Introduction
Read the introductory post for this and all other "Communion in Hand" posts, in where I introduce this 13 part series.
NOTE: I am unable to post the video for this part of the 13 part series because it is only available to Premium Members subscribed to ChurchMilitant.com. To view the entire [06:54] length video click on thisPremium members link. Fortunately, ChurchMilitantTV allows the downloading of both audio and word-for-word-transcript of the video, which I have posted below. Also included are the videos clips featured in the video. I recommend reading and listening to he below if you do not wish to subscribe:
Read the introductory post for this and all other "Communion in Hand" posts, in where I introduce this 13 part series.
NOTE: I am unable to post the video for this part of the 13 part series because it is only available to Premium Members subscribed to ChurchMilitant.com. To view the entire [06:54] length video click on thisPremium members link. Fortunately, ChurchMilitantTV allows the downloading of both audio and word-for-word-transcript of the video, which I have posted below. Also included are the videos clips featured in the video. I recommend reading and listening to he below if you do not wish to subscribe:
Audio File (click below to play)
Transcript
People often ask, “If the Pope doesn't like Communion in the hand, why doesn't he stop it?” Problem solved right? People assume the Pope can easily stop something if he wants to. So they think if he hasn't stopped Communion in the hand it is because he doesn't want to. The thing is, the pope DID try to stop Communion in the hand in 1969 but failed miserably. This is because the bishops of the Netherlands and Germany simply did not obey the Holy Father. This is why the abuse continues to this day.
In 1968, Pope Paul VI was experiencing a large scale rejection of his encyclical Humanae Vitae which spoke of the evils of contraception. The rejection was not only from the laity but by priests and bishops as well.
The Canadian bishops' Winnipeg Statement of 1968 is an example of such rejection. This is part of the historical context of that era in which Paul VI would have to fight another battle. This one in the area of the liturgy.
This liturgical battle saw Paul VI trying to stop Communion in the hand in Belgium and Germany where it had recently begun in defiance of Church law. Today, Communion in the hand is common place. People don't realize that it's only by way of special permission they are allowed to receive Holy Communion in their hand. Before 1968 this was not the case. Bishops and priests knew well back then that there was no such permission to dispense Holy Communion into the hands of the laity.
December seventh 1968 the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, printed Pope Paul VI's chilling words, “The Church finds herself in an hour of anxiety, a disturbed period of self-criticism, or what would even better be called self-destruction. It is an interior upheaval, acute and complicated, which nobody expected after the Council.”
People often ask, “If the Pope doesn't like Communion in the hand, why doesn't he stop it?” Problem solved right? People assume the Pope can easily stop something if he wants to. So they think if he hasn't stopped Communion in the hand it is because he doesn't want to. The thing is, the pope DID try to stop Communion in the hand in 1969 but failed miserably. This is because the bishops of the Netherlands and Germany simply did not obey the Holy Father. This is why the abuse continues to this day.
In 1968, Pope Paul VI was experiencing a large scale rejection of his encyclical Humanae Vitae which spoke of the evils of contraception. The rejection was not only from the laity but by priests and bishops as well.
The Canadian bishops' Winnipeg Statement of 1968 is an example of such rejection. This is part of the historical context of that era in which Paul VI would have to fight another battle. This one in the area of the liturgy.
This liturgical battle saw Paul VI trying to stop Communion in the hand in Belgium and Germany where it had recently begun in defiance of Church law. Today, Communion in the hand is common place. People don't realize that it's only by way of special permission they are allowed to receive Holy Communion in their hand. Before 1968 this was not the case. Bishops and priests knew well back then that there was no such permission to dispense Holy Communion into the hands of the laity.
December seventh 1968 the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, printed Pope Paul VI's chilling words, “The Church finds herself in an hour of anxiety, a disturbed period of self-criticism, or what would even better be called self-destruction. It is an interior upheaval, acute and complicated, which nobody expected after the Council.”
