Was Francis Anathemized by Saying that Faith Alone is Needed to Receive Communion?

David Martin | The Daily Knight

Pope Francis being entertained at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome

A key responsibility of a pope is to guard the Holy Eucharist by preaching sound doctrine concerning it so that the faithful will know clearly what they are receiving in Holy Communion, namely, Christ in Person. This will never happen as long as the Church is turned into a community fest. A pope has a solemn duty to instill in the faithful a holy reverence for the Eucharist along with a holy fear of approaching it in a flippant, nonchalant manner. Catholics must make themselves ready for worthy reception of the Eucharist through penance and contrition otherwise it works to their detriment (1 Cor. 11).

Pope Francis disagrees. He says that the Eucharist “is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” (Evangelii Gaudium) He has described the Eucharist as being “not as the reward of saints, but as the bread of sinners.” (Angelus June 6, 2021)

This contravenes doctrine since the Eucharist is a prize for those who strive to be perfect. It is the greatest reward anyone can receive, Christ Himself, who bestows himself on those who confess their unworthiness and who strive to be clean. 1 It is not the “bread of sinners” but the “Bread of Angels” and the Church through the centuries has never used such scandalous wording to describe the Eucharist since it would encourage people to come to the Eucharistic Banquet just as they are.

The Sin of Presumption

Francis insists that God accepts us as we are and negates that salvation is gained by merit. From the beginning he has promoted the idea that all people are automatically included in the household of grace regardless of their conduct. As he sees it, obedience to Christ is not a condition for inclusion in Christ and has even said that “there is no Hell” and that “no one can be condemned forever.” (Amoris Laetitia, 297)

This presumptuous attitude is what Francis calls “faith,” which he says is the only prerequisite for partaking in the Eucharistic wedding feast of the Lamb, which is the Mass. Consider his words.

“The world still does not know it, but everyone is invited to the 2 supper of the wedding of the Lamb (Re 19:9, Mt 22:1-15) To be admitted to the feast all that is required is the wedding garment of faith which comes from the hearing of his Word (cf. Romans 10:17) (Desiderio Desideravi 5).  

What about the doing of his word? (Romans 2:13) Francis' statement directly contravenes Canon 11 of the Council of Trent’s Decree on the Holy Eucharist:

“If anyone says that faith alone is sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist, let him be anathema.”

According to the Council of Trent, Francis 3 anathemized himself by publicly declaring that faith alone is required to participate in the Mass and Communion. In September 2022, four bishops, several priests, and numerous Catholic scholars signed a statement rebuking Pope Francis for his statement in Desiderio Desideravi. The fathers pointed out that in order to receive the Eucharist, Catholics must receive sacramental absolution for any mortal sins committed and must obey the laws of the Church concerning reception of the Eucharist (for example, the laws concerning modesty or of fasting prior to reception of the Eucharist).

Francis’ statement in Desiderio Desideravi coincides with his April 2016 Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia that approved the administering of Communion to divorced and remarried people. Francis himself verbally endorsed this while on flight back from Slovakia on September 15, 2021, when he told journalists: “I have never refused the Eucharist to anyone!” The fact that he exhorts his own bishops and priests to not refuse Communion to adulterers and homosexuals shows that he himself follows this rule.

Nancy Pelosi Receives Communion at Papal Mass

And in fact, on June 29, 2022, Francis warmly greeted former U.S. Speaker of the House and abortion advocate Nancy Pelosi shortly before celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica where she received Holy Communion. Francis and everyone there knew she was fanatically pro-abortion and it appears she was invited there by the Vatican for this very reason.

What is interesting too, and certainly no coincidence, is that June 29, 2022, was the day that Francis published his Desiderio Desideravi wherein he said that faith alone is needed to participate in the Eucharistic banquet and that “everyone is invited.” The document was issued in rebuttal to San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and bishops from four other dioceses where Pelosi had been banned from receiving Communion.

Twisted Interpretation

Francis’ words in Desiderio Desideravi about the wedding garment are a twisted interpretation of chapter 22 of St. Matthew wherein we read that while all are extended the invitation to attend the marriage of the Lamb, not all are accepted. This corresponds with the words of Consecration in the Mass where it says the Chalice of the Lord “shall be shed for you and for many,” not for all, for not all make themselves ready. Not all have on their wedding garment.

In Matthew 22 there is the parable about the King (representing Christ) who made a marriage for his son and told his servants:

“Go ye therefore into the highways; and as many as you shall find, call to the marriage. And his servants going forth into the ways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good: and the marriage was filled with guests.”

“And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he saith to him: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? But he was silent. Then the king said to the waiters: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Mt. 22: 2-14)

Not all are Accepted at the Royal Banquet

The above verse concerns the royal invitation that is extended to all peoples to partake in the Eucharistic banquet of Holy Mass. However, they cannot come as they are but must be baptized and follow their baptismal calling with periodic confession so they can be cloaked with their “wedding garment,” which is their garment of grace. This is their license to attend the marriage of the Lamb. If they don’t have their baptismal garment or they stain it through grave sin without going to confession they are expelled by Christ from the wedding banquet. 

Hence, to abide with Christ at the marriage of the Lamb we must be in a state of grace through obedience to Christ’s precepts, but according to Francis all that is needed is faith.

His words also contravene the encyclical of Pope Pius XII wherein he clearly defined who and who is not included in Christ’s Church. 

“Only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed (Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, 1943).

Hence to receive the beatific vision after death one must be baptized Catholic and must live out his Catholic faith without altering or deviating from any of the Church’s teachings.

Francis also says in his Evangelii Gaudium:

“I dream of a ‘missionary option’ … so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled [changed] for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation.” (n. 27).

The problem with this is that the world cannot be evangelized unless the Church remain self-preserved. There is no “missionary option” for saving souls. The Church becomes useless and scandalous if it changes for the world, whereas it edifies and saves souls if it preserves its laws, tradition, language, and its ‘ways of doing things.’

“I want this so that all can be seated at the Supper of the sacrifice of the Lamb and live from Him.” 

Unfortunately, no one can be seated at the Sacrifice of the Lamb unless they have their “wedding garment.” They cannot live in Christ and live in sin at the same time. The wedding garment is their justification from Christ that is given to those who merit it, not just to anyone. They must purify themselves for the Holy Eucharist.   

Those who refuse to do so (and who fail to teach this) had best consider St. Paul’s warning to those who approach the Eucharist in a casual and irreverent manner.

“Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord…. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 11:27, 29)

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1 The Eucharist is not medicine for those who live in sin but medicine for tempted sinners who strive to remain apart from sin. Communion is only for those who seek to amend their lives.

2 Calling the Eucharistic Banquet a “supper” suggests that the Mass is a meal and also suggests that it is a commemoration of the Last Supper rather that the reenactment of Christ’s Sacrifice that was perpetuated at the Last Supper.

3 Meaning, excommunicated.