Changes In The Reception of Holy Communion In The Dioces of Phoenix

A story that has been causing some ripples in the Catholic blogosphere, has been the report that the Diocese of Phoenix, AZ, has severely restricted the times reception of Holy Communion under both species, bread and wine, is allowed. It can only be offered during special occasions, and not as part of regular Sunday liturgies. I think Pray Tell broke the story first, which was then picked up by The Deacon’s Bench. Both sites have been inundated with comments, so much so that Deacon Kandra has to close the posting to new comments.




For me, this is a very sad turn of events. For me, receiving Holy Communion through just the Host, or both the Host and the Cup, have both been very meaningful, spiritual experiences for me. I have to be honest though, and say that I prefer to be able to receive both the Body and the Blood of my Lord Jesus. It just makes my experience of Eucharist that much more powerful.



One of the reasons given by the Diocese of Phoenix for the change was that wanted to protect the Eucharist from “profanation.” Now my parish has offered the opportunity to receive the Eucharist under both species for about twenty years; and never have I seen any disrespect for the Sacrament. Now have there been accidents, I am sure there have been, ministers of communion are human, recipients are human. That should not the reason to deny the faithful the regular opportunity to receive both the Body and Blood of Christ. Parishes need to insure that extraordinary ministers of communion are properly trained.



One can speculate how much support Bishop Olmsted of Phoenix has from the laity for this change; or whether he cares. It will be interesting to see if there is any blowback from the Catholics of Phoenix, or will they quietly submit.