Vatican City, Oct 10, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Speaking to the 11th General Synod of Bishops yesterday afternoon at the Vatican, Cardinal Julian Herranz, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts said that while there are certain personal requirements to receiving the Eucharist, the faithful deserve access to the proper means--i.e., confession, prayer before the Blessed Sacrament--to properly dispose themselves.
"Humanity”, he said, “has no right before God to receive the Eucharist, precisely because this is an act of infinite generosity and mercy. But once God has given the sacraments to the Church for the good of His people, all the faithful enjoy the following right formulated by ... canon 912: 'Any baptized person who is not forbidden by law may and must be admitted to Holy Communion.'“
While the topic of who may, and may not receive communion has been frequently discussed throughout the course of the Synod, Cardinal Herranz suggested that individual cases may not always be black and white.
“We are dealing here”, the Cardinal said, “with a fundamental right but not, as some think, an absolute one. There are, in fact, personal requirements limiting that right.”