Now this is hateful.  This boy should be permitted to partake of the
Eucharist as well as he can rite along with the rest of us.  If Our lord
were here on earth he would condemn the practice of forbidding him because
he can't swallow.  It is these sorts of practices which illustrate all
wearing collars backward aren't truly practicing their Christian faith.  We
should all pray for this boy that he may be able to receive in some way as
he and his parents want it so.Article from Phoenix Citizen



PHOENIX - A 10-year-old autistic boy has been barred from taking communion
by the Bishop of the Phoenix Catholic Diocese because he can't actually
swallow.

Matthew Moran of Lake Havasu City has been taking the church's most
meaningful sacrament for three years, but in a Feb. 12 letter, Bishop Thomas
J. Olmsted
said the boy cannot accept communion until he can "actually receive the
Eucharist, actually take and eat."

Matthew can't swallow foods with certain textures, so he places the wafer,
called the host, in his mouth. Then his father, Nick Moran, removes it and
eats
it himself.

The bishop's letter has caused anger, anxiety and frustration in his home,
Moran said.

"We are out of our minds over this," said Moran. He and his wife, Dr. Jean
Weaver, have two other children. He said his son "screamed and cried" when
he
learned he could not take communion at Mass.

Phoenix Diocese officials said Matthew has not actually been barred from
receiving communion, only that the bishop is "not able to approve the
present practice."
Olmsted's letter offered various alternative hosts for Matthew to try,
educational material and other recommendations for the parents.

"Matthew deserves to be able to take the Eucharist fully and completely,"
said Isabella Rice of the diocese Office on Disabilities and Pastoral Care.
"As
long as he is unable to do so, we will keep working with him."

That's not enough for Moran, who said his son has moderately severe autism,
a neurological disorder that manifests itself in a variety of ways. In many
cases verbal and social skills are affected.

Autistic children frequently have difficulty eating certain kinds of food,
among other disabilities. Moran says Matthew is extremely sensitive to
certain
colors and textures, and the boy eats and drinks only specific things. But
Moran said he is reading, doing math and making friends.

The ability to participate in communion is extremely important for
Catholics. Also known as the Eucharist, communion is the center of the
church's worship
life. In his letter to the family, Olmsted says, "The Eucharist is the great
treasure of our Catholic faith."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' guidelines for communion says that
where doubt exists as to a person's ability to receive the sacrament, they
should
be resolved in favor of the recipient.

Moran said he believes Olmsted is not following those guidelines in the case
of his son.

In his letter, Olmsted says, "Just to touch it to one's tongue is not to
`take and eat.'

"So while your desire is for your son to receive Holy Communion, he is, in
fact, only simulating doing so," he wrote.

Roberto Dell'Oro, a theologian at Loyola Marymount University in Los
Angeles, says concerns about whether Matthew is consuming the host miss the
bigger
point.

"I'm sure God knows that (Matthew) is receiving Communion," said Dell'Oro,
whose son has autism. "If the father is taking care of the host (so it is
not
thrown away or destroyed), then what is the big deal?"