The Vatican supports the bishop on receiving Communion on the tongue

The secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship wrote to a petitioner last month rejecting their appeal against the Bishop of Knoxville's decision to temporarily ban the reception of Communion on the tongue due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The congregation “received and carefully studied [the] petition appealing against Bishop Richard F. Stika's decision to suspend the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue at public masses throughout the diocese of Knoxville for the duration of the public health emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic, ”Archbishop Arthur Roche wrote on November 13 to the petitioner, whose name was deleted from the copy of the letter available to the public.

Archbishop Roche, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, cited a letter sent in August by the prefect of the congregation, Cardinal Robert Sarah, in which the cardinal wrote: "in times of difficulty (for example wars, pandemics), Bishops and Episcopal Conferences can give provisional norms which must be obeyed… These measures given by the Bishops and Episcopal Conferences expire when the situation returns to normal ".

Roche interpreted this letter by saying that the provisional norms can be "also clearly, as in this case, suspend for any time it may be required, the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue at the public celebration of Holy Mass".

"This Dicastery therefore acts to confirm Mgr. Stika's decision and therefore rejects his petition asking for its modification," wrote Mgr. Roche. The rejection of the petition suggests a change in politics or logic on the part of the congregation.

In July 2009, during the swine flu pandemic, the congregation responded to a similar inquiry into the right to receive Communion on the tongue, recalling that the instruction Redemptionis sacramentum of 2004 "clearly stipulates" that every member always has the right to receive the language, and that it is illegal to deny Communion to any faithful who are not prevented by the law.

The 2004 instruction, issued on some matters to be observed or avoided with regard to the Most Holy Eucharist, observed that "every member of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion in the language of his choice".

Bishop Stika lifted the restriction on receiving Communion on the tongue at the end of November. It had imposed it when it allowed the resumption of public masses in the diocese at the end of May.

“The decision to suspend the distribution of Holy Communion on the tongue was difficult for me and I understand the concern that some members of our clergy and laity had about my actions,” Bishop Stika said on 11 December. “However, we were in the early stages of this pandemic and facing a lot of uncertainty. I felt I had the authority to make a conscientious decision for the safety of all: the laity and our clergy. "

In March, the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon concluded that the risk of transmitting an infection when received on the tongue or hand is "roughly the same."

Similarly, the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois said earlier this year that "given the Church's existing leadership on this point (see Redemptionis Sacramentum, no. 92), and acknowledging the differing judgments and sensitivities of experts involved, we believe that, with the additional precautions listed here, it is possible to distribute them on the tongue without unreasonable risk ”.

The precautions recommended at this time by the Diocese of Springfield are: a separate station for the distribution on the tongue or the distribution on the tongue that follows in the hand, and that the minister sanitize his hands after each communicator