In this video, William Albrecht responds to a caller who asks if there is any moral circumstances where Catholics can receive Protestant communion in a conversation hosted by Cy Kellett.
Transcript:
Caller: I am a Protestant chaplain, and my ministry is to those with Alzheimer’s and dementia. As a part of my ministry, I go to care homes and offer a time of worship along with a time of remembrance referred to as the Lord’s Supper. I offer that to everyone that’s there. Some accept, some decline. But I know there are some Catholics there. I’m not offering the Eucharist in the way it’s viewed by the Catholic Church, but just as a time of remembrance, because worship and songs are the strongest memories that we have. So I want to serve these people in that way, but I wanted to see what the view of that was from the Catholic perspective.
William: Yeah, thank you for that. That’s a great question. And number one, first off, I do want to commend you for the work that you’re doing. I want to commend you for being so charitable and for your ministry. I do want to commend you there.
But then I do also have to note that the Catholic Church does not permit Catholics to receive this kind of communion in a Protestant service, whether it be in the actual Protestant service, inside of a Protestant church, or in the manner in which you are performing. The fact of the matter is canon law strongly forbids it. The reason being is Catholics have to receive it from a Catholic minister. That is preferable—a Catholic minister. It’s physically and morally not acceptable for them to do so.
Because within Catholicism, number one, the way that we view the Holy Eucharist, as you know very well, and I tell you with all due respect, is radically different than the way a Protestant believes in the Lord’s Supper. So we truly do believe that it really does become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord. And that is not the case within Protestant services.
Even if Protestants believe that, the fact that they do not have valid holy orders simply cannot become a valid body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord. With that being said, it is not a valid sacrament, and a Catholic would not be permitted. It’s not considered valid, and they would actually be really urged not to. It’s not that you offer the Eucharist and it gives the wrong image; it kind of implies that there’s a kind of doctrinal unity on this point. Unfortunately, on this issue, there is not.
We do respect you; we respect your beliefs, but we strongly disagree because of the way the Lord’s Supper is viewed within Protestant churches, simply as a departure from apostolic Christianity, in our humble opinion.
Caller: Okay But- And I understand that my struggle, I guess, is the fact that these people have so few memories that they hold on to. And this is—and please understand, I understand the Catholic perspective regarding the Eucharist. And I’ll be brutally honest here. This is something that I’m exploring myself right now. I guess that may be a good way to say it.
Cy: Phenomenal.
Caller: My son is a somewhat recent convert to Catholicism. And of course, we have a number of discussions. But I will say, when Pope Leo was elected, I felt a strong draw there. Yeah, that and the writings of Peter Kreeft, where he talks about Christ coming back for one church. It’s changing how I see myself potentially worshiping in the future. I’m not ready to be a Catholic today, but I can say I’m a lot more open-minded than I have been in the past.
Cy: That’s such a beautiful thing for us to hear, and we would like to be helpful. If you’d like, I can send you a book. Maybe *The Eucharist is Really Jesus* would be good. I don’t know if you have that book from Joe Heschmeyer, but I’d be happy to send that one to you and any other book we have.
I would also encourage you that were you to come into the Catholic Church, there would still be a role for you ministering in the way that you do. You know, you as a layperson or with a—you know, you could talk to the Catholic bishop about how your ministry experience could be put to use. If he’s a good Catholic bishop, then he’ll help you find a way to do that. So, you know, we’re brothers in Christ, and so you should be treated as a brother coming in. We certainly hope that that’s what would happen. But I would like to send you the book *The Eucharist is Really Jesus*. Is there any other way that we could be helpful to you?
Caller: If you could find a way for someone in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to actually get back in touch with me, that would be helpful. But—
Cy: Well, we’ve been busy electing a Pope. I don’t know if you know this, but—wait, isn’t there a change of bishops in Galveston-Houston too? I can’t remember; they had a cardinal there. I’m not—
William: I believe there was.
Cy: Yeah. So you may—this might be terrible timing on your part, Dan.
William: Let me also add one other thing. Just because we strongly recommend that you do not give that version of the Supper to anyone, it doesn’t mean you can’t pray with them. Prayer is incredibly powerful. You can sit with them, you can pray with them, and support their spiritual needs in a respectful manner.
And here’s another thing that you can do, and I guarantee you you’ll be successful as long as you keep trying. You’ll eventually knock that door open: offer to contact the Catholic priests for them. I bet you that’ll be successful. That’s the best thing that you can do. If you say, “Well, goodness, my ministry, I want to minister to them, pray with them, and encourage them to be faithful to the Church’s teachings,” that is the greatest Christian charity that you can give them. It is right from the heart, and it’s pure love.
Cy: Dan, God bless you. We probably do have people we could help you touch with in the archdiocese. I just noticed that I was—I’m so old, something happens two years ago, and I’m like, “Didn’t that just happen?” I just looked, and the archbishop has been there for a couple of years in Galveston-Houston. But we’d be happy to help.
You can send us an email at radio@catholic.com if you do need help. Sometimes the quickest thing to do is just find the local Catholic pastor and go to him and see if he can help you. But hang on the line, Dan; if you want a copy of that book, we would be delighted to send it to you.