(LifeSiteNews) — A video shows Archbishop Bruno Forte of the Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto, Italy, calling out three parishioners for receiving the Holy Eucharist on the tongue.
During his homily, Forte called out three congregants for receiving Holy Communion on the tongue and claimed that any Catholic who chooses to receive communion on the tongue is not only being “disobedient” to the Church hierarchy but also committing the sin of pride. Forte has previously barred the faithful in his archdiocese from receiving the Eucharist on the tongue and has a history of making heretical statements.
ITALY
Bishop Bruno Forte BERATES three people for receiving Communion on the tongue
He claims that Communion should only be received in the hands and that it is ‘pride’ that makes people do otherwise
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“And let me clarify one point, there were three people who did not want Communion in their hands. So, first of all, in the New Testament, Jesus says, ‘Lambante.’ The verb ‘lambano’ in Greek means to take in (the) hand. For centuries, the Church has taken Communion in (the) hand. Only in some dark centuries, (the Church) fearing lack of hygiene, replaced this gesture with that of taking (Communion) in (the) mouth,” the archbishop said.
Contrary to Forte’s claims, the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue was the norm in the Church for over 1,300 years, while Communion in the hand only became widespread globally in the 1970s.
As Pope Paul VI affirmed in Memoriale Domini, which granted bishops permission to allow the distribution of the Eucharist in the hand with approval from the Holy See, the practice of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue “must be retained … especially because it expresses the faithful’s reverence for the Eucharist.”
READ: Largest survey of US Catholics shows faithful want an end to Communion in the hand
Forte then accused his three parishioners and all Catholics who receive the Eucharist on the tongue of committing sins of “pride” and “disobedience.”
“But thank God today we are all grown up, the hands give (the Eucharist) to us slowly. So Communion is taken in the hand, with the humble gesture of extending the hand and receiving (the host). Those who do not (receive communion on the hand commit) an act of pride. He thinks he is wiser than the pope and the bishops who have decided that communion is taken in the hand. Please be humble and obedient to the Church. At least when you take communion and receive Jesus, doing His will, which is the will expressed in the Church by the pope and the bishops,” he said.
While the archbishop claims that the faithful who receive the Eucharist on the tongue are being disobedient, the Church explicitly stated in Redemptionis Sacramentum that each of the faithful “always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue.”
Likewise, the Code of Canon Law, which binds all bishops and priests in the Roman Rite, legislates the following:
Sacred ministers cannot deny the sacraments to those who seek them at appropriate times, are properly disposed, and are not prohibited by law from receiving them. (Can. 843 §1.)
Any baptized person not prohibited by law can and must be admitted to holy communion. (Can. 912)
Additionally, Cardinal Francis Arinze, the prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS) under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, confirmed that receiving Holy Communion on the tongue while kneeling remains the “preferred form.”
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Receiving the Eucharist in the hand also significantly increases the risk of profanation against the Blessed Sacrament and inevitably leads to losing particles of the Eucharist, which may fall on the floor or elsewhere.
Forte previously forbade priests in the archdiocese from distributing Communion on the tongue and barred the clergy from filling holy water fonts.
READ: Italian archbishop forbids Communion on tongue, holy water fonts despite end of COVID pandemic
The archbishop has also been an ardent proponent of allowing the divorced and “remarried” to receive Holy Communion. Forte argued that it is loving “as God does” for priests to give the Eucharist to these couples who are living in adultery. Additionally, Forte has blasted prelates who criticized Pope Francis, saying they are a threat to the Church’s “unity.”
