CNA Staff, Sep 8, 2020 / 13:01 pm
The Bishop of Peoria last week permitted priests in his diocese to distribute Communion on the tongue, as the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois have been doing.
"While...I still encourage the faithful to receive Holy Communion in the hand, out of respect for those who prefer to receive on the tongue, and in accord with what is now being allowed in other dioceses in Illinois, I am now permitting the practice of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue to resume," Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria wrote in a Sept. 3 memo to priests of the diocese.
He added that "inasmuch as a number of you have legitimate health concerns, the practice of distributing Holy Communion on the tongue is at your discretion."
Bishop Jenky noted that in July he had "insisted that Holy Communion only be received in the hand."