CV NEWS FEED // A number of Catholics on social media are defending the action of receiving the Eucharist on one’s knees, after the Archbishop of Chicago wrote a column discouraging the practice and asserting that everyone should receive standing.
The Council of Vatican II “called for the full, active and conscious participation of all the baptized in the celebration of the Eucharist to reflect our belief that in the sacred liturgy the faithful become the Body of Christ that they receive,” Cardinal Blase Cupich wrote Dec. 11 in the Chicago Archdiocesan online newspaper.
“Our ritual for receiving of Holy Communion has special significance in this regard,” the Archbishop wrote. “It reminds us that receiving the Eucharist is not a private action but rather a communal one, as the very word ‘communion’ implies.”
Because of this, he wrote, the norm the Holy See established for the Church, which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has approved, is that the faithful should “process together as an expression of their coming forward as the Body of Christ and to receive Holy Communion standing.”
Processions are included throughout the liturgy of the Mass, from entering and exiting the church, to bringing up the gifts, to receiving the Eucharist, he wrote.
“Nothing should be done to impede any of these processions, particularly the one that takes place during the sacred Communion ritual,” Cardinal Cupich wrote. “Disrupting this moment only diminishes this powerful symbolic expression, by which the faithful in processing together express their faith that they are called to become the very Body of Christ they receive.”
“Certainly reverence can and should be expressed by bowing before the reception of Holy Communion, but no one should engage in a gesture that calls attention to oneself or disrupts the flow of the procession,” the Cardinal wrote. “That would be contrary to the norms and tradition of the church, which all the faithful are urged to respect and observe.”
The article evoked a number of reactions, ranging from support to strong opposition, from Catholics on the social media platform X.
Fr. Jason Piper, a priest based in the Archdiocese of Montreal, Canada, posted on X that to fall to one’s knees in front of God is both Scripture-based and a natural response.
“Kneeling to receive Jesus at Holy Communion does NOT bring attention to you… unless the priest/bishop starts making a fuss telling you to get up while making hand gestures to stand,” he also argued. “That is what will bring attention.”
At least one social media poster noted that he or she was unaccustomed to hearing the receipt of Communion described as procession.
National Catholic Register author Scott Smith pointed out on his X account that this description does align with the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which states: “The priest then takes the paten or ciborium and goes to the communicants, who, as a rule, approach in a procession.”
In the same paragraph 160, it states: “The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm.”
The paragraph concludes: “When receiving Holy Communion, the communicant bows his or her head before the Sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives the Body of the Lord from the minister. The consecrated host may be received either on the tongue or in the hand, at the discretion of each communicant.”
Supporting the action of kneeling to receive, the X account “Pray the Rosary” posted: “Yes, kneeling and receiving the Eucharist on the tongue is much more reverent than standing and sticking your hand out as if Our Lord was a piece of common bread.”
Catholic priest Fr. R. Vierling posted to his X account that focusing on kneeling as an issue is does not appear to be the right place to direct one’s focus amid the reported decrease in belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
“Given the polling indicating a diminished belief in the Real Presence, I doubt seriously if attacking the traditional and time-honored manner of receiving Holy Communion is the best way to address a crisis of belief,” he wrote.
Another X account called (((Not that Crown, Maybe))) rhetorically asked: “If we truly believe that Holy Communion is the real, living, true Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior, how can kneeling before Him be bad?”
On its X account the Archdiocesan newspaper Chicago Catholic shared a link to the Cardinal’s article in a post, which has since received over 80 comments.
X account “Communio Veritatis” argued in a comment under the post that reverent actions in receiving the Eucharist are not about spotlighting oneself:
“‘[N]o one should engage in a gesture that calls attention to oneself’ Again by kneeling or genuflecting, we are not calling attention to ourselves; we are calling attention to the One we are receiving.”
This article was edited on Dec. 14 at 11:48 am ET.
