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Hey Deacon
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July 21, 2024I was recently asked by a parishioner if lay people are permitted to remove a consecrated host from the tabernacle, in good faith, on a regular basis without the priest (or deacon) being visually present. If so, where in church teaching is this mentioned or permitted? My short answer is that the removal of the Eucharist from the tabernacle is reserved for the ordained clergy, priests and deacons. However, under special circumstances, Extraordinary Ministers of Communion (EMC) may be granted permission.
The Code of Canon Law, 943 states; “The minister of exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament and of eucharistic benediction is a priest or deacon; in special circumstances, the minister of exposition and reposition alone without benediction is the acolyte, extraordinary minister of holy communion, or someone else designated by the local ordinary (Bishop).”
Thus, in theory, it is the ordained minister who can and should open the Tabernacle to ensure there are enough consecrated hosts, to retrieve and repose the Eucharist during Mass, to expose the Blessed Sacrament for the adoration of people, etc. As an example, during Mass at the end of the Communion Rite, “the consecrated hosts that are left over are either consumed by the priest at the altar or taken to the place designated for the Eucharistic reserve” (Redemptionis Sacramentum, 107).
In special circumstances, instituted acolytes and EMCs may assist with the distribution of the Eucharist when deemed necessary. For most large parishes, EMCs are needed for Sunday Mass. But to be clear, when there is a priest celebrating Mass and/or assisted by a deacon, an EMC should not open or close the Tabernacle, nor remove or repose the hosts in the Tabernacle. “However, where the need of the Church so advises, lacking the sacred ministers, the lay faithful can supply some liturgical tasks, in accordance with the norms of law” (Redemptionis Sacramentum, 147).
Only in extraordinary and necessary cases can someone other than a priest or deacon access the Tabernacle. Such as, if there is no deacon and the priest has limited mobility, then if present, only an instituted acolyte may remove vessels from the tabernacle. Most parishes do not have an instituted acolyte so the task would be performed by an EMC designated by the pastor.
Thus, it should be rare that anyone approaches the tabernacle to remove consecrated Hosts and sacred vessels from the tabernacle. “The devotion to the Eucharist is the most noble, because it has God as its object; it is the most profitable for salvation, because it gives us the Author of Grace; it is the sweetest, because the Lord is Sweetness Itself.”
- Pope St. Pius X
