Prohibition on Recieving Commumion on the Tongue

A friend has made me aware that this year, the Bishop of Calgary has banned the reception of the Body of Christ on the tongue. The basis for this ban appears to be fears over the H1N1 crisis. In all of my studies, the ordinary method of reception of the Body of Christ is on the tongue. Reception on the hand is considered an "extra-ordinary" method.

So the question to ask is this. Does a Bishop have the authority to ban the reception of the Eucharist on the tongue. In the document Redemptionis Sacramentum (RS), put out by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacrament and approved by John Paul II in March 2004, the congregation is "always" allowed to receive on the tongue and the only possible ban is for the reception of the Body of Christ on the hand (RS:92).

Therefore, it seems to me that the Bishop has the authority to ban reception on the hand but not on the tongue since this is the "ordinary" method.

What do you think?

You can read more about this issue here and here.


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