The Person Dispensing

In order that someone legitimately dispense the Eucharist, the power of order and the power of jurisdiction are required.

I. The power of order. Considered with respect to the power of order:

1. Only a priest is the ordinary minister of the dispensation of the Holy Eucharist (canon 845, § 1), that is, by virtue of his ordination he is deputed to dispense it principally, not secondarily, as a deacon is. For: 1. to the one alone to whom it belongs to confect the Holy Eucharist, to him alone it belongs to dispense it principally; 2. Tradition is added, which the Council of Trent attests in these words: "It was always the custom in the Church of God that the laity receive Communion from priests; ... this custom, as descending from Apostolic Tradition, must with right and merit be retained"¹ (cf. St. Thomas, III, q. 82, a. 3).

2. A deacon is the extraordinary minister of the dispensation of the Holy Eucharist (canon 845, § 2), that is, by virtue of his ordination he is deputed to dispense it only secondarily, that is, dependently upon the permission of the local Ordinary or the pastor, which cannot be granted except for a grave cause (cited canon). Hence a deacon is rightly called only an extraordinary minister. That a deacon is truly an extraordinary minister is clear from Tradition² (cf. St. Thomas, loc. cit., ad 1). It is said:

a) Dependently upon the permission of the local Ordinary or the pastor. To these is equivalent a quasi-pastor, but not the rector of a church or a religious superior as such.

b) Permission cannot be granted except for a grave cause, for example if the priest were impeded in his ministry and, unless the deacon dispensed the Holy Eucharist, its dispensation would be delayed longer than is fitting (St. Alphonsus, VI, 237, question 1).³ If a grave cause is present and the pastor cannot conveniently be approached, permission is legitimately presumed (canon 845, § 2). But a deacon who illicitly dispenses the Holy Eucharist sins gravely; likewise the local Ordinary and the pastor who grant permission without a just cause, since in a grave matter they violate the hierarchical order (St. Alphonsus, VI, 234). Nevertheless the deacon does not become irregular, since, being a minister, even if only an extraordinary one, he does not entirely usurp an order not his own (cf. canon 985, 1).

¹ Session 13, chapter 8.

² St. Justin Martyr, Apology I, chapters 65, 67, Migne 6, 427-430; Fourth Council of Carthage, canon 38; it occurs among the ancient statutes of the Church, in Hefele, loc. cit., vol. 2, part 1, p. 166; Apostolic Constitutions, book 8, chapter 13, Funk ed. 1906, p. 519.

³ Cf. S.R.C., 25 February 1777, n. 2504.

II. The power of jurisdiction is likewise required, and this either ordinary or delegated; delegated, I say, either by law or by him who has ordinary power. Ordinary power belongs to all who exercise a pastoral office, such as the Ordinary, the pastor, all who in law come under the name of pastor, etc. These things having been noted in general, something must be said specifically about the dispensation of the Eucharist on the occasion of Mass or outside it, about carrying Communion to the sick, and about the dispensation of Viaticum.

1. Dispensation on the occasion of Mass or outside it. a) Any priest can minister Holy Communion within Mass and, if he celebrates privately, also immediately before and immediately after it (canon 846, § 1).

b) Even outside Mass any priest has the same faculty. Nevertheless, if the priest is a stranger, that is, not assigned to the church, the at least presumed permission of the rector of the church is required (canon 846, § 2).

2. Carrying Communion to the sick. First note that a twofold carrying is distinguished, public and private. It is public if it is done manifestly, with solemnity; otherwise it is called private.¹

a) Public carrying. First, public carrying is prescribed unless a just and reasonable cause suggests otherwise (canon 847).

Second, the right and office of carrying Holy Communion publicly to the sick, even non-parishioners, outside the church, belongs to the pastor within his own territory (canon 848, § 1). Other priests can do this only in a case of necessity or with the at least presumed permission of the same pastor or of the Ordinary (canon 848, § 2). It is said only in a case of necessity, for example if the pastor and another to whom permission perhaps has been granted are impeded for too long.

b) Private carrying. First, private carrying is licit only when a just and reasonable cause suggests it (canon 847). But the judge of a just and reasonable cause is only the local Ordinary.² If, however, he has judged that such a cause is present, and has signified this either explicitly or tacitly, for example by not contradicting custom or common opinion,³ he cannot prevent it from being carried secretly. Now, when a just and reasonable cause has been posited and admitted by the Ordinary:

Second, any priest can carry Communion privately to the sick, with the at least presumed permission of the priest to whom custody of the Most Holy Sacrament has been committed (canon 849, § 1).

