CHURCHING

BASIC R.C. BELIEF

The name officially given to the custom known as "churching" is "Blessing

after childbirth." It was suggested by the rite of legal purification of

Jewish law. There has never been a decree from the Holy See stating that

women must undergo this ceremony before being admitted to Holy Communion

after childbirth, but in many Roman Catholic cultures women know this is

expected of them.

POST VATICAN II

Modern Roman Catholics do not think of this as obligatory, and in

progressive parishes it is practiced as an occasion for public thanksgiving

for the birth of the child.

From the PARISHONERS' HANDBOOK, John Fee, received at St. Christopher's

Roman Catholic Church, San Jose, California in 1975, "When mothers attend

Mass for the first time following the child's birth, they should be

`Churched' in a ceremony that takes place at the altar rail."

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