The Minister of Communion

The Minister of Communion.—(a) Qualifications.—The ordinary minister of Communion is a priest, the extraordinary minister a deacon. Pastors and other priests to whose custody the Blessed Sacrament is entrusted have the right to give Communion, and others also who have express or presumed permission. The celebrant of Mass may give Communion during his Mass, and, if Mass is private, just before and just after it. A sick priest who is unable to say Mass may communicate himself, at least when there is no other minister at hand; and even a layman may, in the absence of a major cleric, give himself the Viaticum, or consume the Host to save it from profanation (Canons 845-850).

(b) Duties.—Internally, the minister is bound sub levi to be in the state of grace, and sub gravi to be free from censures (such as suspension) which forbid him the exercise of the ministry. Externally, he must observe the church laws on the manner, time and place for distribution of the Sacrament (Canons 851, 852, 867-869), and also the liturgical rules for Communion during and outside of Mass, for Communion of the sick and the dying, and for the avoidance of defects in giving Communion (Rituale Rom., Tit. IV; Missale Rom., de defectibus Missae).