3. Dispensation of Viaticum. a) By the name Viaticum here is understood Communion which is considered, or, so to speak, is held in the external forum as fulfilling the precept of receiving the Holy Eucharist in danger of death, about which canon 864, § 1 speaks; but not that Communion which the sick person receives afterward, nor that which one constituted in danger of death previously received, although this Communion, speaking accurately, should be called fulfilling the precept.⁴

b) One who illegitimately administers Viaticum is judged to sin gravely, since he violates a grave right of the competent person.

c) As regards the persons who legitimately administer Viaticum, receive these points:

a) To carry Holy Communion by way of Viaticum, whether publicly or privately, to the sick, even non-parishioners, outside the church, belongs to the pastor within his own territory. Other priests can do this only in a case of necessity or with the at least presumed permission of the same pastor or Ordinary (canon 850 compared with 848).

b) Canons, according to the order of precedence, must minister the sacraments to a bedridden bishop (canon 397, 3).

c) Superiors in every clerical religious institute can and must, personally or through another, minister Eucharistic Viaticum and Extreme Unction to sick professed members, novices, and others dwelling day and night in the religious house for the sake of service, education, hospitality, or ill health (canon 514, § 1). These things also hold for conferring these sacraments outside the religious house, if it concerns professed religious or novices, yet with the right of the pastor preserved as regards the public carrying of the Holy Eucharist.⁵

d) In a house of nuns, the ordinary confessor, or the one who acts in his place, has the same right and office (canon 514, § 2). Under the name of nuns also come religious women whose vows by institute are solemn, but for some places by prescription of the Apostolic See are simple (canon 488, 7).

e) In another lay religious institute this right and office belongs to the local pastor or to the chaplain whom the Ordinary has substituted for the pastor (canon 514, § 3).

f) The rector of a seminary, not the pastor, or his delegate can minister Viaticum and Extreme Unction to all who are in the seminary and are gravely bedridden (canon 1368).

g) Particular law commonly permits those who have domicile or quasi-domicile in ecclesiastical colleges specially entrusted by the bishop to a director or rector, or approved by him, to be able to receive Viaticum and Extreme Unction from the rector himself or from his delegate. This right does not belong to the pastor if the particular law intends the said colleges to be withdrawn from the care of the pastor (cf. canon 464, § 2).

h) Finally, if priest and deacon are lacking, even a subdeacon, cleric, and layperson can with sufficient probability minister Viaticum, provided that scandal is absent or prevented. For the ecclesiastical prohibition is not judged to comprehend this case; all the more because in antiquity even laypeople brought the Eucharist home for the sake of communicating (St. Alphonsus, VI, 237, question 3). If the case concerns a dying priest or deacon, the layperson should only bring the ciborium, and the dying person himself, if he can, should give Viaticum to himself. Note besides that a priest is equivalently lacking if singular dexterity is required in communicating the dying person; hence at times it can be entrusted, for example to a sister, to give Viaticum, for instance, with a spoon. I add with St. Alphonsus (loc. cit.) that in a case of supreme necessity, which can occur for example in time of plague, the bishop can commit the ministration of Viaticum to a layperson.

Corollary. Although in itself no one except the celebrating priest can minister Communion to himself, nevertheless this is permitted:

1. If the case concerns Viaticum, to a priest and deacon, if another priest and deacon are lacking; to an inferior cleric, if priest, deacon, and another inferior cleric are lacking; to a layperson, if priest, deacon, and inferior cleric are lacking. This doctrine is rightly admitted both because the divine precept of receiving Viaticum seems to prevail, and because "formerly lay faithful carried the Eucharist into their homes and communicated themselves with their own hands; and this indeed was permitted because of necessity" (St. Alphonsus, VI, 237, question 2). It is confirmed by a response of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide,⁶ which declared that in time of persecution it is permitted that confessors of the faith condemned to death, and to whom the sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist is brought in prison, may secretly receive it in their hands and secretly communicate themselves, lest the priest communicating them in the ordinary manner be known and seized, provided nevertheless that so great a sacrament is not exposed to any irreverence or other danger.⁷

2. If the case concerns Communion to be received only for the sake of devotion, a priest can with sufficient probability minister Communion to himself if another priest is lacking (St. Alphonsus, VI, 238).

