Just because someone is an unwed mother, or someone is divorced and not remarried or any other seemingly “disqualifying” social circumstances does not necessarily disqualify one from receiving the Eucharist.
The sovereign pontiff has the power of legitimating all children born out of wedlock and thus making them capable of hereditary succession, and of receiving sacred orders, honors, dignities, and ecclesiastical benefices.
Divorced people are full members of the Church and are encouraged to participate in its activities. May a divorced Catholic receive Holy Communion? Yes. Divorced Catholics in good standing with the Church, who have not remarried or who have remarried following an annulment, may receive the sacraments.
If a Catholic is conscious of having committed a “grave sin” – for example, divorce or cohabitation with a romantic partner outside of marriage – he or she must first repent and perform penance for that sin before being eligible to receive Communion.
Illegitimate birth is an impediment to the reception of orders, and inhibits the exercise of the functions of orders already received. It is a canonical impediment, because established and laid down in the canon law as a hindrance to entering the clerical state.
Illegitimate children
An illegitimate child of the deceased, as a close full blood relative, might reasonably expect to inherit in the case of an intestacy. The Family Law Reform Act 1987 provides that illegitimate children have the same inheritance rights as legitimate children.
His mother, a very devoted Christian (later St. Monica), prayed for his return to the faith for many years to no avail; Augustine fathered a child out of wedlock, named Adeodatus, who died in his teens.
They must have been baptized with water and “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” If your child is older than second grade, we may require completion of the Order of Christian Initiation of Children (OCIC).
The canon says, "Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion."
With this in mind, we should understand that there are at least two groups of people who should be discouraged from partaking at the Lord's Table, namely, the unconverted and the unrepentant. The Unconverted. The Lord's Table is for those who have professed true faith in the Lord.
“The Eucharist is properly the sacrament of those who are in full communion with the Church” ( Catechism of the Catholic Church 1395). If you don't profess the Catholic faith, then it isn't appropriate to act as if you do.
Let us be clear: non-Catholic Christians have the spiritual need to receive the conferral of grace through the administration of the sacraments. They therefore have the spiritual need to receive the sacraments. We can also say that non-Catholic Christians have the right to receive the sacraments.
Catholics who are not married in the Church are considered members of the Church living in an irregular marriage. They are not excommunicated and are free to participate in some but not all aspects of the Catholic faith community.
The Church's teaching on cohabitation is not an “arbitrary” rule. Living together before marriage is a sin because it violates God's commandments and the law of the Church.
Generally speaking, in the United States, "illegitimate" has been supplanted by the phrase "born out of wedlock."
The evidence is clear and disturbing, being born outside of marriage lowers the health of newborns and increases their chances of dying; it delays children's cognitive (especially their verbal) development; it lowers their educational achievement; it lowers their job attainment; it increases their behavior problems; it ...
Canon law states, “One who is to receive the most Holy Eucharist is to abstain from any food or drink, with the exception only of water and medicine, for at least the period of one hour before Holy Communion” (CIC 919 §1).
All those who have committed grave sin and are unrepentant cannot approach Holy Communion. And, those who have not fasted from food and drink for at least one hour cannot approach Holy Communion. Before we continue, there is one truth we must wholeheartedly believe: The sacrament of Holy Communion is God.
The plain reason why only baptized believers should take communion is this: communion is only for Christians. Christians are those who have been baptized. Therefore, unbaptized people should not take communion, because a non-baptized Christian is a contradiction in terms—something the New Testament knows nothing about.
Examples of mortal sins include murder, adultery, blasphemy, and idolatry. Some extreme instances of these sins, such as violence against the pope, can even result in ex-communication from the church which is a severe punishment that excludes a person from the sacraments and other aspects of the faith.
There are clear guidelines on receiving Holy Communion. Each Communicant should refrain from eating or drinking anything (except for water) for one hour prior to receiving the Eucharist, although exceptions are made for those who are sick and for the elderly. Also, each Communicant must be free of mortal sin.
Antonietta Meo (15 December 1930 – 3 July 1937), nicknamed "Nennolina", was an Italian girl who died of osteosarcoma. Currently, she is the youngest person the Roman Catholic Church considers canonizing as a confessor.
Saint Jerome is the patron of orphans and abandoned children (Bentley, Sandoval).