Archbishop Annibale Bugnini
In 1962, the first document to come out of Vatican II, was,Sacrosanctum Concilium , the constitution on the liturgy. Paul VI, in 1964, appointed Archbishop Annibale Bugnini as secretary of the Council for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy... or just Consilium for short. The implementation of this document on the liturgy was given to Bugnini's commission, the Consilium.
Archbishop Bugnini would go on to write a book titled, The Reform of the Liturgy 1948-1975 about his experiences of working in the Vatican during this time period. This book offers great insights into what happened regarding changes in the liturgy from an insiders point of view during this chaotic period of church history.
Archbishop Bugnini would go on to write a book titled, The Reform of the Liturgy 1948-1975 about his experiences of working in the Vatican during this time period. This book offers great insights into what happened regarding changes in the liturgy from an insiders point of view during this chaotic period of church history.
Cardinal Bernardus Alfrink
From the beginning, Paul VI was firmly opposed to Communion in the hand as it was starting in defiance of Church law, as an abuse in Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France. This is shown by a letter written by the Consilium on October 12, 1965 toCardinal Bernardus Alfrink who was head of the Conference of bishops in the Netherlands.
Page 640 of Bugnini's book contains an excerpt from the letter to Cardinal Alfrink which reads, “The traditional way of distributing communion is to be maintained... The Holy Father... does not think it proper that the sacred host be distributed in the hand and then received by the faithful themselves in one or other fashion; and therefore he urgently asks the Conference to issue appropriate regulations so that the traditional way of receiving communion may be everywhere restored.” Bugnini goes on to say, “these and other reminders did not have any effect.”
Right here's the smoking gun. Here's the first, concrete, historical incident proving that the Pope did NOT want Communion in the hand to start. It shows he did order the bishops to stop this abuse at once and they refused to do so. The reason Communion in the hand is happening today is because these bishops disobeyed the Holy Father when he commanded them to stop this abuse. The only way to have stopped the abuse was to have removed these disobedient prelates from their dioceses. All other attempts would fall on deaf ears and hard hearts. The leadership style of Paul VI is the reason why no Church leaders were fired back then. He just didn't operate that way... unfortunately. But we can see that Rome's attempt at stopping the abuse of Communion in the hand did not cease at this point but only increased.
Page 640 of Bugnini's book contains an excerpt from the letter to Cardinal Alfrink which reads, “The traditional way of distributing communion is to be maintained... The Holy Father... does not think it proper that the sacred host be distributed in the hand and then received by the faithful themselves in one or other fashion; and therefore he urgently asks the Conference to issue appropriate regulations so that the traditional way of receiving communion may be everywhere restored.” Bugnini goes on to say, “these and other reminders did not have any effect.”
Right here's the smoking gun. Here's the first, concrete, historical incident proving that the Pope did NOT want Communion in the hand to start. It shows he did order the bishops to stop this abuse at once and they refused to do so. The reason Communion in the hand is happening today is because these bishops disobeyed the Holy Father when he commanded them to stop this abuse. The only way to have stopped the abuse was to have removed these disobedient prelates from their dioceses. All other attempts would fall on deaf ears and hard hearts. The leadership style of Paul VI is the reason why no Church leaders were fired back then. He just didn't operate that way... unfortunately. But we can see that Rome's attempt at stopping the abuse of Communion in the hand did not cease at this point but only increased.
Cardinal Leo Suenens
The prelates of the Netherlands, such as Cardinal Leo Suenens and Cardinal Bernardus Alfrink, said they were unable to stop Communion in the hand in their own dioceses. Not ABLE to stop the abuse in their own dioceses? All these prelates had to do was call in the priests who were disobedient and remove them from their parishes. What is so mystifyingly difficult about that? These Cardinals should've been called out for not taking charge of their dioceses.
