Communion after a divorce

May I receive?

It depends on whether you have remarried. A divorced person who has not entered a new union faces no bar: the Church offers them “continual love and assistance, without there being any obstacle to admission to the sacraments”. Familiaris Consortio 83 For someone who has remarried civilly while a first marriage stands, the answer is no, “as long as this situation persists”. CCC 1650 Since 2016 _Amoris Laetitia_ has asked that particular cases be discerned with a priest.

The reason given is the first marriage: a new union “cannot be recognized as valid, if the first marriage was”. CCC 1650 Admitting the remarried would lead the faithful “into error and confusion regarding the Church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage”. Confession opens the way back to those who repent; where serious reasons such as the children’s upbringing keep a couple together, they “take on themselves the duty to live in complete continence”. Familiaris Consortio 84 Canon law puts the question twice: the person “conscious of grave sin” is not to receive without confessing first, Can. 916 and the minister is not to admit those “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin”. Can. 915

A private conviction that the first marriage was never valid does not settle it. In 1994 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote that such nullity “must be discerned with certainty by means of the external forum established by the Church”, a tribunal. Annus Internationalis Familiae 9 It added that the remarried “are not excluded from ecclesial communion”, and commended spiritual communion, prayer and the Mass. Annus Internationalis Familiae 6

Francis declined to give “a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases”, asking instead for “a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases”, since “the degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases”; it “can never prescind from the Gospel demands of truth and charity”. Amoris Laetitia 300 In “an objective situation of sin – which may not be subjectively culpable, or fully such – a person can be living in God’s grace”, and a footnote adds: “In certain cases, this can include the help of the sacraments.” Amoris Laetitia 305

In every case the remarried “can and must participate” in the Church’s life. CCC 1651

Communion, from the Seven Sacraments, 1755–1757

1650

Today there are numerous Catholics in many countries who have recourse to civil divorce and contract new civil unions. In fidelity to the words of Jesus Christ - "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery" Mk 10:11-12. The Church maintains that a new union cannot be recognized as valid, if the first marriage was. If the divorced are remarried civilly, they find themselves in a situation that objectively contravenes God's law. Consequently, they cannot receive Eucharistic communion as long as this situation persists. For the same reason, they cannot exercise certain ecclesial responsibilities. Reconciliation through the sacrament of Penance can be granted only to those who have repented for having violated the sign of the covenant and of fidelity to Christ, and who are committed to living in complete continence.

1651

Toward Christians who live in this situation, and who often keep the faith and desire to bring up their children in a Christian manner, priests and the whole community must manifest an attentive solicitude, so that they do not consider themselves separated from the Church, in whose life they can and must participate as baptized persons:

They should be encouraged to listen to the Word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to works of charity and to community efforts for justice, to bring up their children in the Christian faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of penance and thus implore, day by day, God's grace. FC 84.

1385

To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself." 1 Cor 11:27-29. Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.

915

Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.

916

A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.

Amoris Laetitia Mar 19, 2016
Annus Internationalis Familiae Sep 14, 1994
Familiaris Consortio Nov 22, 1981

From the Catechism

In the Code

From the Magisterium