Communion and the developmentally disabled

This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Part of a series on the
Eucharist Lord's Supper Communion
Elements Bread Wine
Ritual and liturgy Divine Liturgy Holy Qurobo Holy Qurbana Divine Service Mass Requiem Solemn Consecration/Anaphora Epiclesis Words of Institution Anamnesis
Practices and customs Closed and open table Communion under both kinds Adoration Discipline Thanksgiving Reserved sacrament Feast of Corpus Christi First Communion Infant communion Viaticum Vessels paten chalice/cup spoon Fraction Intinction
History Origin of the Eucharist Catholic historical roots
Theology Real presence Consubstantiation Impanation Metousiosis Receptionism Sacramental union Transignification Transubstantiation Memorialism Sacramentarians Sacrament Ordinance
Denominational teachings Anglican Catholic Latter-day Saint Lutheran Reformed
Related articles Agape feast Christian views on alcohol Eucharist and the developmentally disabled Eucharistic miracle Host desecration
v t e

Holy Communion, also known as the Eucharist and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches. The accessibility of the Eucharist (receiving sacramental bread and wine) to intellectually disabled Christians varies depending on the Christian denomination or community.

Some Christian traditions maintain that a theological understanding of the sacrament is necessary to receive Eucharist and, therefore, do not administer the sacrament to intellectually disabled persons. Other Christian traditions maintain that spiritual devotion to the real presence of Jesus Christ is necessary to receive the Eucharist and, therefore, administer the sacrament to intellectually disabled persons under particular conditions - presuming the benefit of the sacrament can be received even if the Eucharist is not consumed. Still other Christian traditions understand the practice of Eucharist principally as a communal expression of community solidarity or unity and, therefore, administer the sacrament indiscriminately during the liturgy.