EXTRA-ORDINARY MINISTERS of HOLY COMMUNION
                MINISTRY Requirements for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
                                                                Diocese of Phoenix
1. Membership in parish one year (at pastor's discretion but encouraged from point of view of fidelity to the community one wishes to serve.)

2. Men or women who are 16 years of age or older, acknowledged by peers and pastor to be an active Catholic in good standing with the Roman Catholic Church.

3. Sacramental reception: Must have received the sacraments of Baptism, Holy Communion
and Confirmation in the Roman Catholic Church.

4. Names to be submitted to the bishop (the pastor's signature required on the letter of
request); the list will be acknowledged by the Office of Worship and returned to the parish.

5. All the faithful, especially those who will serve as extra ordinary ministers of Holy
Communion, should be properly catechized on the following:
U The ecclesial nature of the Eucharist as the common possession of the whole Church;
U The Eucharist as the memorial of Christ's sacrifice, his death and resurrection, and as
the sacred Banquet:
U The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic elements, whole and entire, in each
element of bread and wine (the doctrine of concomitance);
U The kinds of reverence due at all times to the sacrament, whether within the
Eucharistic liturgy or outside the celebration;
U The role that ordinary and, if necessary, extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist are
assigned in the Eucharistic assembly."

6. "Hands-on" training including the importance of fulfilling commitment as scheduled

7. Recommended: Six hours of on-going formation, yearly.

8. Call to Protect-- Safe Environment-- training every two year

Chris Mincolla, 602-242-1300 X146

cmincolla@simonjude.org

The Church is born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. "The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus."  "For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the 'wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.'" As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam's side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross. The Catechism of the Catholic Church #766