Commentator Sandro Magister has noted an unusual behavior by Pope Francis at most Masses — he does not give Communion to the faithful.

At the moment of communion, pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio does not administer it himself, but allows others to give the consecrated host to the faithful. He sits down and waits for the distribution of the sacrament to be completed.

The exceptions are very few. At solemn Masses the pope, before sitting down, gives communion to those assisting him at the altar. And at the Mass last Holy Thursday, at the juvenile detention facility of Casal del Marmo, he wanted to give communion himself to the young detainees who approached to receive it.

The Pope has not explained this practice, but Sandro thinks that the reason is clear, from a published conversation a few years before he became Pope, when he was Archbishop:

With some of them we know their whole résumé, we know that they pass themselves off as Catholics but practice indecent behaviors of which they do not repent. For this reason, on some occasions I do not give communion, I stay back and let the assistants do it, because I do not want these persons to approach me for a photo.

So the Pope is concerned about the scandal that might occur if a person — such as a politician who is in a state of manifest unrepentant grave sin — were seen, photographed, and reported to have received Communion from the Pope.

But this can’t be the Pope’s continuous policy, for a few reasons. First, these persons who, as Canon 915 says, are “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin” must not be given Communion by anyone. So even if the Pope does not give them Communion, they are still receiving it. Second, if the Bishops, priests, and deacons of the Church were to follow his example, Communion would be given out only by laypersons. Yet the ordinary minister of the Eucharist is an ordained person. Such a disorder cannot become the common practice of the Church. Third, the Pope’s practice indicates his concern about the grave unrepentant sins of many Catholics and about unworthy Communions. The Pope cannot in good conscience leave such a problem unaddressed.

So this practice of not giving Communion can only be a stopgap measure, until the Pope does something about unworthy Communions by persons unrepentant from grave manifest sin.

Therefore, I conclude that the Pope intends to do something about unworthy Communions, probably a papal document with definitive teaching and a change to Canon Law. And that could be the trigger for the great apostasy. As I have been saying for many years, the great apostasy is connected to the Eucharist:

Notice that John chapter 6 is mainly about the Eucharist. And yet, after Christ teaches about the Eucharist, many of His disciples leave him. This is a foreshadowing of the great apostasy that will occur during each part of the tribulation. During each time, the Church will reaffirm Christ’s teaching about the Eucharist, as well as other teachings, and many will fall away from the Faith. For it is hard for them to believe, while living in such a sinful world, which contradicts and persecutes Christian teachings. (from my book, The First Part of the Tribulation)

In addition, I have said that the Church will require the faithful to believe Her teachings and to live by those teachings in order to receive the Holy Eucharist. In response, many who call themselves Catholic will depart from the Church, rather than believe and live according to Her teaching. And this departure from the Church occurs at the start of the Apocalypse.

So the Pope’s custom of not giving Communion is another indicator that the tribulation is near.

by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and
translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.