Polish National Church Priests and Communion
Date: May 10, 2025
Author: Fr. Edward McNamara, LC
Question: I just read your article on the Polish National Catholic Church and the details of who can receive Communion. It was somewhat confusing, because at one point it says [yes], if a person is near death or in a dire situation. Later in the article there was an example of a PNCC spouse whose spouse was a Roman Catholic. The PNCC spouse was welcome to receive Communion and even be received into the Church should that spouse desire. The article goes on to say that if a spouse did not desire to be received into the Church, he or she could continue to receive Communion. Those two examples are a bit confusing, so let me pose a real-life question. Can a PNCC priest receive Communion in a Roman Catholic church if there is not a Polish National Catholic Church within reasonable driving distance? — J.B., St. Augustine, Florida
Answer: The relevant article, “Polish National Church and Communion,” was published in February 2023. We had addressed a similar, but broader, question in 2013.
In the 2023 article we cited Canon 844 which deals with the general situations and the conditions in which Catholics may receive some sacraments from non-Catholic ministers and when non-Catholic Christians may receive sacraments from Catholic priests.
The most relevant part to our question was Can. 844 §3:
“Catholic ministers administer the sacraments of penance, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick licitly to members of Eastern Churches which do not have full communion with the Catholic Church if they seek such on their own accord and are properly disposed. This is also valid for members of other Churches which in the judgment of the Apostolic See are in the same condition in regard to the sacraments as these Eastern Churches.”
In other words, not all non-Catholics are in the same position. The requirement that a person be in danger of death or some other grave situation is for those Christian groups that, while having valid baptism, do not practice or recognize the other sacraments. It would also be the case of those groups which have some of the sacraments, such as holy orders, whose validity is not recognized by the Catholic Church. For these Christians, the dictates of Canon 844 §4: apply:
“If the danger of death is present or if, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or conference of bishops, some other grave necessity urges it, Catholic ministers administer these same sacraments licitly also to other Christians not having full communion with the Catholic Church, who cannot approach a minister of their own community and who seek such on their own accord, provided that they manifest Catholic faith in respect to these sacraments and are properly disposed.”
In this case, all the above conditions must be present concurrently. The above canon would apply to most Protestant denominations and to Anglicans.
It is in the light of the above distinctions that we explained the status of the PNCC. To wit:
“The Polish National Catholic Church [is] a relatively small group of some 36,000 souls which splintered from the Catholic Church, mostly due to pastoral misunderstandings, in 1897.
“With respect to this denomination, on March 13, 1996, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops committee on Ecumenical affairs, with the prior approval of the Holy See, recognized that the PNCC is in the same conditions as the members of the Eastern Churches in regard to the sacraments.
“Therefore, Canon 844 §3 applies to the members of this Church under the same conditions as members of Eastern Churches.
“That means a member of the PNCC can receive Communion from a Catholic minister if these conditions are present and the person has the usual dispositions of grace to receive Communion.
“Just as the Catholic Church would not require entering into full communion for an Eastern Orthodox Christian who desired to receive these sacraments under the above conditions, I would say that the same rule would apply to someone who was a member of the Polish National Church.”
That was the reasoning behind what we said affirming the possibility of a PNCC spouse who habitually attended Mass with his or her family being able to receive Communion on a regular basis, but also that, in some cases, a pastor could invite that person to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church to be able to exercise other ministries such as reader. Only a person who is in full communion with the Catholic Church may be assigned to carry out a ministerial action.
Getting back to our reader’s precise question: Can a PNCC priest receive communion in a Roman Catholic church if there is not a Polish National Catholic Church within reasonable driving distance?
With respect to receiving communion at a Catholic Mass, the PNCC priest is in the same condition as any other member of the PNCC faithful. Therefore, the answer is yes.
However, under no circumstances may he be invited or allowed to concelebrate at a Catholic Mass.
With permission of the local bishop, there may be some extraordinary occasions in which the Catholic church allows him to celebrate the Eucharist, either alone or with other PNCC faithful, facilitating the use of the vestments and other necessary liturgical elements. This would naturally be outside of scheduled Mass times and would not usually be something regular.
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