Should one receive Communion in the hand or on the tongue?

For the reader in a hurry, the doctrinal essentials come down to four verifiable statements, each of which will be developed below with its sources.

1. Communion on the tongue is the norm of the Latin Church, imposed from the 9th century onward and remaining the practice reaffirmed by Rome in 1969 (Memoriale Domini), recalled in 1980 (Dominicae Cenae) and protected in 2004 (Redemptionis Sacramentum, §92)^{[7] [8] [9]}.
2. Every faithful retains the right to receive Communion on the tongue, according to one's choice, everywhere, in all circumstances, and cannot be prevented from doing so^[10].
3. Communion in the hand is attested from the 3rd century and was widely practised during the first centuries, under conditions of reverence that the Fathers imposed with gravity^{[11] [12] [13]}.
4. It is today lawful in the countries that have received the indult by confirmation of the Holy See, but under strict conditions: permission from the conference of bishops, immediate consumption before the minister, refusal in case of risk of profanation, and continued use of the communion plate^{[14] [15] [16]}.

For the details — patristic sources, dates of the councils, chronology of the indults, magisterial quotations, current debates — the rest of the article takes them up point by point.

A norm of the Latin Church: communion on the tongue

The Instruction Memoriale Domini (29 May 1969), promulgated by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship with the approval of Paul VI, is the founding document of current liturgical law. It lays down a central affirmation: communion on the tongue, distributed by the ordained minister, remains the normative praxis of the Latin Church^[17].

The text gives three explicit reasons for maintaining this tradition: this manner is to be preserved because it rests on a centuries-old tradition, because it expresses the reverence of the faithful towards the Eucharist, and because it takes nothing away from the dignity of the one who approaches so great a sacrament while belonging to the preparation required to receive the Body of the Lord with the greatest fruit^[18].

The document immediately states that this practice offers three pedagogical and theological guarantees: it protects the reverence due to the sacrament, it removes any danger of profanation and of mistreatment of the species, and it preserves the scrupulous attention to the fragments that the Church has required at all times^[19].

The right of the faithful to receive on the tongue

This preference translates, in liturgical law, into a permanent right of the faithful. The instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum (25 March 2004) of the Congregation for Divine Worship, which brings together the norms in force after the Second Vatican Council, is explicit in paragraph 92 (official text, vatican.va):

"Every faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue. If a communicant wishes to receive the Sacrament in the hand, in regions where the Conference of Bishops permits it, with the confirmation of the Apostolic See, the sacred host may be given to him. In this case, however, careful attention must be paid to ensure that the host is consumed by the communicant immediately before the minister, so that no one walks away with the Eucharistic species in the hand. If there is a risk of profanation, Holy Communion must not be given in the hand of the faithful." — Congregation for Divine Worship, instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, 25 March 2004, §92^[20]

No local pastoral decision, no practice that has become the majority one in a parish, can suspend this right. A priest or an extraordinary minister may not refuse Communion to a faithful on the grounds that he or she receives it on the tongue rather than in the hand^[21].

Communion in the hand: strict conditions

Where communion in the hand is permitted, it is never unconditional. The requirements, laid down by Memoriale Domini (1969) and then taken up by Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004, §92-93), are as follows — and the two-thirds secret ballot belongs to the procedure of Memoriale Domini, not to §92:

These requirements are not matters of good manners: they are disciplinary norms in force in the Latin Church^{[22] [23]}.

Father Iannuzzi's practical reminder

The American theologian Joseph Iannuzzi, doctor of sacred theology (doctoral thesis defended at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome on 22 November 2012, on the gift of living in the Divine Will according to the writings of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta), synthesized the Catholic doctrine on this point in March 2020 in a standalone article, "The Proper way of Receiving Communion" (published on 28 March 2020 on tligradio.org; French translation our own), on the occasion of the pandemic that had led certain dioceses to impose communion in the hand for health reasons:

"The praxis and normative manner of the Church for properly receiving Communion is on the tongue. Although in 1977 the Pope granted an indult to the dioceses of the United States to allow Communion in the hand, the number of Catholic rites and countries that have received this indult is small. […] When the Church permits Communion in the hand in these exceptional times, it is inappropriate for anyone to claim that it is an absolute sacrilege. Nevertheless, whoever is not in a state of grace and receives Communion, whether on the tongue or in the hand, commits a sacrilege." — R. J. Iannuzzi, "The Proper way of Receiving Communion", 28 March 2020^[24]

This statement contains the whole Catholic balance: communion on the tongue is the norm, communion in the hand is not intrinsically sacrilegious, and the true sacrilege is to receive Communion without being in a state of grace, whatever the manner^[25]. A necessary clarification: the claim that the countries having received the indult are "few" dates from 2020 and should not be taken literally — the indults granted since 1969 are in fact numerous (see the timeline below).

