Babies can recieve the Eucharist in the Orthodox Church, why do Catholic children have to wait?

I got an email that said

Is it true that in the Catholic Church children cannot participate in the Holy Eucharist? In the Orthodox Church, children can be part of the Eucharist as soon as they have been baptized, and even newborn babies can recieve communion (of course, only the Blood of Christ at first). What is the reason/ explanation for this?

Yes, it is true that in the present-day Roman Rite of the Catholic Church reception of the Eucharist is delayed until children reach the age of reason.    Now, this was not always the case in the Western Church.    The very ancient Western Church used to administer the Eucharist (and Confirmation --that is, Chrismation) to infants at the time of their Baptism, just as the Eastern Orthodox still do today, and as Eastern Catholics (Uniates) still do today.  

So, you are following the older custom.   However, sometime in the early Middle Ages (when we Romans were still in full communion with the East), the Western Church decided that it would be of benefit to delay the Eucharist until children realized Who and What they are receiving.    This came about because the Romans in the West were, at this time (the early Middle Ages) converting the German and Celtic peoples of northern Europe; and in a situation when there were mass conversions like this, the Western Church followed yet another custom of the very early Church, which was to exclude converts from the Eucharist until they were fully catechized --that is, fully acquainted with the Faith.   For example, if you read the writings of St. Athanasius the Great or St. Cyril of Jerusalem (both of whom were Eastern fathers), they describe how, when it came time for Holy Communion (the Eucharist), all of the Christian novices (pagan converts preparing for Baptism) were asked to leave the room, so that they could not even watch the Baptized Christians partake of the Eucharist.   

This was done because the Eucharistic Mystery is so profound and so sacred, that the Church wanted to make 100% sure that the new converts were fully educated in the Faith so that they would not look at the Eucharist as if it were mere bread or mere wine, but believe with all their hearts that it is the Real Presence of the risen Jesus Christ.   And, while it is true that the ancient Church only did this for people who were not yet Baptized, the medieval Western Church decided that it would be beneficial to treat Baptized Christian children like this --that is, to withhold the Eucharist from them until they were old enough to realize what it is and to believe in it.   

Now, to the Eastern mind, this may seem to imply that we Western Romans are saying that Baptized children are not in full communion with the rest of us.   But, this is not what it means to the Western mind at all.   Rather, it is just a Western discipline that developed as part of our Western experience, and the need to make sure that children fully understood Who and What they are receiving in the Eucharist.   So, here again, we have a case in which East and West faced different situations, and responded to them differently --according to their different cultural sensibilities.   But, we both believe the same thing about the Eucharist.   Anyone who is Baptized into Christ and belongs to the true Apostolic Faith may receive the Eucharist, even a baby.    And, in the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church (i.e., those Eastern Churches which are already in full communion with us Romans), babies are given the Eucharist (the Precious Blood or a small piece of the consecrated Bread --the Body of Christ) at the time of their Baptisms.    In the Roman rite, we merely feel that it works better (in our culture) if we delay giving the Eucharist to children until they are old enough to appreciate it and receive Him in conscious faith.    

Mark Bonocore
Edited by David MacDonald

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