A Bolivian bishop is trying to heal one of the "five wounds in Christ's liturgical mystical body"
ORURO, Bolivia, (ChurchMilitant.com) - A Bolivian bishop says he will no longer tolerate Communion in the hand within his diocese.
Too many times, he says, someone will receive the Host in the hands and then, for some unknown reason, not consume it.
One worry in such cases is that the person who makes off with the Eucharist intends to desecrate it later. Distributing Communion directly to the person's tongue greatly diminishes the odds of that happening.
The bishop, Krzysztof Białasik from the diocese of Oruro, was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.
His decision comes on the heels of Bishop Athanasius Schneider's recently classifying Communion in the hand as one of "five wounds in Christ's liturgical mystical body" in the current age.
Over the last several weeks, many different prelates around the world have issued public statements raising concerns about the state of the liturgy. The head of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship, Cdl. Robert Sarah, says Vatican II's teachings on the liturgy have yet to be truly carried out. He recently criticized a mistaken notion of "active partipation" by laymen at Mass and went on to call for a return to ad orientem worship, where the priest and people face eastward together toward the altar.
A bishop in Brazil, Milton Kenan Junior, has also had to correct his flock's understanding of liturgical norms, too, specifically when it comes to the sign of peace and extraordinary ministers of holy Communion.
And in Rhode Island, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence was so disturbed by the irreverent attire of casual Mass-goers that he felt compelled to publish a letter urging more respectful dress at church.
Find out more about Communion in the hand on Church Militant's premium show Sleight of Hand. And be sure to watch our Mic'd Up on the topic here.