To understand the present balance, one must go back to the patristic sources. Communion in the hand is neither an invention of Vatican II, nor a Protestant concession of the 1960s. It is attested by the Fathers of the Church as early as the 3rd century (Tertullian, Cyprian) and remains widely practiced throughout the early centuries, in the East as in the West, as shown by the testimonies of Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil, and the Council in Trullo^{[26] [27] [28] [29]}.

The central testimony attributed to Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (4th century)

The reference patristic text is the Fifth Mystagogical Catechesis attributed to Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313–386), bishop of the Holy City and Doctor of the Church — the attribution to Cyril or to his successor John of Jerusalem remaining debated among patrologists, the dating to c. 348–350 is therefore given with reservation. Addressed to the neophytes after their Easter baptism, it details how to receive the Eucharist in an exemplary manner:

"When therefore you approach, do not come forward with the palms of your hands stretched out, nor with your fingers parted; but make your left hand a throne for your right hand, since the latter is about to receive the King, and in the hollow of your hand receive the Body of Christ, saying: Amen. Then, having sanctified your eyes with caution by the contact of the holy Body, take it, taking care to lose nothing of it. For whatever you would lose, consider that you would lose it as one of your own members." — Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Fifth Mystagogical Catechesis, 21, c. 350^[30]

Three elements must be noted. Primo, the practice described is explicitly communion in the hand — the neophyte extends both palms, the host is placed in the hollow. Secundo, the disposition is imposed as a veritable liturgy of the body: the left hand makes a "throne" for the right hand, which "is about to receive the King." Tertio, the attention to the fragments is rigorous: what would be lost would be comparable to the loss of a member of the communicant himself^[31].

Cyril continues (V, 22) with communion under the Precious Blood: to come forward bowing with adoration, without extending the hands, and to answer "Amen" when receiving the chalice^[32]. No Christian of the 4th–5th centuries read this text with unease: it described ordinary liturgical practice.

Tertullian, Cyprian, Basil: laypeople carrying the Eucharist

Other convergent testimonies complete that of Cyril. Tertullian (c. 155–220), in his treatise De Corona (III, 3–4), attests that the faithful receive the Eucharist from the hands of the presidents of the assembly alone, and that there is grief if any crumb of the bread or wine happens to fall to the ground^[33]. Saint Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200–258), bishop and martyr, mentions in his De Lapsis (chapter 26) — a treatise on those who failed during the persecutions — faithful who receive the Eucharist into their hands and keep it at home^[34].

Saint Basil the Great (329–379), Father of Cappadocia and Doctor of the Church, wrote to the patrician Caesaria a letter that became famous (Letter 93, c. 372). The very order of his argument is instructive, and we follow it here by summarizing it faithfully: Basil first recalls that in time of persecution, for lack of a priest, the faithful communicant takes Communion from his own hand, by virtue of a long custom; he then cites the solitaries of the desert, who keep Communion in their houses and communicate from their own hand where there is no priest; he finally mentions the laypeople of Alexandria and Egypt, who for the most part likewise keep Communion at home^[35].

This letter is crucial because it describes a practice so received that it survives outside any communal liturgy. If Communion received from one's own hand had been considered intrinsically sacrilegious, Basil could not have defended it as a "long custom"^[36].

Saint Augustine and sanctification by touch

Saint Augustine (354–430), bishop of Hippo and Doctor of the Church, mentions several times the touching of the Eucharist by the communicant. In his Enarrationes in Psalmum 98, commenting on the verse "worship his footstool", he lays down the famous formula according to which no one eats this flesh without having first adored it^[37].

Saint John Damascene and the Council in Trullo

The usage lasts in the East far longer than in the West. Saint John Damascene (c. 676–749), last of the Greek Fathers of the Church, codifies in the 8th century in his Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith the ritual posture:

"Let us approach then with ardent desire, and, the palms of our hands forming a cross, let us receive the Body of the Crucified, saying: Amen." — Saint John Damascene, Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, book IV, chapter 13, c. 743^[38]

The Council in Trullo (Constantinople, 691–692), an Eastern assembly that codifies Byzantine discipline, enacts in canon 101 the same prescription in clear terms and gives the corresponding canonical sanction (abridged translation, cuts marked):

"The great Apostle clearly tells us that man was created in the image and likeness of God […]. If therefore anyone wishes, at the time of the synaxis (the liturgical assembly), to communicate in the immaculate Body and to become one with it by this participation, let him arrange his hands in the form of a cross and approach, receiving Communion of the grace. As for those who, instead of their hands, fashion vessels of gold or of some other material to receive the divine gift, we in no way approve this practice, because they prefer to the image of God an inanimate matter which is subject to it." — Council in Trullo, canon 101, Constantinople, 692^[39]

This canon has considerable scope: not only does it validate Communion in the hand, but it forbids the faithful from fashioning an external receptacle (cup, personal plate) to receive the Host, because the human hand, created in the image of God, is in itself more worthy than a vessel of material^[40]. The canon imposes the penalty of excommunication both on the minister who would distribute Communion to the faithful equipped with such receptacles and on those faithful themselves^[41].

