Why Catholics Have Closed Communion

Canterbury Tales has a good post on this at Do Catholics Wrongly Exclude Protestants? (Regarding the Holy Mass)

Here is just a part:

...........................The Catholic position even more so. In most cases, Protestants:

A) deny the the substantial change of bread and wine into the true Body and Blood of Christ;
B) They don’t “acknowledge the body of the Lord (either substantially or ecclesiastically as described in 1 Corinthians 11);
C) They deny the sacrificial aspect of the Mass;
D) They deny the liturgy of the Mass which does invoke saints at times;and
E) They reject the papacy and the apostolic succession of the local bishop–both are commemorated in the Mass.

Consequently, its impossible to “include” Protestants since they would “protest” elements of the Holy Mass nearly every minute of the liturgy.

So Protestants are welcome to enjoy Eucharistic communionem in sacris if they would like to do so–but only if they truly believe what the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is and what the liturgy says. If this were the case, they would be interested in becoming fully Catholic. They would cease "protesting" and would cease being "Protestant."

Likewise, if I desired to receive from the "Lord's table" at a Protestant church, I would have to renounce several of my beliefs (e.g. abjure transubstantiation) and hold their doctrines (eg. justification by faith alone, etc.).

In conclusion, the Catholic Church isn't doing something mean or intolerant. The Catholic Church is merely practicing charity. For us, the Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives because It is Christ Jesus. It would be wrong for us to allow others to partake if they denied this reality. Similarly, it would be wrong for a Protestant to allow a Catholic whom the Protestant deemed "idolatrous" to receive Communion...............

As I have always stated when you say Amen when you recieve the Sacramanet and say the great AMEN in the luturgy a Catholic is affirming a lot there.