Pope Francis has never taught that persons who lack the state of grace may receive holy Communion. He is falsely accused of this error because he recognizes that persons who have committed objectively grave sins often do not have the full culpability of actual mortal sin. Only actual mortal sin (a grave sin committed with full knowledge and full deliberation) deprives the soul of the state of grace.

So, for example, we cannot assume that a divorced and remarried couple are guilty of actual mortal sin, even IF they are guilty of an objectively grave sin. I say “IF” because people might not have accurate information about a couple, and whether or not they were previously validly married and whether or not they have an annulment. The Church has always acknowledged that not every grave sin meets the full conditions of full culpability for actual mortal sin. And two Ecumenical Councils, Florence and Lyons II, have used the term “actual mortal sin” for those persons who are condemned to Hell, having never repented from actual mortal sin.

Some persons who think they are in the state of grace are not. And other persons who think that have committed actual mortal sin, thereby losing the state of grace, did not commit a sin with that full culpability and so they are still in the state of grace. Such persons may have committed an objectively grave sin without full knowledge or full deliberation, or they may have misjudged the gravity of the sin they committed (e.g. due to scruples).

But no fallen sinner in this life can be certain that he or she is in the state of grace, unless it is divinely-revealed by God (as in the case of Saint Paul, “my grace is sufficient for thee”). So when we come to Communion, we can never be certain that we are in the state of grace. Therefore, the rule for baptized Catholic Christians is that we cannot receive if we are aware of having committed an actual mortal sin, without subsequently having received forgiveness in Confession. It is true, objectively, that persons who lack the state of grace should not receive. But for baptized Catholic Christians, this cannot be known with certitude. Of course, someone might know with a high degree of confidence (though with mere human judgment) that their grave sin was committed with full culpability. But this is not absolutely certain. Also, the state of grace is returned to anyone who subsequently chooses an act of perfect contrition.

So the rule is that Communion is not to be received by those who believe they have committed an actual mortal sin and who have not yet been forgiven in Confession. However, the Council of Trent makes an exception for a priest who is not able to go to Confession before another priest prior to saying Mass. Such a priest may make an act of perfect contrition (Canon Law says) and then, as the Council of Trent state below, the priest may say Mass and receive Communion, with a later Confession.

Therefore, the situation is not so simple as many papal accusers claim. Then, too, Pope Francis never said that persons who lack the state of grace, or who are unrepentant from actual mortal sin, may receive Communion. Instead, Pope Francis, wishing to be merciful and lenient with sinners who might be in difficult situations, and who might not have full culpability for an objectively grave sin, permitted some such persons to receive Communion, after meeting with a priest in Confession. The Pope also permitted divorced and remarried persons, at least some such persons, to receive Communion, despite the objectively grave sin possibly implied by their situation. I say “possibly” because we should not assume that all remarried persons are having relations. We should not assume that all remarried persons have not repented and been to Confession. We should not assume that all remarried persons lack an annulment for their previous attempted marriage.

Such a merciful and lenient discipline for Communion does NOT imply that persons who are not in a state of grace may receive without prior Confession. And often these papal accusers misrepresent the teaching of the Council of Trent on this topic. See the full Chapter below.

Council of Trent
DECREE ON THE EUCHARIST
CHAPTER VII.
On the preparation to be given so that one may
worthily receive the sacred Eucharist

“If it is not fitting for anyone to approach any of the sacred functions, except with holiness, certainly, the more that the holiness and divinity of this heavenly Sacrament are understood by a Christian person, the more diligently he ought to take caution that he approach to receive it only with great reverence and holiness, especially since we read in the Apostle those words full of dread: “Whoever eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks a sentence against himself, not discerning it to be the body of the Lord.” [1 Cor 11:29].

“Therefore, whoever wishes to communicate, should recall to mind the precept: “Let a man examine himself.” [1 Cor 11:28]. Now ecclesiastical custom declares this necessary examination to be that no one, conscious to himself of mortal sin, however contrite he may seem to himself, ought to approach the sacred Eucharist without previous sacramental Confession.

“The holy Synod has decreed that this is to be perpetually observed by all Christians, even by those priests on whom it may be incumbent by [their] office to celebrate, provided that access to a Confessor is not lacking to them. But if, in urgent necessity, a priest should celebrate without previous Confession, let him confess as soon as possible.”

Notice that the Council of Trent refers to “ecclesiastical custom”, not dogma, and that an exception is made for priests who do not have access to a confessor (another priest), such that they may celebrate Mass and receive Communion, confessing later. But Canon Law instructs such priests to make an act of perfect contrition first, so as to return to the state of grace, if the sin in question was truly an actual mortal sin.

The above text shows that the Church, specifically the Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff or of the Roman Pontiff with the body of Bishops, has the authority to decide the discipline for Communion. We should not assume, about other persons, whether or not their apparent public grave sin is actually a grace sin, nor that it is an actual mortal sin, nor that they have not previously confessed. And Pope Francis did not contradict anything in the Council of Trent above. He merely noted that many times an objectively grave sin is not also an actual mortal sin, and he recommended confession and possibly communion afterward.

Pope Francis: “Because of forms of conditioning and mitigating factors, it is possible that in an objective situation of sin – which may not be subjectively culpable, or fully such – a person can be living in God’s grace, can love and can also grow in the life of grace and charity, while receiving the Church’s help to this end.351”

Footnote 351: “In certain cases, this can include the help of the sacraments. Hence, “I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber, but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium [24 November 2013], 44: AAS 105 [2013], 1038). I would also point out that the Eucharist “is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak” (ibid., 47: 1039).”

Pope Francis notes that the help of the Sacraments is offered to those in irregular situations or in apparent objectively grave sin, and he explains the sacraments he means: Confession and Communion. Note well that the Pope explicitly clearly states the situation that permits reception of Communion, that “a person can be living in God’s grace”. He does not permit Communion for persons who lack the state of grace and he immediately points out the help of the Sacrament of Confession. In addition, throughout Amoris Laetitia, the Roman Pontiff recommends Confession to the faithful.

Ronald L Conte Jr