Rome: Church tradition trumps USCCB policy

@PetriOP:

This business about kneeling for Holy Communion was settled long ago. In fact, the USCCB was subtly corrected on the matter in the publication of the 2010 American translation of the 2000 edition of the Missale Romanum. Here's what happened...

In 2000, the third edition of the Missale Romanum was promulgated by St. John Paul II, which included a revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal (i.e., the GIRM). Every episcopal conference could then make adaptations proper to their own bishops' dioceses as long as the Holy See approved those modifications.

In 2002, therefore, this revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal was issued for the United States with the approved adaptations for the United States. 

Paragraph 160 of that 2002 US GIRM said: "The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by

providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm."

Communicants couldn't be denied Holy Communion for kneeling, but they should be "addressed pastorally." Keep in mind, we were still using the 1972 translation of Mass found in what was called then the Sacramentary.

In 2004, the then-Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments at the Holy See issued an all-encompassing document addressing deficiencies and abuses regarding the Most Holy Sacrament called Redemptionis Sacramentum.

In paragraph 90 of that document, the Holy See affirmed: "'The faithful should receive Communion kneeling or standing, as the Conference of Bishops will have determined', with its acts having received the recognitio of the Apostolic See. 'However, if they receive Communion standing, it is recommended that they give due reverence before the reception of the Sacrament, as set forth in the same norms.'"

Note the Holy See's insistence here on the norm that any determination by an episcopal conference on these matters must have the approval (the recognitio) of Holy See.

The following paragraph (91) says this: "In distributing Holy Communion it is to be remembered that 'sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who seek them in a reasonable manner, are rightly disposed, and are not prohibited by law from receiving them'.  Hence any baptized Catholic who is not prevented by law must be admitted to Holy Communion. Therefore, it is not licit to deny Holy Communion to any of Christ’s faithful solely on the grounds, for example, that the person wishes to receive the Eucharist kneeling or standing."

Fast forward to 2010 after the US Bishops approved an English translation for the 2000 Missale Romanum, it's sent to Rome to be approved, but NOT WITHOUT a change in the US GIRM at paragraph 160--a change that wasn't reported at the time as being requested by the USCCB. In other words, it's a change that the Holy See simply made on its own authority.

Unlike the 2002 US GIRM at 160, the 2010 and CURRENT US GIRM at 160 doesn't mention any pastoral  issue needing to be addressed about the faithful kneeling to receive Holy Communion. Presumably, this is because the Holy See doesn't think it is a pastoral issue. 

The 2010 US GIRM, approved by the Holy See and changed from the 2002 version by the authority and initiative of the Holy See, now says: 

"It is not permitted for the faithful to take the consecrated Bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them on from one to another among themselves. The norm established for the Dioceses of the United States of America is that Holy Communion is to be received standing, unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling" (and cites Redemptionis Sacramentum, paragraph 91).

Thus, in 2010, the Holy See changed the US GIRM specifically to remove any sense of kneeling being a pastoral issue. Yes, standing is the norm in the United States, UNLESS a member of the faithful wishes to receive Holy Communion while kneeling.

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