RÍO GRANDE, Argentina (LifeSiteNews) — A parish priest in Argentina appointed several teenagers to distribute the Eucharist from plastic bowls during Palm Sunday Mass earlier this year, openly violating liturgical norms and sparking outrage among Catholics.
On Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026, at the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Holy Heart of Jesus) parish in Río Grande, Argentina, the parish priest authorized the distribution of Holy Communion by a group of teenagers. Video footage of the event was posted on Instagram on April 7.
Additionally, the consecrated hosts were placed in plastic bowls before being distributed by the teenagers to the faithful.
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The parish belongs to the Diocese of Río Gallegos under Bishop Ignacio Medina. No public statement or disciplinary action had been announced by diocesan authorities at the time of publication.
The liturgical abuse centered not only on the teenagers distributing Communion, but also on the irregular commissioning rite conducted by the priest before the distribution of the Eucharist. According to a video reel published on Instagram, the adolescents appeared to be formally delegated during the liturgy for the purpose of distributing Holy Communion, despite existing Church norms establishing that the ordinary ministers of Holy Communion are bishops, priests, and deacons. Extraordinary ministers may assist only under particular circumstances foreseen by liturgical law.
The distribution of the Eucharist is a profoundly important moment of the Holy Mass, when the faithful enter into communion with the Lord Jesus, truly present and alive under the species of bread and wine. The manner in which the Eucharist is distributed and received reflects the faith of the Church.
Entrusting the distribution of Communion to very young adolescents from plastic bowls conveys the idea that it is a trivial or symbolic gesture, diminishes the dogmatic truth of the Real Presence of Our Lord, and contributes to weakening the sense of the sacred among the faithful, by reducing the distance between what is holy and what is to be sanctified. Moreover, it gravely confuses the faithful regarding the unique role of ordained ministers.
Such episodes also cause serious scandal and contradict Christian witness, as they inevitably become a source of division among believers and of loss of trust in pastoral leadership, even at the parish level.
This constitutes a very serious liturgical abuse. According to Redemptionis Sacramentum, the Church’s instruction – approved by Pope John Paul II in 2004 – which regulates the celebration of the Eucharist and seeks to prevent liturgical abuses, extraordinary ministers may be chosen from among adult lay faithful who are theologically trained, and they may distribute the Eucharist only in cases of “genuine necessity.”
The instruction states: “This provision is not intended to ensure a fuller participation of the laity, but is by its nature supplementary and provisional.”
Furthermore, the instruction states that “the practice of those priests who, though present at the celebration, abstain from distributing Communion and delegate this task to laypersons is to be reprobated.”
Finally, the document specifies that it is the bishop’s duty “to regulate, direct, encourage, and sometimes even correct, fulfilling the sacred office he has received through episcopal ordination for the building up of his flock in truth and holiness.”
However, as of now, there is no indication that Bishop Ignacio Medina has taken any action or intervention.
In recent years, Argentina – the homeland of the late Pope Francis – has become known for numerous liturgical abuses. In September 2025, the archbishop of San Juan de Cuyo, Jorge Eduardo Lozano, obliged catechumens to receive the Eucharist standing and in the hand, contrary to Tradition and disciplinary law.
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The formation of the clergy appears increasingly troubling in light of these and other abuses of the Catholic sacraments. For example, in Corrientes, Argentina, on January 28, a parish priest attempted to “marry” a “transgender” couple. The archbishop later had to intervene to declare the act null and invalid, as performed by the diocesan priest.
Yet, despite the widespread critical situation, signs of hope also emerge from Argentina. For instance, the letter sent by a group of young Catholics to the archbishop of Buenos Aires, García Cuerva, following an April 18 techno event in honor of Pope Francis, led by the DJ‑priest Guilherme Peixoto. In that letter, the young people urged the archbishop to exercise his ministry worthily, defending Catholic truth and teaching the perennial moral doctrine of the Church.