Closed communion is the practice of restricting the serving of the elements of Holy Communion (also called Eucharist, The Lord's Supper) to those who are members in good standing of a particular church, denomination, sect, or congregation. Though the meaning of the term varies slightly in different Christian theological traditions, it generally means that a church or denomination limits participation (with respect to the Eucharist) either to members of their own church, members of their own denomination, or members of some specific class (e.g., baptized members of evangelical churches). This restriction is based on various parameters, one of which is baptism. See also intercommunion.
A closed-communion church is one that excludes certain individuals (it specifically identifies) from receiving the communion. This standard varies from church to church. This is the known practice of most traditional churches that pre-date the Protestant Reformation. Other churches following the Protestant Reformation have their own rules of restrictions. In current churches of various denominations, across the spectrum, the rules of participating in the Eucharist are varied.
Churches which practice open communion allow all Christians to partake in the Lord's Supper, with membership in a particular Christian community not required to receive bread and wine; this in contrast to pre-Reformation churches, which hold that what is received in their celebrations ceases to be bread and wine.
Practice
Roman Catholic Church The Roman Catholic Church practices closed communion. However, provided that "necessity requires it or true spiritual advantage suggests it" and that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided, canon 844 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church and the parallel canon 671 allow, in particular exceptional circumstances that are regulated by the diocesan bishop or conference of bishops, members who cannot approach a Catholic minister to receive the Eucharist from ministers of churches that have a valid Eucharist.Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §2 It also permits properly disposed members of the Eastern churches who are not in full communion with the Roman Church (Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy and Assyrian Church of the East), and of churches judged to be in the same situation with regard to the sacraments to receive the Eucharist from Catholic ministers, if they seek it of their own accord.Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §3 The Catholic Church distinguishes between Churches whose celebration of the Eucharist, as well as holy orders, it recognizes as valid and those of other Christian communities. In the case that it is impossible to approach a Catholic minister, that it is a case of real need or spiritual benefit, and that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided, the Catholic Church permits its faithful to receive Communion in Orthodox Churches,Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §2 and Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 671 §2 although Orthodox Churches do not honour this and only permit Orthodox Christians to receive Communion in Orthodox Churches. The Catholic Church does not ordinarily allow a Catholic to receive communion in a Protestant church, since it does not consider Protestant ministers to be priests ordained by bishops in a line of valid succession from the apostles, although Moravians, Anglicans and some Lutherans teach that they ordain their clergy in lines of apostolic succession. It applies this rule also to the Anglican Communion, pursuant to Apostolicae curae, a position that the Church of England disputed in Saepius officio. However, a non-Catholic Christian, as with a Catholic Christian who has not yet received his or her First Communion, may come forward in the line, with his/her arms crossed over the chest, in order to receive a blessing, in lieu of Holy Communion:
This blessing giving to those who are not communing is a short prayer, with the following being prescribed by the Auckland Diocesan Liturgy Office: "May the Lord bless you. Amen." or "May the Love of God be in your heart. Amen." or "May Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless you. Amen."
The Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism warns that "due consideration should be given to the discipline of the Eastern Churches for their own faithful and any suggestion of proselytism should be avoided."Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, 125 Recognizing that "that everyone in a marriage that binds denominations," the Catholic Church in Germany has produced a pastoral handout allowing Lutheran and Reformed spouses of Roman Catholics to receive Communion from Roman Catholic ministers in certain cases, 'provided they “affirm the Catholic faith in the Eucharist.”' Thus far, Archbishop Hans-Josef Becker (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paderborn), Archbishop Stefan Heße (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hamburg), Archbishop Ludwig Schick (Roman Catholic Diocese of Fulda), and Bishop Franz Jung (Roman Catholic Diocese of Würzburg) have implemented the pastoral document, in addition to Bishops Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg and Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabrück declaring their intention to implement the pastoral document well. Bishop Franz Jung, while celebrating a Jubilee Mass on July 5 at Würzburg Cathedral, called inter-denominational marriages "denomination-uniting" and thus "especially invited" couples in which one spouse is Protestant to receive the Eucharist during his sermon.