3. Where the necessity of preventing profanation of the Most Holy Sacrament is urgent, even laypeople can consume the species and distribute them to one another.

¹ Cf. Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, 23 December 1912 (Acta Apostolicae Sedis 1912, p. 725, ad III).

² Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, 5 January 1928.

³ The Ordinary should be easy in admitting a just and reasonable cause. Hence the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, in the decree of 5 January 1928, adds "with this mind, which is the following: If from common experience and opinion there is no inconvenience in the diocese or in some particular place for the private carrying of Holy Communion to the sick, Ordinaries must beware lest, by rules too strictly defined or general rules prescribing public carrying, or by a reservation made to themselves of giving permission in individual cases of carrying the sacrament of the Eucharist privately, the consolation of Communion, even daily Communion, be impeded for the sick." And in the annotations to the Decree, the Acta Apostolicae Sedis warns: Most Reverend local Ordinaries must carefully watch lest in a matter of such great importance the end intended by the Church be frustrated in any way. For no one is unaware that in our times Holy Communion, even daily Communion, is commended most highly to the Christian faithful. Now who, more than a sick person, is to be said to need the help and consolation of so great a sacrament for bearing the distresses of illness?

⁴ This Communion is also called Viaticum by the Code (canon 864, § 3).

⁵ Pontifical Commission, 16 June 1931, under I (Acta Apostolicae Sedis 1931, p. 353).

⁶ 10 August 1841.

⁷ Gaude in the cited place of St. Alphonsus.

217. 1. The power of distributing. One minister of distribution is ordinary, another extraordinary.

The ordinary minister of distributing the Eucharist is the priest alone.

For the Council of Trent declared:²⁰² "It was always the custom in the Church of God that laymen should receive Communion from priests, but that priests celebrating should communicate themselves."

The extraordinary minister of distributing the Eucharist is "the deacon, with the permission of the local Ordinary or of the pastor, to be granted for a grave cause, which in a case of necessity is legitimately presumed."²⁰³

Already in the primitive Church, deacons, by commission either of the bishop or of the priest, distributed the Eucharist by presenting the consecrated chalice and carrying the consecrated bread to the sick. Such power belongs to the deacon from his ordination itself, since he ought to assist the priest in all things pertaining to the Holy Eucharist. But the distribution of the Eucharist is among the principal duties of the priest.

According to the discipline now in force, a deacon cannot licitly distribute Communion except by legitimate delegation, which is customarily granted either by the local Ordinary, by the pastor or his substitute, or probably by a religious superior, by the rector of a clerical seminary, or by the rector of any church.^203a This delegation requires a grave cause, such as is present, for example, when a priest is prevented from distributing Communion because he is occupied with other necessary works, such as hearing Confessions, performing ecclesiastical functions, preaching a sermon, and so forth. In grave necessity, for example, of ministering Viaticum to a dying person, the deacon can presume this delegation; indeed, several authors rightly permit that, in the absence of a priest and deacon, not only a subdeacon or cleric, but even a layman, can licitly carry Viaticum to a dying person in extreme necessity. For Viaticum is commanded to be received by divine law and brings great assistance to the dying person, while merely ecclesiastical law (which did not yet exist in the first centuries of the Church) prohibits a layman from touching and distributing the Eucharist. Hence "where particular dexterity is required in communicating a sick person, a priest can entrust to a woman, for example, a Sister of Charity ministering to the sick person, that she give Viaticum with a spoon." Thus rightly Noldin and others.²⁰⁴ This case can occur, for example, if the sick person suffers from cancer of the throat, so that swallowing is exceedingly difficult. The reason why this manner is lawful is the same as that just stated. Viaticum obliges by divine law. No one is present who can administer it except a layman. Therefore this is lawful.

A deacon distributing Communion by legitimate delegation wears the stole crosswise. According to the Roman Ritual, tit. 4, c. 10, the deacon ministers Communion as does a priest. Even at the end of the distribution he can and ought to impart a blessing with his hand, as the Pontifical Commission declared on July 19, 1930 (Acta Ap. Sed. XXII, 365). In the administration of Viaticum, if a priest is lacking, the deacon can bless the sick person and the assistants with his hand or with the pyx.²⁰⁵

A deacon who without a grave cause and without due permission administers Communion seems to sin gravely, because he gravely violates both the right of the legitimate pastor and a grave precept of the Church; but he does not incur an irregularity, just as he likewise does not incur an irregularity if he illegitimately administers solemn Baptism, as was said above in n. 121.

²⁰² Session 13, c. 8 on the Eucharist (Denz., n. 881).

²⁰³ Code of Canon Law, c. 845, § 2.

^203a Thus also Cappello, De sacr., n. 329.

²⁰⁴ De sacr., n. 124.

²⁰⁵ Cf. Sacred Congregation of Rites, August 14, 1858 (Decr. auth., n. 3074); Code of Canon Law, c. 1274, § 2.

S. Th. III, q. 82, a. 3 and 9.

336. Principle I. The priest alone is the ordinary minister of the dispensation of the holy Eucharist (can. 845, § 1). - It is certain.

It is proved: 1. From the words of Christ: Do this in commemoration of Me, directed to the apostles.

2. From apostolic tradition and the constant use of the Church, as is established from the Fathers: Clement of Rome, to the Corinthians, XL, 1-4; Didache X, 7; XV, 1; Ignatius, to the Smyrnaeans, VIII, 1-2; Justin, 1 apol., 65; Irenaeus, adv. haer. IV, 18; ep. to Victor, 3; Clement of Alexandria, Strom. IV, 25; Cyprian, ep. 43 and 70; and from the Council of Trent, sess. 13, c. 8; sess. 23, c. 1.

3. By reason, and indeed a threefold one: a) The priest consecrates in the person of Christ; but consecration of itself is ordered to distribution, whence Christ, just as He consecrated at the last supper, so also dispensed to others to be received; therefore just as consecration pertains to the priest, so also does dispensation. - b) The priest is constituted as a mediator between God and the people; whence just as it pertains to him to offer the gifts of the people to God, so also to hand over divine gifts to the people. - c) In reverence for the sacrament it has been established that it is not touched except by a consecrated or blessed thing; whence the corporal, chalice, and hands of the priest are consecrated; therefore others cannot touch it except in necessity, as for avoiding profanation of the sacrament.

337. Principle II. The deacon, as one near to the priestly order, participates in something of its office, and according to the current discipline is the extraordinary minister of dispensing communion (can. 845, § 2).

This is established from ancient and constant tradition, to which Justin, 1 apol., 65, 67; Cyprian, de laps. 25; Apostolic Constitutions VIII, 13 and 28; Dionysius of Alexandria in H. E. VI, 44; Damasus, carm. 18; Basil, ep. 93; and the use of the Church testify. For formerly, as still today in the Greek Church, the deacon was the dispenser of the blood; but not of the body except in necessity, at the command of the bishop or presbyter, which still obtains at present. Whence according to can. 845, § 2, the "extraordinary minister is the deacon, with the permission of the local Ordinary or of the pastor, to be conceded for a grave cause, which in a case of necessity is legitimately presumed."

Therefore by commission either of the local Ordinary or of the pastor (but not of the regular Ordinary or of the simple rector of a church, as some gratuitously assert without positive foundation) a deacon can distribute communion, provided it is conceded from a reasonable cause sufficiently grave, as if the priest is absent or infirm, if there is no one who can conveniently administer, if on a great feast all the priests are very occupied with hearing confessions or with preaching, or sufficient priests are not present for the number of communicants, if no one is present except a censured priest publicly declared as such, etc.; - but in a case of necessity commission is not required but is legitimately presumed; indeed the deacon is bound to minister if there is a necessity of ministering Viaticum and every priest who can or will minister is lacking.

338. Question: If a minister is lacking, can it sometimes be licit to communicate oneself?

It is answered: 1. A priest or deacon can, when a minister is lacking, communicate himself in order to Viaticum. Indeed, according to several, especially more recent authors, even for the cause of devotion alone, provided scandal is not to be feared; but we would not dare to assert this, because on the one hand there is no necessity of receiving the sacrament, and on the other hand it cannot be received according to the mode of communicating now received and long established for centuries by the custom of the Church.

