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Jimmy and Nicole LaCugna, a Manalapan couple, first announced here on Facebook Tuesday that the church said their 8-year-old son would be unable to receive his first Holy Communion due to the child having autism and being "unable to determine right from wrong."
"Today Nicole and I were informed that our son Anthony would not be able to make his communion this year," Jimmy LaCugna posted on his Facebook page. "As most of you know, Anthony is an autistic non-verbal child who is in his sacrament year. Father (John) Bambric at Saint Aloysis Church in Jackson and the Archdiocese of Trenton came to this position since Anthony is unable to determine right from wrong due to his disability they feel he is not up to the 'benchmark required to make his communion.'"
LaCugna said he hoped his Facebook post would "go viral" via social media. And it did -- with 4,000 Likes and 10,000 Shares on Facebook.
The church said it had received many phone calls and emails this week after LaCugna went public.
To the LaCugna family's relief, their youngest son can now receive his first Holy Communion, church officials said on Friday. But several of the Saint Aloysius Roman Catholic Church posts were later deleted from its Facebook page.
"The original guidelines we followed state that a child must have a basic rudimentary simple understanding of Right and Wrong to receive First Reconciliation," Saint Aloysius Roman Catholic Church initially wrote on its Facebook page Wednesday, as news of their decision went viral online. "For First Communion, again at a simple, basic, rudimentary level, the child has to be able to distinguish ordinary bread from the Body of Christ."
On Friday, Saint Aloysis posted a second comment to its Facebook page, saying there was a misunderstanding and that the boy would be will be able to receive his first Holy Communion this year. The church also reiterated that they never planned to deny communion to the boy, only delay it until they felt he was ready.
The Asbury Park Press article breaking the news can be found by clicking here.
"A matter relating to the preparedness of a special-needs child in St. Aloysius Parish to receive First Holy Communion has generated a great deal of confusion and concern, which I would like to address," read the church's statement Friday morning. "While we had tried to adapt our preparation process to accommodate the child's special needs, there was an unfortunate breakdown in communication that led to a misunderstanding. A delay in receiving the Sacrament was discussed until readiness could be assessed; there was never to be denial of Communion to this child."
Bishop David O'Connell got involved, and Saint Aloysis now says they were "able to discern a way for the child to receive First Holy Communion without any delay. We have made the family aware of this development and hope to be able to meet with them to discuss it. Their child continues to be welcome in our program, and will be able to receive First Holy Communion this year."
"I regret that this matter evolved as it did and, for our part, acknowledge that it could have been handled differently," St. Aloysius said.
Earlier this week, LaCugna said it was upsetting to see his son being shunned by the Catholic faith.
"We all are created by God and now our son is being shunned from the Catholic faith due to his inability to communicate," the father posted. "This is something that I hope goes viral and these parties involved get their names called out for this disgraceful and disheartening act against a child who has a disability and wouldn't even be able to create a sin because he is one of the sweetest and innocent little boy someone would ever meet. Please help spread the word for Anthony's peers in his spectrum so no other child or family has to deal with or feel what we have been felt with over the past couple of days since we have been made aware of this."
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