Any Catholic who has committed a mortal sin cannot receive Holy Communion unless they have been to confession, the Pope has said.
Continuing a series of talks on the Mass during his General Audience on March 14, Pope Francis reminded Catholics of the need to obtain absolution for grave sins before receiving the Eucharist.
In remarks after his catechesis on the Our Father, the Pope said: “Someone who has committed a serious sin must not approach Holy Communion without having obtained absolution in the sacrament of Reconciliation beforehand.”
During his talk, he also said the words “our daily bread” refer “not only to food for our body but also Eucharistic bread, food for the soul.”
This expression of ecclesial communion and being reconciled in mutual, fraternal love is key before receiving the sacrament of Communion, the pope said.
“Christ’s peace cannot take root in a heart incapable of living in fraternity (with others) and of piecing it back together after it has been wounded,” he said.
Pope Francis prayed that by celebrating the rites with greater understanding people would experience the Eucharist more fully as the sacrament of their communion with God and with their brothers and sisters, Pope Francis said.
Full story at The Catholic Herald.
The trouble is, does anyone understand the full and complete definition of what constitutes a mortal sin? So many think of premeditated murder and grand robbery, but how about all of the other defining marks of mortal sin?
Easy as 123: serious matter, you know it is, you do it anyway. Consent given to evil leads to mortal sin, we must be vigilant.
Duh!
The problem is that Pope Francis’s writings have led people to believe that what is serious sin isn’t serious or maybe isn’t even sinful. I mean, if unrepentant adulterers can be admitted to Communion, then who can’t be? If adultery isn’t serious sin, then what is?
Unrepentant adulterers cannot be admitted to Communion. They should not approach. Adultery is a grave sin, a mortal sin. Stop misleading others.
Tell that to the Pope and other bishops who are interpreting Amoris Laetitia contrary to Catholic Faith.
What you are saying would be true if Amoris Laetitia was not published by Pope Francis. Eight years ago you would have been correct in calling the other guy a liar. But now that Amoris Laetitia was published by Pope Francis, things have changed. You are writing as if Amoris Laetitia never happened. That is misleading. You owe someone an apology.
You should learn how the devil works.
Watching you provides plenty of lessons.
Let me share with you one of the things the devil is doing. He is using so-called faithful Catholics to spread error in the Church. Those Conscious of Grave Sin may not approach Communion. Adultery is a grave sin. Stop telling people they adulterers can go to Communion and not just that, but saying the Pope said it. You will cause people to fall into a sin that they would not have committed otherwise. Stop leading little ones astray.
As to your mean comment, I forgive you.
Are you saying that the Pope did not write Amoris Leatitia? So who wrote this document that says you can receive communion if you left your spouse and hooked up with someone else?
Amoris Laetitia is a post-synodal apostolic exhortion of Pope Francis. I have not read the whole thing but I think you are referring to Chapter 8 which has been controversial. It does not say that you can receive communion if you left your spouse and hooked up with someone else.
In the Catholic Church a sacramental marriage is to be exclusive.
Cal Catholic has thousands of readers and if they read your comment, they will be badly misinformed.
No, Amoris Laetitia did not and cannot change the Church’s teaching that adultery is always gravely immoral. You are writing as if AL changed Church teaching about adultery. That is not misleading; it is absolutely false.
So then, we agree that those who are married in the Church can not receive communion if they left their spouse and started having sex with someone else. Furthermore, that Jesus does not allow divorce and that having sex with someone who has been put away by their spouse is adultery. Any Church leaders who teach other wise are guilty of mortal sin.
As to thousands of readers being misinformed by my comments: I am not important enough for thousands of readers to care about my comments. The readers are smart enough to figure things out. They can do their own research.
What Pope Francis says contradicts what he has allowed bishops to do.
To be guilty of a mortal sin, you must commit a sin that involves a grave matter and commit that sin with full knowledge and full consent of the will. A person looking on from the outside cannot tell if you have full knowledge and full consent of the will. A person can be reputed to be a racist and not be guilty of a mortal sin. A person should not be banned from receiving communion because someone else thinks that person is a racist. Only God can judge someone. Instead of casting people off as sinners, the Church should accompany them on their journey in a pastoral manner. The Church is a field hospital for sinners.
