"How can the Catholic Church be so cruel as to not allow a sick child his first Holy Communion...the nerve of those terrible uncompassionate priest".
Child Denied First Communion Because of His Cerebral Palsy
“It hurts and I think it’s a form of discrimination.”That’s how Irma Castro, grandmother of 8-year-old Kevin, describes the actions of one Catholic priest in Floresville, TX. That priest denied Kevin his first communion because, he says, Kevin has cerebral palsy and thus the mental capacity of a 6-month-old.
“He said because he was not able to understand the meaning of receiving the body of Christ,” Castro told KSAT-TV:
Then you find out the facts.
The boy has cerebral palsy and thus the mental capacity of a 6-month-old. Now I feel for the mother but she doesn't know her faith as well as she may think
The priest offered them the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, however the mother considered it offensive thinking the sacrament is only given to those that are dying.
Maybe a review of the Catechism of the Catholic Church would be necessary right about now... maybe for the reporter as well.
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
PART TWO
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
SECTION TWOTHE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
PART TWO
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
SECTION TWO
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
CHAPTER TWO
THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING
(not for the dying necessarily)
1514 The Anointing of the Sick "is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived."130
1515 If a sick person who received this anointing recovers his health, he can in the case of another grave illness receive this sacrament again. If during the same illness the person's condition becomes more serious, the sacrament may be repeated. It is fitting to receive the Anointing of the Sick just prior to a serious operation. The same holds for the elderly whose frailty becomes more pronounced.
V. VIATICUM, THE LAST SACRAMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN
1524 In addition to the Anointing of the Sick, the Church offers those who are about to leave this life the Eucharist as viaticum. Communion in the body and blood of Christ, received at this moment of "passing over" to the Father, has a particular significance and importance. It is the seed of eternal life and the power of resurrection, according to the words of the Lord: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."141 The sacrament of Christ once dead and now risen, the Eucharist is here the sacrament of passing over from death to life, from this world to the Father.142
1525 Thus, just as the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist form a unity called "the sacraments of Christian initiation," so too it can be said that Penance, the Anointing of the Sick and the Eucharist as viaticum constitute at the end of Christian life "the sacraments that prepare for our heavenly homeland" or the sacraments that complete the earthly pilgrimage.
Also Catholic Answers has a good article on "Who Can Receive Communion"
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