The conditions of reverence imposed from the very beginning

The Fathers never preached a casual Communion. The conditions imposed from the earliest centuries show to what extent the ancient practice was liturgically codified:

• Hands arranged in the form of a cross or a throne, never flat palms or open fingers^{[42] [43] [44]}.
• Consumption on the spot, except for the particular case of the Eucharist kept at home by tried Christians (the persecuted, the sick, the solitary), mentioned by Basil^[45].
• Scrupulous care of the fragments: what would be lost would be comparable to the loss of a limb, according to Cyril's formula^[46]; Tertullian attests to the same distress should any particle fall to the ground^[47].

Ancient Communion in the hand therefore has nothing to do with a desacralized "self-service Communion." It presupposes a ritualized, codified rite, linked to the whole Eucharistic liturgy, and inseparable from the disciplina arcani — the "discipline of secrecy" that enveloped the Eucharistic mystery in a sacred veil.

Communion in the hand remained the common practice for eight centuries, but warning signs appeared as early as late antiquity. The shift toward Communion on the tongue, complete in the West in the 11th–13th century, is not the result of a theological condemnation of the ancient usage: it is a slow disciplinary evolution motivated by the defense of reverence, the fight against profanations, and the material transformation of the Host.

Saragossa (380): the first safeguard against profanation

The Council of Saragossa, held in 380 under the presidency of Delphin of Bordeaux, was convened to respond to the spread of Priscillianism, a radical ascetic movement considered heretical. Among its eight canons, one (often identified as the third) excommunicates the faithful who receive the Eucharist in church without consuming it on the spot — a practice of certain Priscillianists who carried the Host away to keep it or treat it apart:

"If anyone, having received the Eucharistic grace, does not consume it, let him be anathema forever." — Council of Saragossa, canon 3 (paraphrased), 380^[48]

The canon targets a specific abuse, but its scope is broad: from 380 onward, the Western Church keeps close watch over the moment the Host is consumed and tends to require immediate consumption on the spot. This is the first underlying movement toward a Communion closely supervised by the minister^[49].

Synod of Cordoba (839) and Council of Rouen (c. 878): the shift

Four centuries later, the disciplinary shift takes place in two stages in the West. The Synod of Cordoba (839), which among other things condemns the Casiani who refuse Communion in the mouth, and above all the Council of Rouen (dated to 650 according to the ancient chronology, or to the 9th century — c. 878 — according to the more common dating) explicitly impose Communion on the tongue. The formula of the Council of Rouen is cited by all liturgical histories:

"Let not the Eucharist be placed in the hand of any layperson or any woman, but only in their mouth." — Council of Rouen, Nulli autem laico aut feminae Eucharistiam in manibus ponat, sed tantum in os ejus (in the mouth, not in the hands)^[50]

From that date onward, Communion on the tongue became the common practice throughout the Latin rite. The transition was completed in the 11th–12th centuries, and by the 13th century it had become the received practice in the West, distributed by the priest alone, on the tongue^[51].

The introduction of unleavened bread and the concern for fragments

A material cause accompanies this disciplinary shift. The introduction of unleavened bread (azyme bread) in the West, widespread from the 9th to the 11th century, changes the texture of the Host. Unleavened bread produces more numerous and finer fragments than leavened bread. The more compact and small the Host becomes, the more Communion on the tongue, without touching it by hand, becomes the safest precise gesture so that nothing is lost^[52].

At the same time, the influx of large crowds to the parishes, whose preparation for the mystery is uneven, led the bishops to tighten the Eucharistic rite in order to defend collective reverence. This is not a clerical hardening against the laity: it is a response of pastoral prudence.

Saint Thomas Aquinas: only the priest handles the species

In the 13th century, the practice had become universal and received its systematic theological foundation in Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Common Doctor of the Church. In the Summa Theologiae, III, question 82, article 3, he explicitly states that the distribution of the sacrament is reserved to the priest, because the priest's hands are specifically consecrated to touch the Eucharistic species by the anointing of the day of ordination:

"The dispensation of Christ's body belongs to the priest for three reasons. First, because he consecrates as in the person of Christ; but since Christ consecrated his body at the supper and also gave it to others to eat, so it belongs to the one who stands in his place both to consecrate and to dispense. Second, because the priest is appointed mediator between God and the people, and it belongs to the mediator to present to the people the divine things he receives from God. Third, out of reverence for the sacrament, because nothing touches the sacrament except what is consecrated, such as the corporal and the chalice, and likewise the priest's hands, for touching this sacrament. Hence it is lawful for no one to touch it, except in a case of necessity, for example if it were to fall on the ground or in some other similar case." — Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, III, question 82, article 3^[53]

This article grounds the medieval and Tridentine conviction: the only hands that ordinarily touch the consecrated species are the consecrated hands of the priest. An exception is made for necessity (a Host fallen to the ground), but in ordinary circumstances, the hand of the layperson does not touch the Host; it is received on the tongue.