The Catholic Church had a longstanding liturgical law that said Communion must be given only on the tongue. So Alfrink and Suenens asked Rome for an indult (that is... special permission) which would allow Communion in the hand to be legalized. They did this instead of complying with the Holy Father's order to stop allowing Communion in the hand.
On May 8, 1968, three years after telling the hierarchy of the Netherlands' to stop Communion in the hand, these same prelates asked again to receive the indult (or special permission to do it). Rome again said no... this time via the Sacred Congregation of Rites with the words, “non expedire”... in English... “It is not expedient.” But the hierarchy of the Netherlands and Germany kept up their insistent requests. On June 3, 1968 the Secretary of State wrote to the Episcopal Conference of the Netherlands saying, “His Holiness in effect considers that the bishops must be reminded of their responsibility so that they may prevent, with opportune norms, the inconveniences, and moderate the indiscriminate spread of this practice, of itself not contrary to doctrine, but, in practice, very disputable and dangerous.”
Communion in the hand is not intrinsically evil, meaning not contrary to doctrine in itself. But it is called by Rome “disputable and dangerous” and thus highly undesirable. Soon after this, Paul VI directed the instruction Memoriale Domini to be written which had much more to say about why Communion in the hand should not be allowed.
But Paul VI, for some reason in a moment of weakness, BRIEFLY gave in to the request of these bishops for special permission to dispense Communion in the hand. A Concession was then granted to Germany on June 27 and to Belgium on July 3 of 1968 to administer Communion in the hand. It was done because the abuse seemingly could not be stopped and with the stipulation that the abuse not be allowed to spread.
Keep these two points in mind when we analyze the Instruction Memoriale Domini written by the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1969.
On July 25, 1968, Paul VI, still vacillating about how best to handle the abuse, tells Bugnini to relate to the heads of these episcopal conferences who were in Rome at the time to, “temporarily suspend the publication and application of the indult”.
This in effect, would remove any special permission for giving Communion in the hand. The bishops knew that the Catholic Church considered the practice to be illegal. But at this point some things should be clear to us all. First, Communion in the hand was started in Germany, Belgium and Holland by a small group of prelates and clergy in defiance of church law.
Why they did this God only knows.
Second, this abuse was not taken lightly by Pope Paul VI who was deeply concerned that the abuse was going on and was continually involved on a very personal level trying to stop it. Third, the same small group of prelates and clergy that defied the law in starting the abuse also defied the authority of Holy Father who tried to stop the abuse from continuing. They merely declared that they were unable to stop it and asked permission to continue doing it. Why Rome would accept such an excuse from them... once again God only knows.
Paul VI could have been more of a top down authoritarian. In hindsight it seems that this would have been the only way to deal with such brazen disobedience. Leaders like Cardinal Alfrink and Cardinal Suenens could have been reassigned to positions of little influence.
Jesus said, “He who is not with me is against me: and he that gathers not with me scatters.” And the sheep would soon be scattered in the Netherlands with Mass attendance plummeting.
The debacle of Communion in the hand illustrates that a change in church practice can occur without being intended by the Council nor willed by the Pope. It proves that an abuse, when backed by enough cardinals, bishops and priests, can be sustained even in the face of opposition from the Holy Father.
Pray for your present Holy Father. He is the leader of the Church Militant but he can only fight with the troops he has.
God love you. I'm Michael Voris.
The Catholic Church had a longstanding liturgical law that said Communion must be given only on the tongue. So Alfrink and Suenens asked Rome for an indult (that is... special permission) which would allow Communion in the hand to be legalized. They did this instead of complying with the Holy Father's order to stop allowing Communion in the hand.
On May 8, 1968, three years after telling the hierarchy of the Netherlands' to stop Communion in the hand, these same prelates asked again to receive the indult (or special permission to do it). Rome again said no... this time via the Sacred Congregation of Rites with the words, “non expedire”... in English... “It is not expedient.” But the hierarchy of the Netherlands and Germany kept up their insistent requests. On June 3, 1968 the Secretary of State wrote to the Episcopal Conference of the Netherlands saying, “His Holiness in effect considers that the bishops must be reminded of their responsibility so that they may prevent, with opportune norms, the inconveniences, and moderate the indiscriminate spread of this practice, of itself not contrary to doctrine, but, in practice, very disputable and dangerous.”
