On Canon Law with Father Crane: Sacraments for heretics and schismatics?

The seven sacraments, signs which reliably cause the grace they signify, are certainly a subject of merely ecclesiastical law. Discipline surrounding the sacraments, however, has moved a bit over the years. Canon 731 §2 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the immediate predecessor of the current Code, stated bluntly: “Vetitum est Sacramenta Ecclesiae ministrare haereticis aut schismaticis, etiam bona fide errantibus eaque petentibus, nisi prius, erroribus reiectis, Ecclesiae reconciliati fuerint.”1 By heretics and schismatics, the legislator included those we might now call baptized Christians not in full communion with the Catholic Church. Thus, in the previous discipline, Catholic sacraments were just for Catholics.

The current law, however, the 1983 Code of Canon Law, modifies this discipline a bit. Canon 844 §4 establishes that Catholic ministers may, with the permission of the diocesan bishop or when the non-Catholic is in danger of death, administer the sacraments of reconciliation, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick to baptized non-Catholics who cannot approach a minister of their own community, who spontaneously ask for the sacrament, who demonstrate Catholic faith in respect to the requested sacrament, and who are otherwise properly disposed. This lengthening of the list of who can receive flows from an appreciation of baptism, gateway to the sacraments, which understands that in the present age, many baptized persons, through no fault of their own, are not in full communion with the Catholic Church.

Debates swirl, and guidance is published and republished to try to find the best way to carry out c. 844 §4. Usually, the conversation focuses on Eucharist, and typical scenarios emerge. Who meets all the conditions set forth in the canon?
Do non-Catholics in prison or maybe the hospital? Would a baptized non-Catholic woman marrying a Catholic man, if she requests it, be a candidate to receive the Eucharist in the context of her wedding? And that’s just physical impediments to a non-Catholic finding his or her own minister. The Church’s legal tradition recognizes moral impediments as well. For instance, a man may wish to receive the sacrament of reconciliation but not be comfortable doing so with the priest who happens to be present, because the man thinks the priest would be scandalized by the sins confessed, since the priest is his son. Similarly, imagine a baptized non-Catholic who, having carefully studied the Scriptures, believes that homosexual acts are always wrong. However, he belongs to a denomination that endorses same-sex marriage. Might he seek the sacrament of reconciliation from a Catholic priest because he struggles to trust the counsel of his own minister?

Yeah, this is uncomfortable and messy and real. Critics and fans alike tend to caricature the sacraments and the sacramental life as routine, humdrum and safe. While the matter is simple and the form routine, sacraments are nevertheless mysterious and challenging things, both to minister and to receive. What is the optimal age for confirmation? Which couples are truly prepared for holy matrimony? Which non-Catholics in our parishes ought to receive the sacraments, but have not? If our parishes and other Church institutions are not equipped or nimble enough to answer these questions and put the answers into practice, something needs to change. If the Church does not distribute the sacred signs instituted by Christ to cause grace, who will?

1  c. 731 §2 “It is forbidden to administer the Sacraments of the Church to heretics or schismatics, even those seeking them and erring in good faith, unless first, having rejected their errors, they would have been reconciled with the Church.”

Do baptized non-Catholics realize they can approach the Catholic parish for sacraments? If not, why not?

Father Erik Lundgren joins Father Crane for a podcast on sacramental life. Listen here: https://minnesotacatholicpodcasts.libsyn.com/exploring-sacramental-life

Father Matthew Crane  is the vicar of canonical affairs for the Diocese of St. Cloud.

Photo above by Dianne Towalski.