Infant Communion in Roman Catholicism

Explore the history and theology of the practice of infant communion in Roman Catholicism.

The relationship between children and the Eucharist is one that has been negotiated in a variety of ways throughout the course of Christian history. This work is the first comprehensive study on children and the Eucharist in Roman Catholicism. With historical acuity, theological acumen, and pastoral sensitivity, Christopher M. O’Brien carefully examines the historical development of practice and theology around the age of first communion in Roman Catholicism.

From the full initiation of infants in early Christianity through the medieval separation of the initiatory sacraments, the sacramental theologies of Protestant reformers and the Council of Trent, Pope Pius X’s Quam Singulari, the reforms of Vatican II, and the postconciliar attempts to increase liturgical participation among children, O’Brien offers clear, balanced, and thoughtful commentary on a plethora of liturgical and other sources. After a comprehensive historical study, O’Brien engages with ecumenical developments (both Eastern and Western) and contemporary theological approaches to explore the question of infant communion in Roman Catholicism from the perspectives of liturgical sacramental theology, ecclesiology, and anthropology. Ultimately, the historical, ritual, pastoral, and theological considerations in the book are woven together into a coherent argument for the restoration of infant communion in Roman Catholicism today.

Christopher M. O’Brien, PhD, is assistant professor of sacramental and liturgical theology at the Franciscan School of Theology at the University of San Diego. He received his doctorate from The Catholic University of America in liturgical studies/sacramental theology. Previously, he received a BS in physics and an MA in education from Stanford University, and an MDiv from the University of Notre Dame.