Why does the Catholic Church exclude non-Catholics from receiving Holy Communion?

Question

This has been brought up here often as a negative thing, in the context that "everyone should be allowed to partake of the Lord's Supper", implying that the Church is unreasonably exclusionary and the policy is un-Christian.

There are solid Scriptural reasons for it (and for that matter not all Catholics are automatically allowed to receive), but I'd like to see if those who claim to be offended by this actually know what those reasons are.

This is not a "baiting" rhetorical question. I am truly interested in discovering why this is an issue.

Since I don't begrudge anyone two points, and it's pointless to try to restrict answers to a certain group anyway, I would ask my fellow Catholics to identify themselves as such. I hope to give the points for "best" to a non-Catholic who actually has accurate information. Or at least comes close -- with or without quoting the Bible.

marshmallow: Thanks for the smile! Humor can be in short supply on R&S at times.

Answer 1

Reception of Communion at a Catholic Mass requires a belief on the part of the recipient that he/she is receiving the actual Body and Blood of Christ. This belief is only present in Catholicism and in the eastern Orthodox churches, whose theological beliefs are almost identical to Catholicism's.

Since Protestants don't believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, however, this required belief is absent.

Communion is not a social event, nor is it an occasion by which we can engage in feel-good, politically correct inclusiveness.

It's an intimate union with God -- but for people who do not believe it to be such a union, reception of Communion makes no sense.

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Answer 2

Hi,

Well.... a non-catholic would not know the answer anyway...haha... so you may have to actually give your 2 points to a catholic.... or is this segregation? haha...

Okay, the reason is that the catholic communion is a sacrament ( a holly sign) out of the 7...sacraments...
an, in order to receive the communion you must first have been "baptised" as a Catholic, baptisim being the first Catholic sacrament received as an infant (normally)....
Baptisim is a sacrament that gives thye infant the "link" to God throught the "link" of his parents faith....Catholicisim...
A Catholic child is "protected as such through "divine power" and is shown how to pray and thank Jesus, and Mary, and the Holy Spirit, and the Father, etc... for their loved ones and their safekeeping, etc....
Children learn very young the right and wrong in life, the mortal sins (7) and many prayers, etc....
Anyone can get the communion without any questions asked, but, the significance of the Catholic communion is that Catholics are in union with God under the "Catholic" guidance, thus, the Catholic Pope is the earth ultime representative of Jesus... Do non-Catholics agree to that?
Possibly not... and so, the Catholic communion has no real significance when taken by a non-Catholic....
But no one is refused.... ever.... The only ones in knowledge that they should not participate are the ones that have been excommuniated by the pope, because of serious reasons like divorce (a long time ago), or if not done their Easter communion (which is the minimum one time a year required to stay in order with the Catholic church "normally")...

Hope this clears your question....

Answer 3

Just tell the person before you go to church that communion will be taking place and that it's kind of like "members only". It's not that big of a deal. But tell the person before church, not in church before communion, so that they know what to expect. If she started an argument about cannibalism, then she just felt like arguing because she was insulted because she wasn't allowed to take communion there. She was surprised because she thought it'd be like at her church. Don't worry that she never spoke to you again. Things will work out. Keep her in your prayers. She may not ever turn Catholic but hopefully she'll be more open minded about Christian religions that do things differently than her own.

Answer 4

Not all " non" Catholics are excluded. There are several Orthodox faiths that are not. The Roman Catholic Church has ruled {and rightly so} that communion. i. e. the Body and Blood of our Savior, is an indivisible part of the mass, shared by Christians of the same belief structure, as Jesus intended. All present were of one mind and belief, and that has not changed. Other faiths are encouraged to receive communion in their own way, in their own Church. As a matter of interest, some Baptists have the same rules. FYI, I am Catholic.

Answer 5

It comes down to our understanding of what it is we are receiving at communion. Even *if* we could agree that the host and wine are symbols, not all Christian denominations understand the word "symbol" to mean the same thing. To some a symbol is just a placeholder, to others it is a much deeper reality.

For anyone who wants to do some serious reading on the topic, check out stuff by Nathan Mitchell. He's a well respected Catholic theologian. Not has difficult to understand as Rahner, but not super simple, either. He wrote a piece where he explores the differences between "signs," "signals," and "symbols" that is really quite interesting.

And if you want to REALLY mess with your head, check out the field of "ontology" in philosophy - the understanding of "being." What do we mean when we say that something "is" this or "is not" that?

Answer 6

At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “Take this bread. It is my body.” The he said, “Take this and drink. This is my blood. Do this in memory of me.”

Catholics believe this was the First Eucharist, that through some miracle the bread and wine actually became the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Catholics reenact the Last Supper during every Mass, where the priest, acting in place of Christ, changes the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

This is a great sacrament of thanksgiving and unity of Catholics.

Anyone who does not believe in the actual presence of Christ and is not united with the Catholic faith is asked, out of respect, not to receive the Eucharist.

Catholics, out of respect for other Christian faiths, do not receive Communion in non-Catholic churches.

We pray that one day Christian unity will succeed and we will all be called to the same table.

For more information, see the Catehism of the Catholic Church, sections 1322 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2chpt1art3.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 7

It's because it's a very special part of the Mass....it's what Catholicism is based on.

To understand fully what it means you need instructions...all Catholics do this before receiving their First Holy Communion.

During some services non-Catholics do receive Communion....and sometimes non-Catholics go up without knowing they shouldn't and they are given Communion anyway.

Answer 8

I
I am a believing Catholic.

Partaking of the Eucharist is receiving Jesus actually present Body,Blood,Soul and Divinity. One must be in the state of Grace and believe in Transubstantiation,that the very substance of the bread and wine become Jesus Himself as well as be baptized and accept the whole dogmatic and moral teaching of theCatholic Church. 1 Cor 11 reminds us how inportant repentance,preparedness and beyond believing,having living faith,in Jesus and that one is "recognizing His Body".

Taking communion outside of full communion with the Church in most non -emergency situations is like premarital sexual intercourse-there is no real commitment.

Answer 9

Holy Communion is one of the Sacraments, and the 7 Sacraments are only in the Catholic Church, so non-Catholics should not partake from one of the Sacraments, because they didn't participate in the Sacraments that are prerequisite for taking the Holy Communion.

Answer 10

For the same reason that we Catholics are not supposed to take Communion at non-Catholic Churches.