Q. Responding some time ago to a question about the right of a divorced person to become a Eucharistic minister, I feel that your answer was a bit obnoxious to say the least. You first implied that “it would not be right for a person living in sin, whose irregular marriage situation prohibits him from receiving Communion, to be an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist.” You also stated that “those given the privilege of distributing the Body and Blood of the Lord ought to be persons of high moral character.”

The last time I checked my Bible, I noticed that we were all born with sin, no one greater or less than another. I am a divorced male and I also served as a catechist in my parish for five years before my divorce. I have a tremendous love for God and family and know that Jesus would still use me in any way possible to do His works and spread His word. The next time someone who is divorced asks you a question about the Eucharist, take a moment and read the Bible before answering them, or simply ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?” – R.W., New York

A. First of all, the question we answered had to do with a divorced person who had remarried, which is an entirely different situation from a divorced person who has not remarried. You do not indicate in your letter whether you have attempted remarriage; if you have not, there is no reason why you cannot serve your parish as a catechist or in some other role. It is not divorce that keeps one from the sacraments, or from becoming a minister of the Eucharist, but rather the adultery that results from remarriage when one is not free to marry.

What Jesus would do can be determined by His commandment, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) and by His statements against divorce and adultery: “Let no man separate what God has joined …. Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and the woman who divorces her husband and marries another commits adultery” (Mark 10:9-12).

In his apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio, Pope John Paul discussed the distinction between divorced persons who have not remarried, and those who have. Regarding the first group, the Holy Father said that “the ecclesial community must support such people more than ever. It must give them much respect, solidarity, understanding, and practical help, so that they can preserve their fidelity even in their difficult situation.” He said that they must be “aware that the valid marriage bond is indissoluble, refrain from becoming involved in a new union, and devote themselves solely to carrying out their family duties and the responsibilities of Christian life” (n. 83).

As for those who have attempted remarriage, the Pontiff, after noting the “difference between those who have sincerely tried to save their first marriage and have been unjustly abandoned, and those who through their own grave fault have destroyed a canonically valid marriage,” said that both groups must continue to share in the Church’s life by attending Mass, persevering in prayer, bringing up their children in the faith, and daily imploring God’s grace.

He made it clear, however, that “the Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist. Besides this, there is another special pastoral reason: if these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the Church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage” (n. 84).

Allowing such persons to function as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist would also cause error and confusion among the faithful regarding Jesus’ condemnation of adultery.