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{{Short description|Papal decree concerning the admittance of children to the Eucharist}}
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'''''Quam singulari''''' was a decree released by [[Pope Pius X]] in 1910, concerning the admittance of children to the [[Eucharist]]. This followed a decree by the Sacred Congregation of the Council, five years before on frequent Communion.<ref name=Wright>[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_cclergy_doc_07121980_fconf_en.html Wright, John. "First Confession and First Communion", Congregation for the Clergy, Vatican.va]</ref>
[[File:Pope Pius X (by Adolfo Müller-Ury) – The Catholic University of America.jpg|thumb|Pope Pius X]]

==Background==
There was a concern in the church about the practice of operating with different ages for admitting [[first Communion]] and first [[Confession (religion)|Confession]]. Certain doctrinal and ascetical errors had developed at the beginning of the century, at least in some parts of the world. These, like other errors, were rooted in [[Jansenism]].<ref name=Wright/> Some argued that, while reaching the [[Age of reason (canon law)|age of reason]] was enough to receive first Confession, "a full knowledge of matters of faith" was needed to receive the first Communion.

This, according to the ''Quam singulari'', was in error. In evidence of this, the decree referred to historical authorities such as the teachings of [[Thomas Aquinas|St. Thomas Aquinas]] and [[Antoninus of Florence|St. Antoninus]], the practices of the early church and [[Christ]]'s own sayings on children. It was therefore stressed that this decree did not institute a new doctrine, but simply clarified ancient ones.<ref name=McNicholas>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12590b.htm McNicholas, John. "Quam singulari." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 October 2022 {{PD-notice}}</ref>

Cardinal [[Domenico Ferrata]], former prefect of the [[Sacred Congregation of Rites]], played an important part in the preparation of ''Quam singulari''.<ref>[https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/domenico-ferrata_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/ Vercellone, Guido Fagioli. "Ferrata,, Domenico", Treccani]</ref>

==Content==
The decree begins by noting Jesus' love for children:<blockquote>"The pages of the Gospel show clearly how special was that love for children which Christ showed while He was on earth. It was His delight to be in their midst; He was wont to lay His hands on them; He embraced them; and He blessed them. At the same time He was not pleased when they would be driven away by the disciples, whom He rebuked gravely with these words: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for of such is the kingdom of God.”<ref>[https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius10/p10quam.htm Pope Pius X, "Quam singulari", August 8, 1910]</ref></blockquote>

Pius noted that the custom of giving Holy Communion to infants immediately after baptism, and frequently before the beginning of their rational life was practiced up until the thirteenth century, and while modified, never condemned; it is even approved among the Eastern rites.<ref name=McNicholas/>

Another error was the pretense that "the Holy Eucharist is a reward (for virtue), not a remedy for human frailty," a concept that contradicts the teaching of the [[Council of Trent]] that Holy Communion is "an antidote by which we are freed from our daily faults and preserved from mortal sins".<ref name=Wright/> Pius X believed that children should be able to receive absolution and holy communion to strengthen and protect against the dangers and challenges of the modern world.<ref name=powers>[https://www.sfarch.org/st-pius-stained-glass-memorializes-decree-allowing-children-to-receive-eucharist/ Powers, Mary. "St. Pius stained glass memorializes decree allowing children to receive Eucharist", Archdiocese of San Francisco, March 3, 2022]</ref>
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The decree of the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Lateran Council]] (1215, can. xxi) has never been revoked or modified, and in virtue of it all are obliged, as soon as they arrive at the years of discretion, to receive both the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion at Easter time<ref name=McNicholas/>

It was decreed that:

*"The age of discretion, both for Confession and for Holy Communion, is the time when a child begins to reason, that is about the seventh year, more or less."
*"A full and perfect knowledge of Christian doctrine is not necessary either for First Confession or for First Communion."
*It was also stressed that those who had charge of the children, both parents and pastors, should see to it both that the children received their first Communion, and that they continued to do this at least once a year afterwards.

==Implementation==
At the regular meeting of the bishops of England and Wales in November 1910, the bishops decided that the decree should be publicly read each Easter. The following year, they developed a course for the gradual instruction for first communion to be incorporated in subsequent diocesan syllabuses for religious education.<ref>McGrail, Peter. ''The Implementation of the Decree Quam Singulari in England (1910–11)'', Routledge, 2007, {{isbn|9781315582443}}</ref>

In May 1973, the [[Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments|Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments]] and the [[Dicastery for the Clergy|Sacred Congregation for the Clergy]], issued a joint declaration, ''Sanctus Pontifex'', discussing first reconciliation prior to first eucharist. After the Second Vatican Council a short period of experimentation allowed for a later age for First Confession. The declaration clarified that after conferring with bishops, such experiments should cease and that the accepted norm was First Confession before First Communion.<ref>[http://bulkmail.gbdioc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/CHANCERY-BULLETIN-JUNE-JULY-AUGUST-2012.pdf Chancery bulletin #343, Summer 2012, Diocese of Green Bay]</ref>

The decree ''Quam singulari'' is memorialized in a stained-glass window of Pope St. Pius X at St. Pius Church in [[Redwood City, California]].<ref name=powers/>  

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Catholic|wstitle=Quam singulari}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius10/p10quam.htm Full text in English]

{{Liturgical Movement}}
{{Subject bar |portal1= Catholicism |portal2= Christianity |portal3= Vatican City}}

[[Category:20th-century papal bulls]]
[[Category:Documents of Pope Pius X]]
[[Category:Eucharist in the Catholic Church]]
[[Category:Texts in Latin]]
[[Category:1910 documents]]
[[Category:1910 in Christianity]]