EDITED 6/26/2020
The Church has the authority of Christ over both doctrine and discipline. And She is indefectible by Her very nature, and in both Her types of authority, teaching and temporal. These are the two swords given by Christ to the Church, and both swords are sharp.

The Church has the help of the Holy Spirit so that Her infallible teachings cannot err, and so that Her non-infallible teachings cannot err gravely. Similarly, with the temporal authority, the infallible exercise of this authority in deciding dogmatic facts — such as which Ecumenical Councils and which Popes are valid — is entirely without error. No Ecumenical Council accepted by the Roman Pontiffs and the body of Bishops can in fact be a Council of heresy or of grave error. Then, finally, the disciplines of the Church, which may be considered to be in a similar category, under the temporal authority, as the non-infallible teachings are under the teaching authority, cannot err gravely.

The disciplines of the Church can never lead the faithful away from the path of salvation, nor into heresy, or idolatry, or in any way lead us away from Christ. There can be no grave errors in discipline of the Church approved by the Roman Pontiff or by the body of Bishops led by the Roman Pontiff.

Recently, some papal accusers, having rejected the Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops, have begun to decide matters of discipline for themselves and for their followers, as if they were issuing dogmas or dogmatic facts. They claim that one should never receive Communion in the hand, but only on the tongue. The Magisterium has no such teaching. Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture have no such teaching. And the authority over discipline is given to the Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops.

The Church has permitted Communion in the hand through all the recent Popes. Such permission cannot possibly be a grave error, as each Roman Pontiff and the Church in her doctrine and discipline are indefectible. She cannot lead us away from the path to Christ by false teaching, nor by harmful disciplines.

Recall that Christ touched the leper before healing him. He could have healed the leper first, and then touched him. Instead, he touched the leper while he was yet covered in sores. (So does Christ treat our sins, deigning to touch our souls with grace while we are yet sinners, before we repent and convert.)

The faithful may prefer Communion on the tongue, for whatever reason. Those Catholics are faithful also who prefer Communion in the hand, for whatever reason. If you believe that Communion on the tongue is a better discipline, you are permitted by the Church to hold that opinion.

[See Fr. Matthew’s comment below] The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, in a dubium on the H1N1 virus, reiterated the right to receive Communion in the hand. However, I would argue that Covid-19 is much more dangerous, and that perhaps those Bishops who restrict Communion to the hand are within their authority, esp. since they may have consulted the Holy See, and the Pontiff and CDW have not corrected them.

Even if your Bishop is wrong in restricting your right to receive Communion on the tongue, a right which is granted by the Church and can be modified (e.g. subjected to conditions) or revoked by that same authority, I suggest that the obedient and faithful response is to receive on the hand.
{5:40} And anyone who wishes to contend with you in judgment, and to take away your tunic, release to him your cloak also.
{5:41} And whoever will have compelled you for one thousand steps, go with him even for two thousand steps.
Since the Bishop is not asking you to sin, receive Communion on the hand.

If you treat reception on the hand as if it were a grave error, you falsely accuse the Church of having defected. I don’t believe the Church can teach grave error, even in non-infallible teachings which can err to a limited extent, and I don’t believe the Church can err gravely in discipline. If it is the case that refusing to receive Christ in the hand is a means that a person uses to rebel against the Church, it would be a grave error to so refuse.

Preferring Communion on the tongue is fine; there are good reasons for it. The Church permits Communion on the hand, and has done so widely, with papal approval for many years, so I don’t believe this can be a grave error.

It may be the case that individual Bishops exceed their authority (as Fr. Matt says below) by restricting a right granted by higher authority in the Church. Or it may be that they do so properly, because of grave circumstances. They should consult the Holy See on this topic.

The Holy See does have the right to restrict Communion to the hand. I’m not convinced it is necessary, but we don’t really know what the increase in risk may be (if at all). Very careful distribution on the tongue might not increase risk. On the other hand, no pun intended, spiritual risks of distribution on the hand are often cited to conclude on the tongue is better. Similarly, here, it is possible that not every minister of Communion will distributed on the tongue in the most prudent manner.

There is a deadly pandemic, causing much suffering and death. That is sufficient reason for the Church to exercise Her authority over discipline and require Communion in the hand.

Now, for the worst case scenario. John-Henry Westen states he will absolutely refuse to receive Communion on the hand, and will forgo receiving Communion indefinitely, until he can receive on the tongue. This type of attitude is schismatic. It is a rejection of Church authority. It takes rights granted by Church authority, and puts them above the authority which granted those rights.

John-Henry Westen: 5 Reasons…. …basically 5 reasons why Westen will never obey the Church unless the Church tells him to do something he was already going to do. And his LifeSiteNews has repeatedly supported the papal accusers and attacked the Pope, as if it had the role of judging the Vicar of Christ.

Sorry, I was too harsh in my original version of this post. The papal accusers are sinning gravely and doing grave harm to the flock of Jesus Christ. Many conservatives have simply not joined the conservative papal accusers in this type of sin.

But I still say this to the faithful: Humble yourself before Christ in the Eucharist and receive Him on the hand. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Even if your Bishops errs by refusing to allow Communion on the tongue, reception on the hand is not a sin.

Ronald L. Conte Jr.