The headline , while true, is a paraphrase of what the Pope said. What he actually said is in paragraph three. Any one who knows they committed a SERIOUS sin needs to go to Confession before receiving Communion.
I think the way some bishops are misinterpreting and misapplying Amoris Laetitia is serious sin.
Makes you wonder how many bishops are receiving unworthily. A large number of them must have full knowledge and full consent. I doubt that anyone is holding a bishop at gunpoint and demanding that the bishop interpret and apply Amoris Laetitia in a way that allows for those who are committing adultery to receive communion. I doubt that it is common for those who have mental defects to become a bishop.
Could you please give me a source for any bishop saying that those who are committing adultery can receive communion?
Bishops of Malta, as just one prominent example. There are others.
They did not say that.
There are headlines on the Internet on diocese who have issued guidelines on discernment for those who are divorced and remarried. The headlines are misleading. And they cause concern. There is no diocese in the world that has said that those who are committing adultery can receive communion.
You dismiss anything that you disagree with as gossip. There is no point in showing you a source. Most folks can dig up plenty of stuff on their own using a search engine. They can find stuff about the Maltese bishops and the German bishops manner of implementing Amoris Laetitia, for example. They can do that without hearing you exclaim, “Don’t listen to that. It’s gossip. Gossiping is a sin.”
Huh? Who said anything about gossip?
The Maltese bishops and the German bishops have not said that those who are committing adultery can receive Communion.
You are spreading a falsehood that could cause someone to commit sacrilege.
You usually start complaining about gossip when something is being discussed that you don’t want anyone to talk about and you start delivering sanctimonious sermons against gossiping. Like in the comments section of an article on this website about the possibility of Raymond Arroyo being placed under interdict. I agree that spreading falsehood cause someone to commit sacrilege. That is why Church leaders, including the Pope, should not be teaching that you can receive communion if you left your wife and started shacking up with someone else.
To be clear, you may not receive Communion if you leave your wife and shack up with someone else. You may not receive Communion if you divorce your wife and remarry someone else. Church leaders are not teaching that. Don’t listen to the Internet.
I googled the Raymond Arroyo article and I see some 3 references to gossip all by anonymous people. I assume you are the one who got personal and aggressive?
I don’t know what to say. It’s weird. It seems like you have a grudge against someone. If it is I and I did something that hurt you, I apologize.
Gossip
Idle talk, especially about others. The morality of gossip is determined by the degree to which time is wasted in useless conversation, by the failure in justice or charity committed against others, and by the damage done to people’s reputation by those who gossip.
You are not going to silence me by complaining about gossip.
That’s a nice middle finger.
No one can give you permission to lie about the Pope and about the Sacraments. Satan is the father of all lies. You are begetting sacrilege. You are telling people in mortal sin that they can take the Eucharist which is false and even after correction you are claiming you will not stop.
You just admitted that you are doing it with full knowledge and full consent of the will.
You may be in mortal sin yourself.
You are talking to me like you think I wrote Amoris Laetitia. I did not write Amoris Laetitia. Furthermore, I did not say that I agree with people who are in mortal sin receiving communion. I said the opposite here. Apparently you are too lazy to scroll this webpage to read the comments that are above here, or you are just a flaming liar.
Anonymous, at 8:36. This article is very clear. You cannot be in mortal sin and take communion. That is the teaching of the Church. The Pope just reiterated it.
If you are aware of having committed a serious sin, you need to go to confession before receiving the Eucharist.
If that is true, that means that the problematic parts of Amoris Laetitia have been repealed and the Church is sticking with what it has always taught. Good riddance to false teachings.
PJ, are you listening?
He’s worrying about “oozies”.
It is nonsense to suggest a person does not know what constitutes mortal sin .As an adult Catholic, all should have studied the Catechism of Doctrine. If not they are lazy Catholics.