Monday, March 24, 2008
SCRAP COMMUNION IN THE HAND
A letter to the editor of the Jamaica Gleaner reads:
Vatican Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith should be commended for expressing his recent desire that Catholics "abandon" the practice of receiving Holy Communion in the hand. Numerous priests have complained about finding 'sacred hosts' under pews and in prayer books due to abuses of this practice. At present, the practice of receiving Holy Communion directly from the priest on the tongue is the church norm, though it is widely rejected. St Thomas Aquinas and Pope John Paul II have both stated that only the priest, who stands as an intermediary between God and the people, should touch the sacred host, because only his hands are espe-cially anointed for this task at his ordination.
Read the rest...
"Only the priest, who stands as an intermediary between God and the people, should touch the sacred host".
I don't see any room in there for EMs.
