ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explains the ecclesio-catechetical discourses. First communion exemplifies the complexity of the relationship between a ritual and its performers, and startlingly illustrates the cost of ritual failure for the Church- as well as the prizes of success for other parties. The parish authorities possess the capacity to exercise a gate- keeping role, holding the power to grant or deny access to the rite. The profile of this gate-keeping role has not been uniform across the twentieth century- there is, for example, no significant evidence of its exercise in England at the time of the Quam Singulari reform. Furthermore, the aspirational crisis is to some extent of the Church's own making. Finally, structural consequences flow from ritual performance. Moreover, the Church's desired outcome- namely, regular Mass attendance by the first communicants- is rarely achieved.