Communion in the hand is not intrinsically evil, meaning not contrary to doctrine in itself. But it is called by Rome “disputable and dangerous” and thus highly undesirable. Soon after this, Paul VI directed the instruction Memoriale Domini to be written which had much more to say about why Communion in the hand should not be allowed.
But Paul VI, for some reason in a moment of weakness, BRIEFLY gave in to the request of these bishops for special permission to dispense Communion in the hand. A Concession was then granted to Germany on June 27 and to Belgium on July 3 of 1968 to administer Communion in the hand. It was done because the abuse seemingly could not be stopped and with the stipulation that the abuse not be allowed to spread.
Keep these two points in mind when we analyze the Instruction Memoriale Domini written by the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1969.
On July 25, 1968, Paul VI, still vacillating about how best to handle the abuse, tells Bugnini to relate to the heads of these episcopal conferences who were in Rome at the time to, “temporarily suspend the publication and application of the indult”.
This in effect, would remove any special permission for giving Communion in the hand. The bishops knew that the Catholic Church considered the practice to be illegal. But at this point some things should be clear to us all. First, Communion in the hand was started in Germany, Belgium and Holland by a small group of prelates and clergy in defiance of church law.
Why they did this God only knows.
Second, this abuse was not taken lightly by Pope Paul VI who was deeply concerned that the abuse was going on and was continually involved on a very personal level trying to stop it. Third, the same small group of prelates and clergy that defied the law in starting the abuse also defied the authority of Holy Father who tried to stop the abuse from continuing. They merely declared that they were unable to stop it and asked permission to continue doing it. Why Rome would accept such an excuse from them... once again God only knows.
Paul VI could have been more of a top down authoritarian. In hindsight it seems that this would have been the only way to deal with such brazen disobedience. Leaders like Cardinal Alfrink and Cardinal Suenens could have been reassigned to positions of little influence.
Jesus said, “He who is not with me is against me: and he that gathers not with me scatters.” And the sheep would soon be scattered in the Netherlands with Mass attendance plummeting.
The debacle of Communion in the hand illustrates that a change in church practice can occur without being intended by the Council nor willed by the Pope. It proves that an abuse, when backed by enough cardinals, bishops and priests, can be sustained even in the face of opposition from the Holy Father.
Pray for your present Holy Father. He is the leader of the Church Militant but he can only fight with the troops he has.
God love you. I'm Michael Voris.
Other Segments of "Communion in Hand":
Segment Video Trailer
- Don't Blame Vatican II (When did the Church begin allowing Our Lord to be received in the hand of lay people?)
- Papal Preference: Pt. 1 (What does Pope Francis and previous Popes prefer?)
- Papal Preference: Pt. 2 (Was this Peter's Idea?)
- Mysterium Fedei (The document Mysterium Fidei, an Apostolic Exhortation, is of great importance.)
- Where Faith Goes Actions Soon Follow (What knock-on effect happens when we receive in the hand? And is this a good thing?)
- Communion in the Hand Begins: Pt. 2_ (Learn the history behind this practice.)
- Memoriale Domini: Pt. 1 (How did Pope Paul VI try to stop communion in the hand?)
- Memoriale Domini: Pt. 2_ (How did Pope Paul VI try to stop communion in the hand?)
- NCCB Meeting (Sleight of hand . . . behind closed doors? Smoking gun in Chicago)
- Conditions for Permission (If communion in the hand is allowed, when is it allowed?)
- Every Particle is Precious (Every particle is Christ and needs to be protected against profanation)
- Bishop Athanasius Schneider (A true champion of Eucharistic reverence!)
Segment Video Trailer
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