The Council of Trent: confirming the received practice

The Council of Trent (1545–1563), in its thirteenth session devoted to the Eucharist (11 October 1551), did not legislate specifically on the manner of receiving Communion in the hand or on the tongue, because the question was not debated at that time: Communion on the tongue had been the received norm in the West for centuries^[54]. The Tridentine decree focuses on defending the Real Presence against the Protestant reformers. But the Tridentine liturgical practice that flows from it is uniform: Communion at the altar rail, kneeling, on the tongue, administered by the priest alone^[55].

This Tridentine discipline prevails without interruption until 1969. For nearly a thousand years, in the Latin rite, no faithful ordinarily received the Host in the hand. It is the practice received by all modern Catholic generations — that of the saints from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, that of the great Marian apparitions, that of the Curé d'Ars and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

A discipline that reaches its peak in the early twentieth century

Saint Pius X, by the decree Sacra Tridentina Synodus (20 December 1905), encouraged frequent, even daily, Communion, and through Quam Singulari (1910) he lowered the age of First Communion to the age of reason (7 years). These two texts shifted twentieth-century Eucharistic pastoral practice toward a greater frequency of Communion, but they in no way altered the manner of reception: it remained on the tongue, kneeling, at the altar rail^[56].

It is against this backdrop of a practice a thousand years old that the post-conciliar crisis will arise, in the late 1960s.

A practice introduced "abusively"

The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) nowhere authorizes Communion in the hand. Its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, does not mention the subject^[57]. Yet from the late 1960s onward, certain regions of Europe — the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France — began practicing Communion in the hand without authorization from the Holy See, on the pretext of returning to the ancient practice^[58].

This practice, introduced without authorization, confronted Rome with a fait accompli. Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, then Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, would later write in the preface to Dominus est (2008) that it was "accepted" after having been introduced abusively in certain countries, having been requested neither by Sacrosanctum Concilium nor by the Council Fathers^[59]. Paul VI then chose a path of collegial discernment.

The survey of the bishops

The Pope consulted the bishops of the Latin Church in writing. The responses, tallied on 12 March 1969, addressed three distinct questions, whose results are reported in the preamble of Memoriale Domini:

The conclusion of the survey is clear: on the first question, 1,233 bishops out of 2,135 votes cast and null, or 57.7%, refuse any modification — a clear majority, but not two-thirds. The supporters of the innovation (26.5%) are in the minority, and 14.8% accept it only with explicit reservations (placet iuxta modum, "yes with conditions")^[60].

Paul VI's decision: maintain, regulate, tolerate

On the basis of this vote, Paul VI makes a threefold decision that Memoriale Domini sets out explicitly:

1. First step — upholding the norm. The Pope states clearly that he does not consider it opportune to change the traditional praxis of the Latin Church: Communion on the tongue remains the norm^[61].
2. Second step — refusing to impose a return to order. Where the practice of Communion in the hand has already been introduced without authorization (the Netherlands, Belgium, etc.), he does not ask for its immediate elimination. He entrusts its management to the local episcopal conferences.
3. Third step — creation of the conditional indult. Where this contrary usage has already been introduced, the episcopal conference may request its regularization from the Holy See according to a strict procedure: a secret two-thirds vote of the episcopate of the region concerned, written justification, and express confirmation by the Holy See before any implementation^[62]. The extension of this faculty to countries where the usage had not been introduced would come later through subsequent indults, on a case-by-case basis.

This third provision is the legal regime still in force today^[63].

Chronology of the indults by country

The implementation of Memoriale Domini has produced a highly uneven world map of Communion in the hand. Not all countries have adopted it, and some did so much later than others. Here are the main milestones:

This timeline reveals two important things. First, the indult was granted country by country and is not universal: in a country that has not received the indult, Communion is received only on the tongue^[64]. Second, the map of application remained incomplete for a long time: Italy obtained the faculty only in 1989 (recognitio of 14 July 1989), and Poland only in 2005 — a sign that the Church does not regard Communion in the hand as a universal acquisition, but as a local and conditional permission^[65].

Eleven years after Memoriale Domini, John Paul II published his first letter on the Eucharist: Dominicae Cenae (24 February 1980), addressed to all the bishops of the Church. Paragraph 11 contains an important reminder concerning the mode of receiving Communion:

The Pope first notes that the practice "was requested by particular Bishops' Conferences, and it has obtained the approval of the Apostolic See"; he then mentions the "cases of regrettable disrespect with regard to the eucharistic species" of which he hears, and he regrets that no account is sometimes taken "of the free choice and free will of those who, where the distribution of Communion in the hand has been authorized, prefer to remain with the usage of receiving it in the mouth"^[66].

