states If there is usually present a sufficient number of sacred ministers for the distribution of Holy Communion extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion may not be appointed Indeed in such circumstances those who may have already been appointed to this ministry should not exercise it The practice of those priests is reprobated who even though present at the celebration abstain from distributing Communion and hand this function over to laypersons 9 The document adds the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion may administer Communion only when the Priest and Deacon are lacking when the Priest is prevented by weakness or advanced age or some other genuine reason or when the number of faithful coming to Communion is so great that the very celebration of Mass would be unduly prolonged A brief prolongation considering the circumstances and culture of the place is not at all a sufficient reason 10 For a time extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion in the United States were allowed to purify the Communion vessels such as ciboria and chalices an action that the 2010 General Instruction of the Roman Missal expressly reserves for priest deacon and instituted acolyte 11 The special indult authorizing that practice for three years beginning in 2002 was not renewed 12 References Edit CIC 1983 c 910 a b CIC 1983 c 230 Redemptionis sacramentum Archived February 3 2008 at the Wayback Machine 133 Redemptionis sacramentum 156 On Facilitating Reception of Communion in Certain Circumstances EWTN EWTN Global Catholic Television Network Retrieved 2022 07 10 Redemptionis sacramentum 154 a b Redemptionis sacramentum 155 Ministeria quaedam VIII Archived November 3 2011 at the Wayback Machine Redemptionis sacramentum 157 Redemptionis sacramentum 158 General Instruction of the Roman Missal 279 Purification of Sacred Vessels by Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion Works cited Edit Code of Canon Law CIC Vatican Publishing House 1983 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion amp oldid 1118037106, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
