The purpose of the Communion rite is the distribution of Communion. Yet, at any given Mass, a priest, deacon or extraordinary minister holding a ciborium at a Communion station may face a person who has advanced with lips closed and hands crossed against their breast, as if shivering on a cold day. The gesture has become an unofficial though commonly understood symbol that the person in the line is withdrawing from receiving holy Communion but requesting a blessing instead.

The Catholic Church has no universal or national legislation on this practice. It appears in no liturgical order of service. Some dioceses have established pertinent policies, as have some parishes. Without anything more official, the practice has spread untamed.

On Nov. 22, 2008, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments sent a private letter to two individuals requesting a judgment on the practice (Protocol No. 930/08/L). The letter was nonbinding, but in expressing a negative view of blessings to non-communicants, it made five points.

1. “The liturgical blessing of the Holy Mass is properly given to each and to all at the conclusion of the Mass, just a few moments subsequent to the distribution of holy Communion.”

There is, then, no need to anticipate the blessing for some individuals within the Communion procession. The Communion rite does not properly entail blessing.

2. “Lay people, within the context of holy Mass, are unable to confer blessings. These blessings, rather, are the competence of the priest (cf. Ecclesia de Mysterio, Notitiae 34 [Aug. 15, 1997], art. 6, §2; Canon 1169, §2; and Roman Ritual De Benedictionibus [1985], n. 18).”

This refers to deacons and extraordinary lay ministers of holy Communion. Blessings pertain to the priest’s presidential role.

3. “Furthermore, the laying on of a hand or hands — which has its own sacramental significance, inappropriate here — by those distributing holy Communion, in substitution for its reception, is to be explicitly discouraged.”

The liturgy makes no place for incorporating a separate gesture during the distribution of Communion. Some ministers place a hand on the head or shoulder of the non-communicant. If a priest were to impose hands, he would invite resonances with sacraments such as anointing of the sick or confirmation. The extension of hands proper to the Mass comes with the epiclesis in the Eucharistic prayer and at a solemn blessing or prayer over the people.

4. “The apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio n. 84 ‘forbids any pastor, for whatever reason or pretext even of a pastoral nature, to perform ceremonies of any kind for divorced people who remarry.’ To be feared is that any form of blessing in substitution for Communion would give the impression that the divorced and remarried have been returned, in some sense, to the status of Catholics in good standing.”

This note from 2008, citing an exhortation from 1981, now stands in dialogue with the 2023 declaration Fiducia Supplicans, in which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith allows priests and deacons to offer spontaneous blessings over couples in irregular situations. Such blessings happen outside of Mass.

5. “In a similar way, for others who are not to be admitted to holy Communion in accord with the norm of law, the Church’s discipline has already made clear that they should not approach holy Communion nor receive a blessing. This would include non-Catholics and those envisaged in Canon 915 (i.e., those under the penalty of excommunication or interdict, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin).”

In its final point concerning those ineligible, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments forbade offering Communion and discouraged giving blessings.

The Liturgy

Yet the practice persists. Some presiders pause the Communion rite after they receive and invite those not receiving to approach with arms crossed. There is no provision for this, and such verbal invitations, if appropriate, would pertain more to the deacon than to the priest.

Those approaching usually present themselves to the minister of the Body of Christ, rather than ministers of the cup. This adds to the oddness of the practice. (Why would the first minister be more appropriate for blessing?)

From the liturgical perspective, the extension of blessings in the Communion line diverges from the shape of the Mass. In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the faithful make an offering, symbolized by the procession of the gifts (cf. General Instruction of the Roman Missal, No. 73). In the Eucharistic prayer they “offer the unblemished sacrificial Victim not only by means of the hands of the priest but also together with him” (No. 95). The whole congregation confesses the great deeds of God and offers the sacrifice (cf. No. 78). At Communion, the faithful are to receive hosts consecrated at the same Mass and to partake of the chalice when possible so that their Communion partakes of “the sacrifice actually being celebrated” (No. 85).

After Communion, the priest leads a prayer to which everyone answers “Amen.” That prayer presumes those present have just received Communion. Communion gives the Mass its integrity.