He then recalls, in the order of the text (official text, vatican.va):

"[…] their hands, like their words and their will, have thus become a direct instrument of the Christ. […] Touching the sacred species, distributing them with one's own hands, is a privilege of the ordained, which indicates an active participation in the ministry of the Eucharist. […]" — Saint John Paul II, letter Dominicae Cenae, 24 February 1980, §11^[67]

John Paul II calls the bishops to heightened pastoral vigilance regarding these instances of disrespect^[68].

The related instruction Inaestimabile Donum (3 April 1980), issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship, applies the reminders of Dominicae Cenae at the disciplinary level and confirms that extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are authorized only in cases of genuine necessity^[69].

Still under the pontificate of John Paul II, the Congregation for Divine Worship promulgated on 25 March 2004 the instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, signed by the prefect cardinal Francis Arinze and confirmed by the Pope himself. It is the authoritative disciplinary text currently in force for the liturgical norms governing the Eucharist^[70].

§91 — No discrimination based on posture

Paragraph 91 explicitly protects the faithful who wish to receive Communion kneeling or standing (official text, vatican.va):

"With regard to the distribution of Holy Communion it is to be remembered that 'sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who seek them in a reasonable manner, are rightly disposed, and are not prohibited by law from receiving them'. […] Accordingly, it is not licit to deny Holy Communion to a faithful simply because he or she wishes to receive the Eucharist kneeling or standing." — Congregation for Divine Worship, Redemptionis Sacramentum, §91^[71]

§92 — The faithful's right to receive on the tongue

Paragraph 92, quoted above in its official text, sets out the principles that pastoral practice must respect without exception: the permanent right to receive on the tongue according to one's choice; Communion in the hand possible where the bishops' conference has obtained it with the confirmation of the Apostolic See, with immediate consumption before the minister; refusal of Communion in the hand in case of risk of profanation^[72].

§93 — The Communion plate

Paragraph 93 requires that the use of the Communion plate for the faithful be maintained (official text, vatican.va):

"The use of the Communion plate should be retained for the reception of Holy Communion, so that no fragment of the sacred host may fall to the ground." — Congregation for Divine Worship, Redemptionis Sacramentum, §93^[73]

This norm, seldom applied in parish practice, nevertheless remains in force. Its reason is simple: the consecrated host is the Body of Christ, and the loss of a fragment is, in Cyril's words, comparable to the loss of a limb of the communicant^[74].

Corpus Domini 2008: Communion on the tongue while kneeling

On 22 May 2008, in front of the Basilica of St John Lateran, Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the feast of the Holy Sacrament and distributes Communion to kneeling faithful at prie-dieu kneelers, on the tongue only. The gesture immediately drew commentary around the world^[75].

The papal master of ceremonies, Msgr Guido Marini, asked about the meaning of this choice in an interview with L'Osservatore Romano (late June 2008), explains — we faithfully summarise his remarks here — that Communion given on the tongue and while kneeling is a mode intended to become the norm in papal celebrations: it better manifests the truth of the Real Presence in the Eucharist, fosters the devotion of the faithful, and more readily leads into the sense of mystery^[76]. Marini also recalls that, from a legal standpoint, Communion in the hand remains an indult to universal law^[77].

From May 2008 onwards, Benedict XVI maintained this mode at papal Masses. The gesture has no universal legal force — it does not change the law of Memoriale Domini or the indult granted to the bishops' conferences — but it has the force of liturgical example: the Pope himself, in the Church's most visible liturgy, expresses a preference bodily lived out for receiving Communion on the tongue while kneeling^[78].

Msgr Athanasius Schneider and Dominus est (2008)

That same year, 2008, Msgr Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Karaganda (Kazakhstan), who came from the underground Church under Soviet communism, publishes with the Libreria Editrice Vaticana a short book entitled Dominus est. Riflessioni di un vescovo dell'Asia Centrale sulla sacra Comunione. The preface is signed by the Sri Lankan archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, then Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship (2005–2009; created cardinal on 20 November 2010).

Ranjith writes there, in a sentence that would prove momentous (we translate from the original edition):

« I believe the time has come to carefully evaluate the practice of Communion in the hand and, if necessary, to abandon what was requested neither by Sacrosanctum Concilium nor by the Council Fathers, but was "accepted" after having been introduced abusively in certain countries. » — Msgr Malcolm Ranjith, preface to Msgr Athanasius Schneider, Dominus est, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City, 2008^[79]

Msgr Schneider, in his work, does not deny the historical legitimacy of Communion in the hand in the early centuries. On the contrary, he documents the patristic sources in detail. But he raises the pastoral question of context: what was possible in the codified ritual culture of the 4th century, in a Church of catechumens and neophytes, does not translate mechanically into a secular culture where sacramental practice has often lost its background of adoration^[80].

Cardinal Robert Sarah and the call to return

Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship from 2014 to 2021, has regularly argued for a pastoral return to Communion on the tongue. In the preface he wrote in February 2018 to Fr Federico Bortoli's book La distribuzione della comunione sulla mano (Cantagalli), he pleads for a return to Communion received directly on the tongue, while kneeling^[81].

