A common misunderstanding — and how to minimize it

It’s a question people have asked me since my earliest days as a priest. In its latest form, it came to me this way. “I am a convert. When my parents come for a visit they always attend Mass with me. Why can’t they and other non-Catholics receive holy Communion? It seems rude to me to exclude them. We wouldn’t invite them to Thanksgiving at our home and then say that they couldn’t sit down and eat. Why is it different with holy Communion?”

It’s a good question, one that comes from the heart of a good and caring Catholic. It deserves a good, thoughtful and caring answer. Let me try to provide that.

Bishop Doran answers the question here.