Bishop says Communion distribution at huge Masses must be dignified

Published: 2005-10-07

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Synod of Bishops heard a suggestion that the church avoid general distribution of Communion during huge Masses unless it can be done in a dignified way. Spanish Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez, head of Opus Dei, made the proposal Oct. 6 to more than 200 bishops gathered to discuss the Eucharist as the center of church life. Bishop Echevarria also questioned the practice of concelebrating Mass with a large number of priests, saying that sometimes the concelebrants "can't even see the altar." Mega-Masses involving hundreds of thousands of people and many concelebrants were not unusual during the papacy of Pope John Paul II, both on his foreign travels and in liturgies in Rome. Typically, hundreds of priests would be sent into the crowd to give out Communion. One of the biggest Masses ever celebrated in Rome was for the canonization of Opus Dei's founder, St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer.

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