Other Western Christians under the jurisdiction of other episcopal conferences are limited by stricter conditions. Those who do personally share Catholic belief in the Eucharist (as the body and blood of the risen Christ, accompanied by his soul and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine) are permitted to receive the sacrament when there is danger of death or, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or of the episcopal conference, some other grave necessity urges it and on condition that "the person be unable to have recourse for the sacrament to a minister of his or her own Church or ecclesial Community, ask for the sacrament of his or her own initiative, manifest Catholic faith in the sacrament and be properly disposed".Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, 131Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §4 and Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 671 §4
Exceptions do occur, however. Notably, Pope John Paul II gave Holy Communion to Brother Roger, a Reformed pastor and founder of the Taizé Community, several times; in addition Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) also gave Brother Roger the Eucharist. Moreover, after Brother Roger's death, at the Mass celebrated for him in France, "communion wafers were given to the faithful indiscriminately, regardless of denomination".
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, comprising 14 to 16 autocephalous Orthodox hierarchical churches, is even more strictly a closed-communion Church. Thus, a member of the Russian Orthodox Church attending the Divine Liturgy in a Greek Orthodox Church will be allowed to receive communion and vice versa but, although Protestants, non-Trinitarian Christians, or Catholics may otherwise fully participate in an Orthodox Divine Liturgy, they will be excluded from communion. In the strictest sense, non-Orthodox may be present at the Divine Liturgy only up to the exclamation "The doors! The doors!" and ought to leave the church after that. However, this attitude has been relaxed in most Orthodox churches; a non-communicant may stay and participate in the Divine Liturgy but may not partake of the Eucharist.Timothy Ware, "The Orthodox Church" 1963. Thus, while in certain circumstances the Catholic Church allows its faithful who cannot approach a Catholic minister to receive the Eucharist from an Eastern Orthodox priest, the Eastern Orthodox Church does not admit them to receive the Eucharist from its ministers. At the very end of the Divine Liturgy, all people are invited to come up to receive a little piece of bread, called antidoron, which is blessed but not consecrated, being taken from the same loaf as the bread used in the consecration. Non-Orthodox present at the Liturgy are not only permitted but even encouraged to receive the blessed bread as an expression of Christian fellowship and love.
The Eastern Orthodox Church is not in Communion with the Roman Church, nor is it in Communion with any Protestant denominational church. Eastern Orthodox Christians are forbidden from receiving Communion in any church other than Eastern Orthodox. Eastern Orthodox Churches accept to Holy Communion only baptized Eastern Orthodox Christians (such as Bulgarian Orthodox, Georgian Orthodox, Albanian Orthodox, etc.), and then only when they have prepared themselves by prayer, by appropriate fasting, and by confession of sins (although the frequency of confession varies between traditions). In addition, Orthodox bishops and other teachers make clear to their faithful that they can only properly receive communion from a canonically ordained priest or bishop within the context of the traditional Orthodox Divine Liturgy (which includes communion taken to the sick).
Lutheran Churches
Confessional Lutheran churches, including the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, practice closed communion and require catechetical instruction for all people before receiving the Eucharist.WELS Topical Q&A: Romans 16:17 - What Kind of Warning Is This?, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod"Closed Communion" @ www.lcms.org. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Understanding Closed Communion, stating "Therefore, our Congregation and our Denomination practices what is called ‘close or closed Communion’, meaning that before you take Communion at our Churches, we ask you to take a Communion Class first to properly learn what Communion is all about.", by Archive.org Failing to do so is condemned by these Lutherans as the sin of unionism.Christian Encyclopedia: Unionism. Retrieved 2014-06-21. This teaching comes from 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 which says, "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf" and Paul's teaching of fellowship in 1 Corinthians 1:10, "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought." These Lutherans also take seriously God's threat in 1 Corinthians 11:27,29 that "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of this cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself." Therefore, the belief is that, inviting those forward who have not been first instructed would be unloving on the church's part, because they would be inviting people forward to sin. This is described as akin to letting someone drink poison without stopping him.