Sarah, like Schneider, never declares Communion in the hand sacrilegious; he stresses its pastoral cost in terms of passing on the faith in the Real Presence in an age when Eucharistic belief is statistically collapsing.

Cardinal Raymond Burke and the defence of the faithful's right

Cardinal Raymond Burke, former Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, for his part insists on the right of the faithful to receive on the tongue, everywhere, at all times, without suffering pastoral discrimination^[82]. His position corresponds to the letter of Redemptionis Sacramentum §91-92 and merely applies it.

Father Joseph Iannuzzi, a systematic theologian trained at the Gregorian and a doctor of sacred theology, offers in March 2020, in his article « The Proper way of Receiving Communion » (tligradio.org; French translation ours), a pastoral synthesis in three decisive points. He wrote it in response to the health measures taken by certain dioceses during the Covid-19 pandemic.

First point: the normative practice remains on the tongue

« I wish to emphasize that the normative practice and manner of the Church for properly receiving Communion is on the tongue. Although in 1977 the Pope granted an indult to the dioceses of the United States to allow Communion in the hand, the number of Catholic rites and countries that have received this indult is small. » — R. J. Iannuzzi, « The Proper way of Receiving Communion », 2020^[83]

Second point: Communion in the hand is not a sacrilege

« When the Church permits Communion in the hand in these exceptional times, it is inappropriate for anyone to claim that it is an absolute sacrilege. Nevertheless, anyone who is not in a state of grace and receives Communion, whether on the tongue or in the hand, commits a sacrilege. […] Tradition reveals that Communion in the hand, when done properly, was observed from the earliest centuries of Christianity. » — R. J. Iannuzzi, « The Proper way of Receiving Communion », 2020^[84]

Third point: Communion on the tongue better protects against abuses

« Communion on the tongue remains the norm in the Church, because it reduces the risk of abuses, for example the mistreatment of the Host, fragments of the Host remaining in the hand (in the Latin rite the Host is made very compact, reducing the risk of residual fragments, but the same cannot be said in many Eastern rites). » — R. J. Iannuzzi, « The Proper way of Receiving Communion », 2020^[85]

Iannuzzi concludes his response with a verse from Psalm 81, which he reads as a figure of Communion received in an attitude of openness:

« I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Open wide thy mouth, and I will fill it. » — Psalm 81, 11, quoted in conclusion by R. J. Iannuzzi, « The Proper way of Receiving Communion », 2020^[86]

Beyond liturgical law, the Catholic spiritual tradition has known a strong preference of the saints for Communion on the tongue, seen as better manifesting the passive and received dimension of the Eucharistic gift. The consecrated bread is not taken; it is given. The gesture already expresses the theology.

Saint Faustine and the host held in her hands

The episode reported in the Little Diary of Saint Faustine Kowalska (1905-1938), at no. 160, is unique. On a first Friday of the month, Faustine is keeping vigil before the Blessed Sacrament to make reparation for Eucharistic irreverences. At the moment of receiving Communion, a second host catches on the priest's sleeve; impatient, he signals her to receive the host he is presenting to her, and as soon as she has received it, the other host falls into her hands. Faustine then holds the Body of Christ in her hand while the priest continues distributing Communion:

Faustine recounts — we faithfully summarize her account here — that while she held the host in her hand, she felt such a power of love that she could neither eat nor collect herself for the rest of the day; she heard words coming from the host telling her that Jesus had desired to rest in her hands, and she writes: « I saw Jesus », before seeing only the host again as the priest approached^[87].

The text is precious for two opposite reasons. On the one hand, it attests that the Eucharist rested in the hands of a saint — at the express request of Jesus himself in this account. On the other hand, the episode is an exceptional case, presented as unexpected, outside Faustine's ordinary liturgical practice, since she normally received Communion on the tongue like the Polish faithful of her time^[88].

Saint John-Marie Vianney: Eucharistic adoration at Ars

The holy Curé of Ars (1786-1859) spent his life leading his parishioners to Eucharistic adoration and confession. In his ministry, Communion received kneeling, on the tongue, expresses bodily the faith in the real presence: the posture of the body is already a profession of faith.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and the « humble Host »

In Manuscript A of Story of a Soul, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897) describes her first Communion on 8 May 1884 as the most decisive encounter of her life. The small host placed on her tongue is not, for her, an object received: it is the gesture in which Love comes to hide in the soul. The page is one of the most famous in all of modern Catholic mysticism:

« Ah! how sweet was the first kiss of Jesus to my soul! It was a kiss of love, I felt myself loved and I said too: 'I love you, I give myself to you forever.' There were no requests, no struggles, no sacrifices; for a long time Jesus and poor little Thérèse had looked at each other and understood one another… That day, it was no longer a look, but a fusion, they were no longer two, Thérèse had disappeared, like the drop of water lost in the bosom of the Ocean. » — Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Story of a Soul, Manuscript A, fol. 35 r°, 1895^[89]

Her spirituality, like that of the great Carmelites, is marked by passive reception, perfectly in keeping with Communion on the tongue, which she knew exclusively. One may read in it, as an interpretation proper to the present article, a consonance: to receive everything from God, and to take nothing by oneself.