Options

What to do then about those who are not receiving? In the early days of the Church, they were excluded from the assembly. Catechumens were dismissed after the Liturgy of the Word and did not receive Communion or even learn about the Eucharist until after they were baptized. All those in attendance received holy Communion. Today, we welcome anyone to the Liturgy of the Eucharist, even though only the baptized are capable of fully participating in it.

One option for those not receiving is to remain in their places. After all, the GIRM calls those in the procession the “communicants” (No. 160).

The reasons for the widespread custom of non-communicants in the procession line are not clear. Some joining the line are non-Catholics. Some say it makes them feel included. Yet this part of the Mass fosters a sacramental encounter with Christ, not a personal, momentary encounter with the priest or his representative. Externally, the practice lets everyone equally leave their pew, approach a minister and return to the pew. But if non-communicants feel included by this, they may misunderstand the meaning of holy Communion in the Catholic Church.

Some non-communicants are children too young for their first Communion. The natural desire to care and show affection for them may encourage spontaneous words or gestures of kindness. However, even kids realize that they are missing out on something important when they do not receive.

Some non-communicants are Catholics who judge themselves unworthy of the Sacrament. They approach the altar perhaps out of penitential motives, showing both their respect for the Sacrament and their unreadiness for it.

Others are Catholics whom the Church’s legislation excludes from Communion, such as those in irregular marriages.

The minister is expected to engage the non-communicant in some way. Since the reason for not receiving Communion may be different in each case, it is not clear what words or actions best apply.

Ministers have chosen different gestures: placing a hand on the shoulder, using a thumb to trace a cross on the forehead, raising the Host for adoration. Moving one’s hand in the form of a blessing seems greatly out of place at this moment. Even more anomalous is moving the Host in the form of a cross, as if this were benediction and not Mass. When a priest makes the Sign of the Cross with his hand, he preempts the same gesture he will use at the end of Mass. When a deacon does it, he performs an action not proper to his ministry within the Mass. When lay persons do it, they appropriate a gesture that the Book of Blessings specifically restricts to the ordained.

Ministers have chosen different words: “May God bless you,” for example, or “May the Lord Jesus live in your heart.” These words of blessing mean well, but they draw attention away from the primary action of this part of the Mass, the receiving of sacramental Communion. They also presume that the person is at least a believer, if not a Christian, which may not always be true.

A less disruptive solution is for the minister to keep the Host in hand and say, “Peace be with you.” This repeats words that have already been exchanged, rather than anticipating words that will be said. Those unable to receive Communion are capable of giving and receiving words of peace. The faithful have already expressed these words to one another, and the minister could use the moment to extend peace. This captures one of the themes of the Communion rite and reserves blessing for the end of Mass.

The best solution, if possible, is for the non-communicant to remove the obstacle to Communion. A child may begin preparation for first Communion. A non-Catholic Christian may start formation to join the Catholic Church. Catholics ineligible for Communion may take steps to return to the Eucharistic table. This would restore to the Communion rite its proper climax: not a blessing, but a receiving — of the Body and Blood of Christ.

FATHER PAUL TURNER is pastor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, Missouri, and the author of “Light in the Darkness: Preparing Better Catholic Funerals” (Liturgical Press, 2017).

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Distribution of the Body and Blood of the Lord

The U.S. bishops do not refer to non-recipients in the Communion procession, but the bishops write in Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion under Both Kinds in the Dioceses of the United States of America:

“Holy Communion under the form of bread is offered to the communicant with the words ‘The Body of Christ.’ The communicant may choose whether to receive the Body of Christ in the hand or on the tongue. When receiving in the hand, the communicant should be guided by the words of St. Cyril of Jerusalem: ‘When you approach, take care not to do so with your hand stretched out and your fingers open or apart, but rather place your left hand as a throne beneath your right, as befits one who is about to receive the King. Then receive him, taking care that nothing is lost.’

“Among the ways of ministering the Precious Blood as prescribed by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, Communion from the chalice is generally the preferred form in the Latin Church, provided that it can be carried out properly according to the norms and without any risk of even apparent irreverence toward the Blood of Christ.

The chalice is offered to the communicant with the words ‘The Blood of Christ,’ to which the communicant responds, ‘Amen’” (Nos. 41-43).

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