Bishop Raúl Martín of Santa Rosa, who Leo XIV appointed as archbishop of Paraná, rebuked altar boys during Mass in front of the congregation because they wanted to receive Communion kneeling.
PARANÁ, Argentina (LifeSiteNews) — A prelate in Argentina appointed as an archbishop by Pope Leo XIV previously scolded altar boys during Mass because they insisted on kneeling to receive Holy Communion. The bishop also reportedly denied the Blessed Sacrament to children who knelt for their First Holy Communion.
Bishop Raúl Martín of Santa Rosa, who Leo XIV named last Wednesday to lead the Archdiocese of Paraná, has faced criticism for attacking traditional Catholic devotion and reverent liturgical practices.
Martín, 67, was appointed by Pope Francis, a fellow Argentine, to the Diocese of Santa Rosa in 2013, after having been consecrated by Francis as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires in 2006.
Pope Leo XIV’s new appointment of Martín, “in itself discreet, has nevertheless sparked a strong reaction among the faithful who remember Martín’s tenure in La Pampa,” Catholic news outlet InfoVaticana reported. “Not because of his missionary zeal or his pastoral charisma, but because of a long list of grievances and humiliations inflicted on ordinary Catholics – priests and laypeople – who simply wanted to live their faith with reverence and freedom.”
InfoVaticana added, “For years, serious episodes have been documented in Santa Rosa: altar boys publicly reprimanded for kneeling, children denied First Communion for wanting to receive it kneeling, choirs forbidden to sing in Latin, and priests transferred or marginalized for not conforming to the dominant ideological ‘model.’”
“Local faithful reported that Martín even visited parishes expressly to ensure that no one received Communion kneeling. As if the enemy were piety.”
Indeed, in a video recorded by a parishioner and published by traditional Catholic group Adelante la Fe in 2018, Martín can be seen rebuking altar boys at a Santa Rosa parish who knelt to receive the Holy Eucharist.
"You saw that the altar servers knelt during Communion. In the city, I have asked all the priests that in all the communities those who assist at Mass not receive Communion on their knees," he told the congregation.
"This is the disposition of the bishop, therefore, it is required in the diocese," Martín said. "The bishop is the liturgist of the diocese and can decide within the diocese what is appropriate for his people."
“The bishop can decide certain things for the good of his people,” he continued, claiming that kneeling for Communion is “ideological” and divisive and “for this reason this provision that the bishop has established in the city must be complied with.”
“The altar servers have made resistance, therefore, they break communion,” he declared. "If there is something that is terrible, it is ideology."
In another video, Martín can be heard arguing with parishioners after the Mass, suggesting that they contradicted the Second Vatican Council, which did not say anything about receiving Holy Communion standing and affirmed various traditional liturgical practices, including the use of Latin, Gregorian chant, and the organ in the Mass.
“I only tell you, let us do today what the Church is teaching today,” Martín said, falsely implying that kneeling for Holy Communion violates Catholic teaching.
“The children already knew, because we had arranged it before ... that if they helped me, or any priest in the city, do not kneel, because it is a grave matter,” he asserted.
According to Adelante la Fe, Martín reportedly denied the Eucharist to children making their First Holy Communion and Confirmation who wanted to receive the Sacrament on their knees, which was common at the parish, and suppressed the parish choir to stop it from singing in Latin.
“Open and bloody persecution has led to banishing and punishing every priest who, being faithful to the Church and its Magisterium, have formed us and had concern for our souls,” a parishioner wrote about Martín’s rule in the Diocese of Rosa in a letter published by Adelante la Fe. The letter adds that the previous pastor of the parish, the Parish Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, was “banished to a town” for promoting reception of Communion while kneeling.
Reception of Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue was the norm of the Church for centuries before the late 20th century. Bishops and priests have no authority to deny Catholics the Blessed Sacrament simply because they wish to receive kneeling, according to Church teaching and canon law.
The Vatican document Redemptionis Sacramentum states, “it is not licit to deny Holy Communion to any of Christ’s faithful solely on the grounds, for example, that the person wishes to receive the Eucharist kneeling or standing.”
Cardinal Francis Arinze, the prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS) under Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, affirmed that receiving Holy Communion on the tongue while kneeling is the “preferred form.”
In 2018, then-CDWDS prefect Cardinal Robert Sarah criticized reception of Holy Communion in the hand and standing as part of a “diabolical attack” on faith in the Eucharist and praised receiving Communion on the tongue and kneeling.
Pope Benedict XVI, for his part, only distributed the Eucharist to the faithful on the tongue while kneeling starting in 2008.
In the last several months, numerous bishops appointed by Pope Francis, who was known for his hostility to traditional Catholic devotion, have sparked controversy for seeking to crack down on reverent liturgical practices, particularly kneeling for Holy Communion, including Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville, and Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte.
However, traditional Catholic practices, such as reception of the Eucharist kneeling and on the tongue, have grown in popularity among the faithful in recent years, especially among young people. Last October, the largest survey of Catholics ever conducted in the United States found widespread support for kneeling to receive Holy Communion and reverence in the liturgy in general.
