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Church allows faithful to give sacrament to family members who cannot attend church due to COVID-19 restrictions
Paulina Kadang, a 62-year-old parishioner of St. Joseph Church in Jakarta, receives Holy Communion during the pandemic on Nov. 29 from her son-in-law, Antonius Kristanto, who serves as a Holy Communion carrier servant. (Photo: Antonius Kristanto)
By Katharina R. Lestari | Indonesia
Paulina Kadang, 62, could not hold back her tears when she received Holy Communion for the first time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I really longed to receive Holy Communion sacramentally. It was more than eight months since I last received it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks be to God," she said.
The parishioner of St. Joseph Church in East Jakarta joined livestreamed Sunday Masses when Jakarta Archdiocese canceled all church activities involving crowds and broadcast all celebrations from March 20 — 18 days after the Indonesian government announced the first two COVID-19 cases in the country.
"Instead of receiving Holy Communion sacramentally, I could only pray 'An Act of Spiritual Communion' when I was joining livestreamed Sunday Mass. By saying the prayer, I believed that Jesus came at least spiritually into my heart," she said.
Nearly four months later, after local authorities began to ease social restrictions imposed to combat the pandemic in the capital, the archdiocese reopened churches for public Sunday Masses with a limited capacity of up to only 20 percent.
In the beginning, only three out of 66 parishes served by the archdiocese were allowed to reopen their churches, including Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral in Jakarta. They had all met the health and safety requirements set out by the archdiocese to reopen, such as providing wash basins, body temperature scanners, social distancing and the wearing of face masks.
More parishes were allowed to reopen as time went by. Paulina's parish, for an instance, resumed public Sunday Masses on Aug. 16.
However, the archdiocese's policy says that these Masses during the COVID-19 pandemic can only be attended by parishioners aged 18-59, while children and elderly people should continue to join livestreamed Masses for the sake of their health.
"I can understand. Elderly people are most vulnerable to COVID-19. Still, it feels so different when I attend Sunday Masses in church. I can feel the sacredness of the Eucharistic celebration," the mother of four said.
Paulina never stopped praying that Jakarta Archdiocese would immediately issue a policy allowing children and elderly people to receive Holy Communion.
Until one day, on Oct. 27, the archdiocese issued a letter containing guidelines on the distribution of Holy Communion by Catholic laypeople during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was considered an extraordinary situation.
According to the eight-page guidelines, a healthy Catholic adult aged 18-59 who has received the sacraments of initiation — Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist — is allowed to serve as a Pelayan Pembawa Komuni or PPK (Holy Communion carrier servant).
The guidelines also stated that a PPK should firstly join a livestreamed or public Sunday Mass before distributing Holy Communion to their family members in a very respectful way.
The archdiocese's policy was issued based on, among others, the Code of Canon Law that stipulates that "laymen who possess the age and qualifications established by decree of the conference of bishops can be admitted on a stable basis through the prescribed liturgical rite to the ministers of lector and acolyte."
In that case, a PPK is different from "a pro-deacon" or a parish lay minister whose tasks include distributing Holy Communion and conducting funeral rites, a practice common in many parts of the world due to a shortage of priests.
Nearly a month later, on Nov. 29, Paulina received Holy Communion at home from her 40-year-old son-in-law, Antonius Kristanto, who served as a PPK.
"God answered my prayer. The Archdiocese of Jakarta finally issued such a policy," she said.
Similar feelings were expressed by Sirila Nadindra Ardiyaveda Giri, a 13-year-old parishioner of St. Francis Xavier Church in North Jakarta. She received Holy Communion at home for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic the same day.
"I received Holy Communion from my mother ... I was so grateful I could receive Holy Communion again," the eighth-grader said.
For Sirila's mother, Anastasia Handayani Asriningwuri, serving as a PPK is not easy.
"I had undeserved feelings at first. It was like I was given a freedom to bring home Holy Communion and to distribute it to my son and daughters," she said.
Yet she found the strength after her parish priest told her to have faith in God.
"This is a good effort taken by the archdiocese: how it responds to Catholics' longing for Holy Communion by maintaining health protocols. I really appreciate it," said the 41-year-old mother of three.
Unlike Asriningwuri, Kristanto had to join a short preparation program held by his parish before serving as a PPK.
"To be honest, it burdens me. I must be very careful in bringing home Holy Communion because of its sacredness. But I have to be ready no matter what," he said.
According to Father Jacobus Tarigan, a liturgy lecturer at the Jesuit-run Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta, however, the sacredness of Holy Communion does not lie with the carrier servant.
"The sacredness of the Body of Christ lies with Christ who presents in the Eucharist," he said at a webinar livestreamed on YouTube on Nov. 11.
Calling the archdiocese's policy "a precise approach," the cleric, who also serves as parish priest of Christ the King Church in Jakarta, said: "Imagine, there are some parishioners who cannot go to Sunday Mass for almost a year. Our bishop, Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo, has a sense of compassion. His heart is disturbed by his moral responsibility. That is why such a policy was issued."
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