Question
What are the qualifications or requirements for becoming a Eucharistic Lay Minister? Does a second marriage disqualify a person from being a minister? I have been asked by my parish priest to take training in this area, however I divorced and remarried not in the Catholic Church.
--Query in Queens
Answer
One must be in a "right" relationship with the church before they may be an official minister in the church. Normally, to be a lector or communion minister, one must be fully initiated in the church [baptized, confirmed and received first communion]. As a minister you are saying that you are in good standing with the church and in a proper legal relationship. Those who have divorced without receiving an annulment of their first or previous marriage are not in good standing and under normal circumstance, may not receive communion or distribute it.