The theology of the gesture: receptive passivity

The modern saints — Vianney, Thérèse — knew only Communion on the tongue: from the 9th century to 1969, there was no choice in the Latin rite. Cyril, Basil and Augustine, for their part, knew Communion received in the hands, and Faustine held the host in her hands. The modern preference of the saints for the gesture on the tongue is therefore not ritual conservatism: it lies in the theology of the gesture — the hand that takes is active; the tongue that receives is passive. Eucharistic Communion being essentially a gift that God makes to the soul, the gesture on the tongue expresses more directly the theological truth of the sacrament. Which the hand also signifies when properly disposed as a « throne », but with greater interpretive effort^[90].

The fragments: constant vigilance

Concern for the fragments runs through the entire history of the question: Saint Cyril of Jerusalem already warned against the loss of a single fragment, comparable to the loss of a limb^[91]. Fr. Iannuzzi notes, for his part, that in the Latin rite the host is made very compact, which reduces the risk of residual fragments — the same cannot be said of many Eastern rites^[92]. Vigilance regarding the fragments is therefore required whatever the mode, and grounds the retention of the communion plate called for by Redemptionis Sacramentum §93^[93].

The opinion of the Archdiocese of Portland (2020)

During the 2020 pandemic, the office of divine worship of the Archdiocese of Portland (Oregon, United States) consulted two physicians, including an immunology specialist from the State of Oregon, on the risks of viral transmission according to the mode of communion. In an opinion published on March 2, 2020 (reported by Catholic World Report on March 4, 2020), they concluded:

“The hands have greater exposure to germs [than the tongue]. When done correctly, receiving Holy Communion on the tongue or in the hand poses a more or less equivalent risk.” — Office of Divine Worship of the Archdiocese of Portland, opinion of March 2, 2020^[94]

This diocesan opinion, which Fr. Iannuzzi relays in his article^[95], recalls that human hands carry more germs than the tongue, which complicates the defense of the manual mode when one stands on the sole ground of hygiene.

Modern abuses: profanations, thefts of hosts

Dominicae Cenae §11 (1980) refers to the “regrettable lack of respect” that followed the introduction of communion in the hand^[96]. The reality confirmed by decades of pastoral experience in the West includes:

• Thefts of consecrated hosts carried out of the church, sometimes found profaned^[97].
• Hosts found on the ground in the pews, in bags, on church porches — each case representing, in Cyril's words, a “loss of a limb”^[98].
• Hosts taken away as souvenirs by poorly catechized faithful, particularly in the context of weddings and first communions open to a non-Catholic public: a lack of respect pastorally observed, of the kind that Dominicae Cenae §11 already asked to be watched for^[99].
• A statistical collapse of faith in the Real Presence: according to the Pew survey (United States, August 5, 2019), only 31% of American Catholics believe in the Real Presence in the Catholic sense of the term — 42 years after the American indult of 1977^[100].

These data, limited to the United States and silent on the mode of communion of those surveyed, do not prove that communion in the hand alone is responsible, and they establish no correlation. At most, they feed a pastoral hypothesis, formulated notably by Bishop Schneider and Cardinal Sarah: the spread of the manual practice would have accompanied the decline of popular eucharistic faith in the countries concerned^[101]. John Paul II was already calling in 1980 for vigilance regarding these lacks of respect^[102].

The pastoral issue is never to despise the faithful who chooses one mode or the other. It is to truly receive Communion: to receive the Body of Christ with living faith, in a state of grace, with adoration, protecting every fragment.

On the tongue: the dignity of the lingual gesture

The correct practice on the tongue requires:

• A measured approach, without haste, recollected since the confiteor and the consecration.
• Genuflection or a profound bow before or during the approach, a bodily sign of faith in the Real Presence.
• Opening the mouth wide enough and extending the tongue sufficiently so that the minister can place the host upon it without touching it with his fingers.
• Head slightly tilted back, especially when standing (kneeling at the altar rail, the posture is natural).
• Saying “Amen” clearly before receiving, in response to “The Body of Christ.”
• Closing the mouth and consuming immediately, remaining recollected for a few moments before returning to one's place.
• Thanksgiving for at least a few minutes after communion, kneeling or seated, in interior silence.

