Too Many Eucharistic "Ministers"?

Andrew M Brown asks the right questions, “Do we really need so many ‘Eucharistic ministers’?”

The thing I really noticed, though, was the sheer number of people who stand around giving out Holy Communion in some Catholic parishes. In the Church of England, they’re called “Eucharistic ministers”. Now Catholics seem to have adopted this term, and the practice as well.

What’s the point of all these assistants? The Catholic Church does allow for what it calls an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, in cases when the priest is not available. But there is absolutely no need to have five extra ministers, giving Holy Communion under both kinds, as I saw this morning in an ordinary parish church, two thirds full, with a perfectly capable parish priest.

Keep reading Brown’s article here.

Andrew M Brown asks the right questions, “Do we really need so many ‘Eucharistic ministers’?”

The thing I really noticed, though, was the sheer number of people who stand around giving out Holy Communion in some Catholic parishes. In the Church of England, they’re called “Eucharistic ministers”. Now Catholics seem to have adopted this term, and the practice as well.

What’s the point of all these assistants? The Catholic Church does allow for what it calls an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, in cases when the priest is not available. But there is absolutely no need to have five extra ministers, giving Holy Communion under both kinds, as I saw this morning in an ordinary parish church, two thirds full, with a perfectly capable parish priest.

Keep reading Brown’s article here.