Liturgical Scandal Before Papal Visit in Brasilia -- Archbishop Wants to Ban Kneeling Communion

(Brasilia) Shortly before the visit by Pope Francis for World Youth Day in Brazil a liturgical scandal has erupted in the Latin American country. The Archbishop of Cuiabá, Milton Antonio dos Santos, has forbidden the faithful from receiving Communion kneeling in a magisterial letter to his archdiocese. The Real Presence of Christ was never mentioned Archbishop dos Santos in his encyclical of 11 July. Never that the Eucharist is truly the Word of God incarnate.

Prohibiting because of "unity"

The Archbishop explains his "instruction" to the "unity of the community." The Archbishop saw this threatened by Communion on the tongue kneeling.

"The real fault lays with John Paul II, who appointed him Bishop of Corumba inthe Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul in 2000 and in 2003 promoted him to Coadjutor Archbishop of Cuiba with right of succession, where he became Archbishop in 2004", said the Church historian and Catholic blogger Francisco de la Cigoña. Dos Santos had been installed as bishop a few days before the resignation of the Brazilian Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

The Brazilian Supreme Pastor embarks on thin ice with his ban and his justification. In his letter he refers to the instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium of the then Congregation of Rites in 1967. The doctrinal statements made ​​since then he ignored.

This saw Communion on the tongue explicitly as the ordinary and therefore actual form of Communion reception. The standing hand Communion has been making the post-Conciliar period only represents a granted exception. The Archbishop, who refers to the "community," is not in communion with the popes, neither Francis nor Benedict XVI., who both offer Communion on the tongue to kneeling communicants.

Archbishop on thin ice

While kneeling Communion is always allowed, the standing may be additionally allowed by the competent Episcopal Conference. Both the introduction to the Roman Missal and the instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum from 2002, speak for themselves. In a letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship to a diocesan bishop, 1322/02/L protocol , from the 1st of July 2002, set forth the doctrinal and canonical bases.

The Conciliar Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium notes in point 22, paragraph 3, that no one is permitted to add anything in the liturgy on his own, omit or modify. According to Sacrosanctum Concilium, No. 22, paragraph 1, the sole responsibility for the Liturgy falls to the Holy See, who is also the sole legitimate legislator. Canon 838, Paragraph 1 of canon law repeats this principle of law.

Interesting in this context that the Archdiocese Ciuabá in 2012, conducted an opinion poll in which he asked the believers specifically, whether they received Communion kneeling on the tongue. 57.3 percent of the Faithful answered yes. Conduct that. This has been expressly connected with the imitation of the model of Pope Benedict XVI.

The retraction after protests - 57 percent of the faithful receive Communion Kneeling on the Tongue

The letter from the Archbishop was initially set on the website of the Archdiocese. A few hours after the publication of an article in the traditional we site Frates in Unum on the 13th of July it was removed. Fratres in Unum called on the faithful of the Archdiocese to protest against the illegal ban of the Archbishop to the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome and the Apostolic Nunciature in Brazil. In the Archbishop's palace there were immediately numerous protests received, so that the Archbishop took to retreat. On Tuesday, a corrected version of the letter of Archbishop Dos Santos has been published. "As is usual for Brazilian bishops, it admitted no fault, but, more precisely, "as Fratres in Unum commented on the change. In the new version, the Archbishop explained that it is every believer's right to receive Holy Communion free standing or kneeling, and he "never" would "oblige" someone to receive [Calvinist] hand Communion.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Fratres in Unum

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...