In the hand: the dignity of the manual gesture

Where the practice is authorized and one chooses it, one must fully respect the canonical conditions. The ancient gesture of the Fathers requires:

• Clean hands. Ideally washed before Mass; certainly free of any object (phone, handkerchief, bill).
• Arranged as a throne, as Cyril of Jerusalem teaches: left hand supporting the right hand, palm open but fingers together — never a flat hand with fingers spread.
• Saying “Amen” in response to “The Body of Christ,” before the minister places the host.
• Immediate consumption before the minister, never carrying the host away with a step — even to return to one's place before receiving^[103].
• Scrupulous checking of the palm after communion: no fragment must remain, and any fragment that remains must be taken up on the tongue.
• Thanksgiving on the same footing as for communion on the tongue.

Always: the interior conditions

Whatever the mode, the interior conditions are the same and are the only ones that determine the fruitfulness of the sacrament:

1. State of grace: being right with God, without unconfessed mortal sin. Otherwise, receiving Communion becomes — whatever the manner — an objective sacrilege^[104]. Saint Paul writes it clearly:

“Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let each one examine himself, and so eat of this bread and drink of this cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the Body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.” — Saint Paul, 1 Corinthians 11:27–29^[105]

2. Eucharistic fast of at least one hour before communion (water and medicine excepted)^[106].

3. Explicit faith in the Real Presence: to believe that this host is truly, substantially, the Body of the risen Christ.

4. Interior recollection: preparation through prayer, silence, the Confiteor of the Mass, the Agnus Dei, the Domine non sum dignus.

5. Thanksgiving: communion does not end at the moment the host is consumed; it is prolonged in interior presence during the following minutes and ideally until the end of Mass.

Neither Mutual Contempt nor Pastoral Indifference

The Catholic pitfall of the past fifty years is twofold and symmetrical.

First pitfall — contempt: declaring sacrilegious any faithful person who receives Communion in the hand, calling their faith into question, regarding parishes that practice Communion in the hand as "modernist." This stance directly contradicts canon law (Memoriale Domini, Redemptionis Sacramentum §92), misunderstands the patristic history of the early centuries, and wounds faithful people who in fact receive the Eucharist with faith. No pope, no magisterial document, has ever declared Communion in the hand, practiced according to the norms, to be sacrilegious. Iannuzzi says so explicitly: "it is inappropriate for anyone to claim that it is an absolute sacrilege"^[107].

Second pitfall — trivialization: declaring that the mode is indifferent, refusing or preventing Communion on the tongue, treating as "rigid" or "pre-conciliar" the faithful person who chooses to kneel and to receive on the tongue. This stance directly violates the right guaranteed by Redemptionis Sacramentum §91-92^[108] and betrays the practice of the Latin Church, recalled for the last time in 2004 and embodied by Benedict XVI at Saint John Lateran in 2008^[109].

The Decisive Criterion: Faith in the Real Presence

What determines the fruitfulness of Communion is neither the posture, nor the mode, nor the rite, but living faith in the Real Presence. Saint Augustine said it in a formula that the whole tradition has retained:

"It was said: 'Worship his footstool' […] : the flesh that the Word took from the earth […] ; and no one eats this flesh without first having worshipped it." — Saint Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmum 98, 9, c. 411 (abridged translation)^[110]

"Having worshipped it" is the only ultimate criterion. Without real interior worship, every Communion becomes mechanical, whether on the tongue or in the hand. With real interior worship, every Communion builds up faith and charity.

A Balanced Pastoral Recommendation

For a Catholic faithful person wondering honestly how to receive Communion, the Church's answer, read on several levels, can be set out as follows:

1. If you can choose in your country and your parish, and you wish to maximize the bodily sign of faith in the Real Presence, receive Communion on the tongue. This is the normative practice, the practice of many centuries, and the one the Magisterium reaffirms. It is also the one that nourished all the saints from the ninth to the twentieth century.
2. If you receive Communion in the hand in a country that has received the indult and you choose to do so, apply scrupulously the conditions set by the Fathers and by Redemptionis Sacramentum: throne, immediate consumption, checking the fragments, interior faith. Without these conditions, Communion in the hand loses all its patristic meaning.
3. Do not judge the faithful person who chooses the other mode than yours. You know neither their formation, nor their state of soul, nor what the Holy Spirit is accomplishing in them. What takes place in the soul at the moment of Communion cannot be measured from the outside.
4. Check first your state of grace, your recollection, your faith. If you receive Communion in a state of mortal sin, you commit a sacrilege — whether on the tongue or in the hand. If you receive without living faith, you miss the essential. If you receive without thanksgiving, you reduce the sacrament to a gesture.

Christ does not ask his faithful to be right against others. He asks them to truly welcome him when he comes into them. Communion is not a liturgical debate; it is God giving himself. The only answer commensurate with the gift is: to recognize, to adore, to receive, to become what one receives.

"Be what you see, and receive what you are." — Saint Augustine, Sermon 272, c. 411^[111]

• Eucharistic miracles
• The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano
• Corpus Christi and the Blessed Sacrament
• The Eucharistic Real Presence
• The Council of Trent
• Saint Faustina Kowalska