50 years ago
A change in communion
The Vatican granted permission to the Albany Catholic Diocese to have laymen and laywomen distribute communion to the sick or during Mass when a priest was overburdened. The bishop would name suitable persons in the Rite for Commissioning an Extradordinary Minister of Holy Communion after names are recommended by a pastor or a parish council. Albany was the fifth U.S. diocese to receive special permission to experiment with non-clerical distribution of the Eucharist.
Despite the experimental nature of the permission, the practice was not new to the Catholic Church: During the first few centuries of the church, the laity handled the Eucharist at Mass and usually carried it home afterwards to share with sick relatives.
— Times Union, July 15, 1970