Bringing you the "Good News" of Jesus Christ and His Church While PROMOTING CATHOLIC Apologetic Support groups loyal to the Holy Father and Church's magisterium
Home About
AskACatholic.com		 What's New? Resources The Church Family Life Mass and
Adoration		 Ask A Catholic
Knowledge base
AskACatholic Disclaimer
Search the
AskACatholic Database
Donate and
Support our work
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
New Questions
Cool Catholic Videos
About Saints
Disciplines and Practices for distinct Church seasons
Purgatory and Indulgences
About the Holy Mass
About Mary
Searching and Confused
Contemplating becoming a Catholic or Coming home
Homosexual and Gender Issues
Life, Dating, and Family
No Salvation Outside the Church
Sacred Scripture
non-Catholic Cults
Justification and Salvation
The Pope and Papacy
The Sacraments
Relationships and Marriage situations
back
Specific people, organizations and events
Doctrine and Teachings
Specific Practices
Church Internals
Church History


Anonymous wrote:

Hi, guys —

  • Why can't a widower or a widow that both live together go to Church and receive Holy Communion?

They are both 69 years young and have both been married once to spouses that have died.

Anonymous
  { Why can't a 69-year-old widower and widow live together, go to Church, and receive Communion? }

John replied:

Hi, Anonymous —

Thanks for your question.

It depends on what you mean by living together At the age of 69, many are still sexually active.

If they are engaging in sexual relations, they are objectively in a state of mortal sin and therefore can't receive the Eucharist without first receiving sacramental Confession. Forgoing the intimacy reserved for marriage, they must agree to live together as brother and sister. Otherwise, they should just get married.

Sex outside of marriage is always objectively a mortal, sinful act, irrespective of what age the person is.

John
Please report any and all typos or grammatical errors.
Suggestions for this web page and the web site can be sent to Mike Humphrey
© 2012 Panoramic Sites
The Early Church Fathers Church Fathers on the Primacy of Peter. The Early Church Fathers on the Catholic Church and the term Catholic. The Early Church Fathers on the importance of the Roman Catholic Church centered in Rome.