Whether the Priest Ought to Deny the Body of Christ to the Sinner
Seeking It?
Objection 1: It seems that the priest should deny the body of Christ
to the sinner seeking it. For Christ's precept is not to be set aside
for the sake of avoiding scandal or on account of infamy to anyone.
But (Matt. 7:6) our Lord gave this command: "Give not that which is
holy to dogs." Now it is especially casting holy things to dogs to
give this sacrament to sinners. Therefore, neither on account of
avoiding scandal or infamy should this sacrament be administered to
the sinner who asks for it.
Obj. 2: Further, one must choose the lesser of two evils. But it
seems to be the lesser evil if the sinner incur infamy; or if an
unconsecrated host be given to him; than for him to sin mortally by
receiving the body of Christ. Consequently, it seems that the course
to be adopted is either that the sinner seeking the body of Christ be
exposed to infamy, or that an unconsecrated host be given to him.
Obj. 3: Further, the body of Christ is sometimes given to those
suspected of crime in order to put them to proof. Because we read in
the Decretals: "It often happens that thefts are perpetrated in
monasteries of monks; wherefore we command that when the brethren
have to exonerate themselves of such acts, that the abbot shall
celebrate Mass, or someone else deputed by him, in the presence of
the community; and so, when the Mass is over, all shall communicate
under these words: 'May the body of Christ prove thee today.'" And
further on: "If any evil deed be imputed to a bishop or priest, for
each charge he must say Mass and communicate, and show that he is
innocent of each act imputed." But secret sinners must not be
disclosed, for, once the blush of shame is set aside, they will
indulge the more in sin, as Augustine says (De Verbis. Dom.; cf.
Serm. lxxxii). Consequently, Christ's body is not to be given to
occult sinners, even if they ask for it.
_On the contrary,_ on Ps. 21:30: "All the fat ones of the earth have
eaten and have adored," Augustine says: "Let not the dispenser hinder
the fat ones of the earth," i.e. sinners, "from eating at the table
of the Lord."
_I answer that,_ A distinction must be made among sinners: some are
secret; others are notorious, either from evidence of the fact, as
public usurers, or public robbers, or from being denounced as evil
men by some ecclesiastical or civil tribunal. Therefore Holy
Communion ought not to be given to open sinners when they ask for it.
Hence Cyprian writes to someone (Ep. lxi): "You were so kind as to
consider that I ought to be consulted regarding actors, and that
magician who continues to practice his disgraceful arts among you; as
to whether I thought that Holy Communion ought to be given to such
with the other Christians. I think that it is beseeming neither the
Divine majesty, nor Christian discipline, for the Church's modesty
and honor to be defiled by such shameful and infamous contagion."
But if they be not open sinners, but occult, the Holy Communion
should not be denied them if they ask for it. For since every
Christian, from the fact that he is baptized, is admitted to the
Lord's table, he may not be robbed of his right, except from some
open cause. Hence on 1 Cor. 5:11, "If he who is called a brother
among you," etc., Augustine's gloss remarks: "We cannot inhibit any
person from Communion, except he has openly confessed, or has been
named and convicted by some ecclesiastical or lay tribunal."
Nevertheless a priest who has knowledge of the crime can privately
warn the secret sinner, or warn all openly in public, from
approaching the Lord's table, until they have repented of their sins
and have been reconciled to the Church; because after repentance and
reconciliation, Communion must not be refused even to public sinners,
especially in the hour of death. Hence in the (3rd) Council of
Carthage (Can. xxxv) we read: "Reconciliation is not to be denied to
stage-players or actors, or others of the sort, or to apostates,
after their conversion to God."
Reply Obj. 1: Holy things are forbidden to be given to dogs, that is,
to notorious sinners: whereas hidden deeds may not be published, but
are to be left to the Divine judgment.
Reply Obj. 2: Although it is worse for the secret sinner to sin
mortally in taking the body of Christ, rather than be defamed,
nevertheless for the priest administering the body of Christ it is
worse to commit mortal sin by unjustly defaming the hidden sinner
than that the sinner should sin mortally; because no one ought to
commit mortal sin in order to keep another out of mortal sin. Hence
Augustine says (Quaest. super Gen. 42): "It is a most dangerous
exchange, for us to do evil lest another perpetrate a greater evil."
But the secret sinner ought rather to prefer infamy than approach the
Lord's table unworthily.
Yet by no means should an unconsecrated host be given in place of a
consecrated one; because the priest by so doing, so far as he is
concerned, makes others, either the bystanders or the communicant,
commit idolatry by believing that it is a consecrated host; because,
as Augustine says on Ps. 98:5: "Let no one eat Christ's flesh, except
he first adore it." Hence in the Decretals (Extra, De Celeb. Miss.,
Ch. De Homine) it is said: "Although he who reputes himself unworthy
of the Sacrament, through consciousness of his sin, sins gravely, if
he receive; still he seems to offend more deeply who deceitfully has
presumed to simulate it."
Reply Obj. 3: Those decrees were abolished by contrary enactments of
Roman Pontiffs: because Pope Stephen V writes as follows: "The Sacred
Canons do not allow of a confession being extorted from any person by
trial made by burning iron or boiling water; it belongs to our
government to judge of public crimes committed, and that by means of
confession made spontaneously, or by proof of witnesses: but private
and unknown crimes are to be left to Him Who alone knows the hearts
of the sons of men." And the same is found in the Decretals (Extra,
De Purgationibus, Ch. Ex tuarum). Because in all such practices there
seems to be a tempting of God; hence such things cannot be done
without sin. And it would seem graver still if anyone were to incur
judgment of death through this sacrament, which was instituted as a
means of salvation. Consequently, the body of Christ should never be
given to anyone suspected of crime, as by way of examination.
_______________________