New document on communion

Newsday reports on a draft Vatican document regarding communion.  Predictably, the draft cautions that "[s]ome receive Communion while denying the teachings of the church or publicly supporting immoral choices in life, such as abortion, without thinking that they are committing an act of grave personal dishonesty and causing scandal."  In addition:

The paper covers a range of issues related to the Eucharist: It suggests, for example, that Latin be used during international liturgical gatherings so all priests involved can understand the proceedings, and it suggests that parishes consider using more Gregorian chants to prevent more "profane" types of music from being played.

It calls for priests not to be "showmen" who draw attention to themselves and says lay people can have an important but "minimal" presence in Masses. It says the tabernacle -- which holds the bread and wine held by Catholics to be the body and blood of Christ -- should have a prominent place in the church and not be shunted off to a corner.

Most significantly, though, the document laments the fact that fewer and fewer Catholics are going to Mass on Sundays -- in some countries, only 5 percent of the faithful attend -- and that fewer Catholics are going to confession.

As a result, many Catholics are living in a state of mortal sin when they receive Communion, it said.

I'm no expert on church growth, but I'm hoping that the primary component of the Church's reevangelization strategy is not simply to tell all the Catholics who don't attend mass that they're in a state of mortal sin if and when they do show up.  Put differently, perhaps we should offer a bit more carrot, a bit less stick?

Rob