Communion - straight in the mouth please

Francisco de Goya, The Last Communion of Saint Jose de Calasanz, 1819

Fr Tim Finigan writes an excellent essay on the two ways of administering communion: contrary to what even many conservative Catholics believe, the 'ordinary' way of administering Holy Communion is still 'on the tongue'; 'in the hand' is by special permission, or indult.

The occasion for these comments is an interview with Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Archbishop Ranjith seems to have taken up the role of straight talking on liturgical matters that the Pope had held when still just a cardinal:

I mention for example, a change not proposed by the Council Fathers or by the Sacrosanctum Concilium, Holy Communion received in the hand. This has contributed to some extent to a weakening of faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This, and the removal of altar rails and kneelers in church and the introduction of practices which oblige the faithful to sit or stand at the elevation of the Sacred Host, weakens the genuine significance of the Eucharist and the Church's profound sense of adoration for the Lord, the Only Son of God. Moreover in many places, the church the 'house of God', is used for meetings, concerts or interreligious celebrations. In some churches the Blessed Sacrament is almost hidden away in a little chapel, hardly seen and little decorated. All this obscures a belief so central in the Church, belief in the real presence of Christ. The church, for Catholics, is the 'home' of the Eternal One.