How do you stop non-Catholic wedding guests from taking Communion at a Catholic wedding?

Question

I am Catholic, getting married in a Catholic Church. My fiance is Baptist with a lot of Baptist kin and friends. We are having Communion at the wedding, obviously non-Catholics cannot take Communion at Mass just as Cathlolics cannot take Communion at any non-Catholic churches. Some of his family are basically saying, they plan on taking it anyway which is a really big no no. It looks like we might actually have to stop them at the actual ceremony if they try? So whose job is that and what are we supposed to do?

Actually, yes, you do stop them. It's like a mortal sin to watch them and not do anything.

Answer 1

I would suggest (as others have) to discuss this with your priest. I am sure he has handled a similar situation before and would be very well-prepared to tactfully explain to everyone why non-Catholics cannot take Communion.

The reason is simple, and Catholics are certainly not alienating anyone. The Church is very welcoming of all people, and the Baptists at your wedding will be treated with the utmost respect and love. Non-Catholics are not allowed Communion because Catholic Holy Communion is different. My understanding is that in Protestant faiths, it is simply a REPRESENTATION of the Last Supper. However, in a Catholic service, the bread and wine undergo Transubstantiation and become the body and blood. Catholics undergo major preparation before receiving Holy Communion, so it is NOT simply given away at Mass.

To the folks bashing Catholicism: perhaps you should do your homework before angrily accusing Catholics of being hateful, rude, ridiculous, etc. How nice of the Church to welcome this couple with open arms!

Answer 2

Why are you having communion at your wedding if your fiance is Baptist?? Why not celebrate what the two faiths have in common....ie being Christians rather than focussing on what divides you??

I would seriously reccomend that you have a Catholic ceremony without the entire mass including communion, because trying to stop people from taking communion will ruin your wedding. The focus of the wedding is supposed to be on the bride and groom....the only thing people end up remembering is how you had to stop aunt so and so from coming up the isle for communion.

Talk to your priest and see what he thinks...he can probably guide u in this matter because i'm sure you are not the first inter faith wedding he has done.

Good luck!

Answer 3

At non-Catholic churchs anyone can take communion if they want to. The pastor usually makes an announcement that only believers should take communion but you don't have to be a Baptist to have communion in a Baptist Church.

I am a non-demonitional Christian and I don't take communion in Catholic churchs. A few suggestions:

1) Have a pastor from his church there-that way everyone can take communion. Many priests agree to this.

2) Have the priest say something but keep in mind that some Christians will be mad about this.

3) Have communion between the bride and groom only.

Answer 4

You received some very good answers. Please ignore the answers from those who don't realize that the Holy Eucharist is the true Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. Non-Catholics see it as simply symbolism, but it is not. And that is why they are asked not to receive; they are not in full communion with the Catholic Church.

I like the idea of asking the priest to make a small mention of it before Communion is given out. He might suggest that those who would like a blessing should come up with their arms folded across their chest.

In addition, you should know that only an ordained clergy (priest or deacon) can give such a blessing. A lay person (Eucharistic Minister) cannot extol the blessing.

May God bless you and your husband as you journey through your new life together.

Answer 5

The reason is simple, and Catholics are certainly not alienating anyone. The Church is very welcoming of all people, and the Baptists at your wedding will be treated with the utmost respect and love. Non-Catholics are not allowed Communion because Catholic Holy Communion is different. My understanding is that in Protestant faiths, it is simply a REPRESENTATION of the Last Supper. However, in a Catholic service, the bread and wine undergo Transubstantiation and become the body and blood. Catholics undergo major preparation before receiving Holy Communion, so it is NOT simply given away at Mass.

Answer 6

You could make a small note in the programs, or ask the priest to explain when he begins to call people forward.

Beyond that, however, it would look bad on you if you actually attempted to stop a non-Catholic from taking communion. I know that I am Baptist, and I have been to other church services that involved communion, and what I did was just not go up. Most likely, that is what his family will do also.

If they do decide to go up, there's nothing you can do. I understand that it's a no-no, but I don't really understand why, and they probably don't either.

I do have one question, though. If your fiance is Baptist, will he be taking communion? Is he converting to Catholicism? Because if he takes it, and it's not understood that he is converting, they will assume that they are allowed to take it, too.

Answer 7

OK, so I talked to my SIL who is an Uber-Catholic and is married to a man who actually considered the priesthood and studied for a while until he realized it wasnt his calling, so he too is uber-catholic.

You dont have to stop them, if you see it, which you may, you just need to go to confession and make a full confession and have the priest absolve you of it, with what ever that entails, then you are cleared of the "mortal sin" and can go on with your life without worry of some extra time in puragorty or something like that. BTW, they also told me that if you see these people do it and commit the mortal sin yourself of not doing anything, YOU cant take communion, so you should take the communion first before you see anyone else taking it.

I would go with talking to your priest, having him address it and then slipping into a confessional the next day to get absolved of it. This would be less messy than having you actually physically stopping people from going up. I mean, I cant actually even imagine the commotion you would cause by doing this, the blushing bride you definitely would not be if you did this, more like the Ball-buster bride and thats not how you want to come off looking. Also, you really run the chance of ruining the wedding day joy if you cause such a scene.

Answer 8

If I were you I’d notify the priest that non-Catholics will be attending. He may give a polite announcement to the congregation asking non-Catholics to abstain from receiving Him, as well as those in a state of mortal sin. From there, I’d say you no longer have to worry about it. It would be their choice is they wish to be respectful of the Catholic faith and not take communion, or do otherwise to their own detriment. You will have done your duty by making them aware that they cannot receive communion.

Answer 9

You can have the priest mention before Holy Communion that those wishing to receive Holy Communion must be Catholic. Those who are not may still line up in the aisles, but must have their arms crossed (with hands on shoulders), and may receive a special blessing from the priest.

We do this at my school when we have masses- I'm a Catholic school teacher.

Answer 10

Have some sort of explaination (a notation of the beliefs that Catholics have in regards to the matter) in the program where the communion is listed and when it comes time have the priest explain this also.

You might also consider having just you and your husband partake of the communion instead of offering it to your guests. I'm not Catholic, so I don't know if this is an option or not. Most of the time, those who are comfortable with it, won't partake.