ID EVERYBODY already know this except for me? It seems that Catholics in the United States are now completely free to kneel for the reception of Holy Communion. Any restrictions that existed before 2011 seem to have been removed, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

No. 160 of the GIRM states clearly there that the “norm” established for the United States for reception of Holy Communion is standing. In the 2003 GIRM, it stated that no one should be refused Communion if they kneel, but that afterward they should be properly catechized. In the current edition, the exhortation to catechesis is removed and the exception to the norm of standing is left to the discretion of the faithful: “unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling.” The Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, no. 91, is then cited. Source: BCDW Newsletter, January 2012

HERE’S A VIDEO showing the reception of Holy Communion at a Mass with Pope Francis as celebrant. I see there’s a priest who requires people to receive on the tongue, and I see Pope Francis distributing Holy Communion to those kneeling:





Pope Benedict XVI said in 2010:

“The idea behind my current practice of having people kneel to receive Communion on the tongue was to send a signal and to underscore the Real Presence with an exclamation point. One very important reason is that there is a great danger of superficiality precisely in the kinds of mass events we hold at St. Peter’s, both in the Basilica and in the Square. I have heard of people who, after receiving Communion, stick the Host in their wallet to take home as a kind of souvenir. In this context, where people think that everyone is just automatically supposed to receive Communion — everyone else is going up, so I will, too — I wanted to send a clear signal. I wanted it to be clear: Something quite special is going on here! He is here, the One before whom we fall on our knees! Pay attention! This is not just some social ritual in which we can take part if we want to.”

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.