Bishop Philip Egan appears to have given priests permission to distribute Communion on the tongue. Confusion has arisen over breaches of this guidance, with a number of parishes continuing to distribute Communion on the tongue, particularly during celebrations of the Traditional Latin Mass. In Portsmouth, for example, Bishop Philip Egan appears to have given priests permission to distribute Communion on the tongue. If accidental contact does occur, both people should cleanse their hands immediately.

Communion received on the tongue and while kneeling. The most ancient practice of distributing Holy Communion was, with all probability, to give Communion to the faithful in the palm of the hand. The history of the liturgy, however, makes clear that rather early on a process took place to change this practice. From the time of the Fathers of the Church, a tendency was born and consolidated whereby distribution of Holy Communion in the hand became more and more restricted in favor of distributing Holy Communion on the tongue. The motivation for this practice is two-fold: a first, to avoid, as much as possible, the dropping of Eucharistic particles; b second, to increase among the faithful devotion to the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

To submit news, send e-mail to the contact team. A number of people online have been promoting the idea that Canon of the Code of Canon Law gives bishops the authority to deny the Catholic faithful communion on the tongue and to require communion in the hand for anyone receiving. In exercising their rights, the Christian faithful, both as individuals and gathered together in associations, must take into account the common good of the Church, the rights of others, and their own duties toward others. In view of the common good, ecclesiastical authority can direct the exercise of rights which are proper to the Christian faithful. The first thing we need to consider is a theological fact that has more authority than any canon law or any interpretation thereof: that, as St.