Communion Order Shocks Argentine Faithful

Shock and Consternation

Saying that he is ultimately responsible for catechizing his flock, Bp. Taussig called on clergy and catechists to place "the entire people of God in concert with the practice and teachings of the Church." He has also personally catechized at least one parish on this teaching, and reportedly told parishioners that they had been incorrectly catechized in the past.

Interviews with laity and reviews of Argentine media revealed that Bp. Taussig has dismissed Fr. Alejandro Miguel Ciarrocchi as rector of the diocesan seminary, reportedly because the priest had defended seminarians' right to receive the Eucharist by mouth directly from the celebrant of the Mass.

A blog titles Caminante-Wanderer described the distress and consternation felt by priests and laity in the diocese. It said that the priest serving at the San Rafael cathedral, for example, "tearfully" asked the bishop to rethink his requirement about the Eucharist.

On June 27, the bishop released a video in which he demonstrated that the faithful should receive the Eucharist by extending the left hand and supporting it with the right, forming a "throne." This accords with the "dignity," he said, of martyrs and the receiving the sacrament of Confirmation.

"During the time of this pandemic," he said, "we have the opportunity to receive Jesus Christ in only one way: in our hands." In the future, he said that the faithful may receive the Eucharist as they wish, "including by mouth."

Two members of Bp. Taussig's flock have written to Cdl. Robert Sarah, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. In a copy of a letter obtained by Church Militant, educators Andrea Greco de Alvarez and Fernando Alvarez, who are a married couple, say that local liturgical norms must be approved by the body over which Cdl. Sarah presides. They also quote Church doctrine saying that the faithful have the right to choose whether to receive Holy Communion by mouth. Without a clear authorization from the Congregation, they argue, Bp. Taussig's order is invalid.

According to the letter, by June 13 there had been but one case of COVID-19 in the city of San Rafael, and four cases in the smaller town of Malargue, in nearly 90 days of quarantine. In San Rafael, economic activity has returned, albeit with social distancing and the use of face masks imposed. They end their letter by lamenting: "It is with great regret and profound pain that we see how the Eucharist — the source and summit of our Christian faith — is being treated."

Apart from the Alvarez's letter to the Vatican, lay faithful have issued a statement to Bp. Taussig, saying that changing Church custom for hygienic reasons is an "abuse of authority." They asked him to authorize the distribution of the Eucharist on the tongue, adding that receiving in the hand is "not as sacred." The government's reasoning, the statement said, is "invalid."

Church/State Relations

Bishop Emeritus Héctor Aguer, the former ordinary of the diocese of La Plata, who is counted as a conservative in Church circles, expressed concern in an article that his fellow bishops are allowing government officials to essentially dictate how Catholics should worship.

While he did not mention Bp. Taussig by name, Bp. Aguer criticized fellow bishops and priests for promoting Communion in the hand in compliance with government commands: "The Argentine government, exercising its inborn inclination towards authoritarianism, attributes to itself the duty and means to preserve all of us from catching the new plague. It has determined, therefore, that worship of God and receiving the sacraments are 'nonessential activities.'"

It has allowed some openings of churches, he wrote, according to its estimate of the health environment, even while it "prohibits liturgies."

Bishop Aguer lamented that reception of the Eucharist in the hand has been accompanied by a general ease with which it is distributed and received, noting that the faithful in the past were catechized to fast and be in a state of grace.

"Due to a mistaken view of dialogue with the world, the Church has become mundane and mimics the anthropocentrism of secular culture. The primacy of God and the appreciation of what refers to Him are shunted aside, to the harm of the world and of the Church itself," he wrote.

Bishop Aguer wrote, "It appears to me unnecessary and dangerous in looking at the future that because of a pandemic that Holy Communion must be received in the hand, and therefore while standing."

"Who should wish to comply with such a measure — the health authorities, whose criteria are assumed?" he asked. "Isn't there a risk that the faithful may see it as an excessive requirement? Who benefits from this?"

UPDATE: Church Militant received word from members of the San Rafael diocese of Mendoza, Argentina, that faithful Catholics assembled at the front gate of the diocesan seminary to prayerfully protest Bp. Eduardo Taussig's refusal to allow distribution of the Eucharist on the tongue. Approximately 40 people of all ages sang hymns and prayed the Rosary on July 3 at the gate, where they also brought food to be distributed to the seminarians. According to a Church Militant source, Bp. Taussig briefly showed himself inside the seminary compound, but did not acknowledge the members of his flock assembled outside. A much larger crowd of some hundreds of faithful showed up at the seminary on July 5, having caravanned from the diocesan headquarters to the seminary on the outskirts of the small Andean city.