2. Whether another cleric or layman can, when necessity urges and a minister is lacking, minister Viaticum to himself, as was sometimes done in the primitive Church, is disputed. Several more recent authors affirm, because in the case the divine precept of communicating obliges, which urges more than the ecclesiastical custom prescribing the mode of communion. Nevertheless especially the older authors rightly deny it with St. Thomas, in IV d. 13, p. 1, a. 3, sol. 1, ad 3, because the divine precept ceases when it cannot be fulfilled with due reverence from the received custom established by the Church (n. 284), especially because the reception of this sacrament is not of necessity; - unless perhaps in the case in which a sinner could receive no other sacrament and doubted concerning the perfection of his contrition.

Concerning the opinion of the more recent authors, who in both cases think more benignly, it is more true to say that in this matter they rather desire a certain change of ecclesiastical custom than have demonstrated that the ancient custom has already been legitimately changed into a new one, of which matter they assign no positive foundation.

Let it be noted: 1) these things can nevertheless be done licitly from a dispensation or permission obtained;

2. outside the case of necessity, all those below the deacon solemnly ministering holy communion incur irregularity (can. 985, § 7);

3. a deacon ministering unduly does not incur it, because he does not usurp an order (ibid.).

339. Principle III. For licit dispensation there is also required in the minister jurisdiction or due permission. - The reason is, because it pertains to the pastor to feed the sheep and minister the sacraments; whence the power of jurisdiction is necessary, or the faculty or permission obtained from him who has such jurisdiction; so that one who ministered without any faculty or permission would sin gravely.

Hence they can dispense the Eucharist:

1. From ordinary or quasi-ordinary jurisdiction, besides the Supreme Pontiff, the local Ordinary; the pastor in his parish and those who are after the manner of pastors; superiors of a clerical religion not only with respect to professed members and novices, but also with respect to those who remain in the religious house day and night for the sake of service, education, hospitality, or infirm health, according to can. 514, § 1; the rector of a Seminary with respect to all who are in the seminary (can. 1368) and the rector of a church (can. 484, § 1).

2. From permission, all priests who have obtained it directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly, by law or from a man; which all have both in the case of necessity and if they celebrate Mass: namely, they can minister communion within Mass, and if, besides a solemn or sung or conventual Mass, they celebrate privately, also immediately before and immediately after (can. 846, § 1); indeed even if they celebrate in a private oratory, unless the local Ordinary, for a just cause, has prohibited this in a particular case (can. 869).

Other prescriptions are added: 1. "Even outside Mass any priest has the same faculty from at least the presumed permission of the rector of the church, if he is a stranger," can. 846, § 2.

2. "The right and office of carrying holy communion publicly to the sick, even non-parishioners, outside the church, pertains to the pastor within his territory. Other priests can do this only in a case of necessity, or with at least the presumed permission of the same pastor or Ordinary," can. 848.

3. "Any priest can carry communion privately to the sick, with at least the presumed leave of the priest to whom custody of the most holy Sacrament has been committed," can. 849, § 1.

4. "To carry holy communion by way of Viaticum, whether publicly or privately, to the sick pertains to the pastor," can. 850; nevertheless in a Seminary to the rector (can. 1368), in a clerical religion to the superiors (can. 514, § 1), who can also carry it outside the house to professed members and novices, either privately, or publicly with the permission of the pastor (Commission for Interpretation, June 16, 1931, ad 1), and in a house of nuns to the ordinary confessor or the one acting in his place (can. 514, § 2). In the sole case of necessity or with the permission of the pastor, other priests can minister Viaticum.

340. Observation. - Besides due permission, it is also required that the minister not be censured or impeded. And indeed:

1. if he is simply tolerated, he cannot minister spontaneously, but only if he is requested by the faithful, or there is present a cause excusing for avoiding grave scandal or infamy;

2. if he is censured by a condemnatory or declaratory sentence, and a fortiori if he is to be avoided, he cannot minister except in danger of death, with other ministers lacking. Cf. can. 2261, § 1, 2 and 3.

But if he has acted otherwise, he will be irregular from delict (can. 985, n. 7).