Communion and the developmentally disabled

Regarding Communion for the Disabled, many Christians believe that the developmentally disabled deserve special consideration in regard to the Eucharist, because they are among the least of "Christ's Faithful", and because the Council of Trent set forth the rule on Infant Communion, not in terms of age, but in terms of mental capacity; one may not be allowed to receive the Eucharist until one has attained to the age of discretion.

According to the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article on Communion of Children:

"In the best-supported view of theologians this phrase means, not the attainment of a definite number of years, but rather the arrival at a certain stage in mental development, when children become able to discern the Eucharistic from ordinary bread, to realize in some measure the dignity and excellence of the Sacrament of the Altar, to believe in the Real Presence, and adore Christ under the sacramental veils."

Such a policy is believed to be discriminatory against many of the mentally retarded.

Much has changed in society and in the Roman Catholic Church since 1913, when the Catholic Encyclopedia article Communion of Children was written. More still has changed since the Council of Trent (1545-1563). Advances in medicine and psychology have made it clear that mental retardation may be explained in terms of natural causes without reference to such things as evil spirits or ancestral guilt. At the same time, the Disability Rights Movement has wrought major changes in the way people think of the disabled. The result is that people now think more in terms of the inclusive.

Officially, little has changed in the Church, however. Thus, Canon 913 states

"§1. The administration of the Most Holy Eucharist to children requires that they have sufficient knowledge and careful preparation so that they understand the mystery of Christ according to their capacity and are able to receive the body of Christ with faith and devotion."

"§2. The Most Holy Eucharist, however, can be administered to children in danger of death if they can distinguish the body of Christ from ordinary food and receive communion reverently."

Unofficially, however, the Church tends to ignore the issue as many priests and lay men and women actively promote the opposite course, of allowing the mentally retarded to receive the Eucharist regardless of their mental capacity.