Who can receive the Eucharist?

The Catholic Church rightly regards the Eucharist as the most important of the seven sacraments of the Church as contained within what appears to be a small wafer of bread is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is also perhaps the most obvious division between Catholics and Protestants. Unlike many Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church practices what is called closed communion. While other Christians are often (although not always) happy to welcome Christians of a different denomination to share in their “communion services”, the Catholic Church does not allow non-Catholics to receive the Eucharist. Many non-Catholics (and even non-Christians) are puzzled and sometimes offended by this. This attitude is viewed as damaging ecumenism and fostering division. Non-Catholics cannot (under ordinary circumstances) receive the Eucharist. This is for essentially the same reasons as exist which might prevent a Catholic from receiving the Eucharist – most non-Catholics deny the doctrine of transubstantiation, for example. In addition, Scripture makes it very clear that the Eucharist is the highest sign of Christian unity. If non-Catholics were to receive the Eucharist in a Catholic Church this would imply a unity which does not, regrettably, exist. Therefore, Non-Catholics can not receive the communion, but can receive a blessing at mass.