Liturgical Abuse, Spiritual Abuse

Recently the H1N1 pandemic scare has induced a number of dioceses to implement measures that forbad the laity from receiving the Host according to the ordinary form (on the tongue), mandating that for those who wished to receive, they must receive according to the extraordinary indult form (on the hand).

This seem to me a matter of liturgical abuse as this goes contrary to what the supreme legislator decreed [c.f. article 92 of Redemptionis Sacramentum is explicit :"...the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue..."]

The proposition that the ordinary form may be suppressed by the Ordinary seems an untenable position that reeks of neo-Gallicanism. So far not one diocese mandating suppression of the ordinary form of reception has produced a document from Rome that nuances article 92, granting the bishop the authority to suppress reception of Holy Communion on the tongue. To the contrary, a note circulating on the internet from the Congregation for Divine Worship states that a bishop may not ban Communion on the tongue.

It should be remembered that the Church is by Divine decree a monarchic, hierarchical institution. The bishop is indeed the supreme legislator in his diocese, but his authority is limited and contingent on the Pope - who has full, immediate and ordinary power over the Universal Church; the bishop ruling in his diocese with the same authority but only due to it being granted to him by the Pope. The bishop has ordinary jurisdiction from Christ through the Roman Pontiff. His authority is limited and contingent on what legislation has been decreed by and in the name of the Pope. To act otherwise is abuse, and displays a schismatic mentality. The Gallican thesis, that the bishop obtains his power directly from Our Lord is refuted vigorously by the Church. Indeed, Pius XII following his encyclical Mystici corporis reiterated the fact that all pastors of the Church receive from the Pope "their jurisdiction and their mission" (Osservatore Romano, Feb, 18, 1942 as referenced in Fenton's Episcopal Jurisdiction and the Roman See, American Ecclesiastical Review, Vol. CXX Jan-Jun, 1949).

The result of this is grave spiritual abuse of those who seek to receive Our Lord according to the traditions of the fathers, according to the will of the Holy Father. Much has been written on how the scandal of Communion in the hand was brought upon the Church in the late 60s by evil clergy - and the terrible abuse of the Blessed Sacrament that it wrought. First and foremost, a devastating attack on the Real Presence and a massive falling away from the Faith; mass apostasy. Enough on this...

However, now a whole group of laity are suffering a form of spiritual rape. Those who wish and only wish to receive on the tongue and are denied. And this in violation of not only RS, but canon Law: 912 "Any baptized person not prohibited by law can and must be admitted to holy communion".

The suspension of this Gallican act on December 15 is of little consolation to all those who suffered over the past weeks.