- Pope Paul VI, "Immensae Caritatis," 1973
On this day in 1969, the Catholic Church allowed lay people to serve as extraordinary ministers of holy Communion, assisting the priests "where pastoral and liturgical needs for their service existed."
Two years later, in March 1971, the Congregation of the Sacraments gave the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now called the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) permission to introduce the practice of lay Eucharistic ministers in the United States.
The Church's decision, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, reinstituted an early Church practice when it was common for non-ordained Christians to distribute Communion. They could also bring Communion to people in their homes, which was especially helpful for hermits, the homebound, people without priests, and people who lives a distance from the church.
Originally, the extraordinary ministers of holy Communion were to assist with distributing Communion only at Mass in the their parishes. But today, they bring Communion to the homebound, and to people in hospitals and other institutions.
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw