If they are properly selected and trained, 16-year-olds may now distribute Holy Communion at Mass in Hawaii, according to a new directive by Bishop Larry Silva.

An item in the May 6 diocesan e-newsletter from the bishop’s administrative assistant Patricia Tossey stated:

“After inquiries from various parishes and discussion with the Presbyteral Council, Bishop Larry Silva approves the following policy regarding the age of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion:

“Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion may be as young as 16 years of age, provided they have received all three sacraments of initiation, are selected by the pastor for their maturity, and are properly catechized and trained for the ministry.”

Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are lay persons who give out Communion at Mass when there are not enough priests and deacons to do so. Priests and deacons are the “ordinary” ministers of Holy Communion.

According to Jonila Kim, administrative secretary for the diocesan Office of Workshop, the Code of Canon Law sets the age limit for extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion at 18, but gives any diocesan bishop the authority to change it.

Kim said that Bishop Silva lowered the age requirement after receiving requests this year from parishes with newly confirmed young men and women between the ages of 16 and 18 who wanted to be more involved in liturgical ministries.

She said that it is the responsibility of the parish to instruct their ministers of Holy Communion on the meaning of the Mass and the Eucharist and the proper ways of distributing the Body and Blood of Christ in the form of the host and wine.

Kim said she received the directive from the bishop on May 2.