First, however, a bit of terminology. By valid, I mean that which leads to the Sacrament actually being confected. By licit, I mean that which leads to the Sacrament being confected lawfully. We are also dealing with confecting the Sacrament of the Eucharist, not with the ministering and reception of Holy Communion by the faithful -- I will leave that for another time. This means that I will be using the phrase "minister of the Eucharist", and this is not to be confused with "extraordinary minister of Holy Communion".
Here I will treat the minister of the Eucharist.
Summary
Only a priest (or bishop) has the ability to confect a valid and licit Eucharist.
- The only valid "minister of the Eucharist" is a validly ordained priest, end of story. (Bishops are already priests.) (CIC, can. 900 §1; CCEO, can. 699 §1)
- If any other person attempts to confect the Eucharist, they are committing a grave abuse, and the Eucharist is invalid (i.e. it is not confected). (Mysterium Ecclesiae, n. 6; Ecclesiae de mysterio, art. 7 §2)
- The Eucharist is confected validly but illicitly (i.e. unlawfully) by a priest who does so without the permission of the bishop. (Lumen Gentium, n. 26)
"The only minister who, in the person of Christ, can bring into being the sacrament of the Eucharist, is a validly ordained priest." (CIC, can. 900 §1)
"Any priest who is not debarred by canon law may lawfully celebrate the Eucharist, provided the provisions of the following canons are observed." (CIC, can. 900 §2)
Eastern Canon Law
"Only bishops and presbyters have the power of celebrating the Divine Liturgy." (CCEO, can. 699 §1)
Other Documents
"And the sacred Scriptures show, and the tradition of the Catholic Church has always taught, that this priesthood was instituted by the same Lord our Saviour, and that to the apostles, and their successors in the priesthood, was the power delivered of consecrating, offering, and administering His Body and Blood, as also of forgiving and of retaining sins." (Council of Trent, 1563 - Session XXIII, Chapter I)
"The ministerial priest, by the sacred power he enjoys, teaches and rules the priestly people; acting in the person of Christ, he makes present the Eucharistic sacrifice, and offers it to God in the name of all the people." (Second Vatican Council, 1964 - Lumen Gentium, n. 10)
"Every legitimate celebration of the Eucharist is regulated by the bishop, to whom is committed the office of offering the worship of Christian religion to the Divine Majesty and of administering it in accordance with the Lord's commandments and the Church's laws, as further defined by his particular judgment for his diocese." (Second Vatican Council, 1964 - Lumen Gentium, n. 26)
"[O]nly the priest can act in the person of Christ and preside over and perform the sacrificial banquet in which the People of God are united with the oblation of Christ. ... [T]he faithful who have not received priestly ordination and who take upon themselves the office of performing the Eucharist attempt to do so not only in a completely illicit way but also invalidly. Such an abuse, wherever it may occur, must clearly be eliminated by the pastors of the Church." (Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 1973 - Mysterium Ecclesiae, n. 6)
"The Catholic Church has never felt that priestly or episcopal ordination can be validly conferred on women." (Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 1976 - Inter Insigniores, n. 1)
"Although all the faithful indeed share in the one and same priesthood of Christ and participate in the offering of the Eucharist, it is only the ministerial priest who, in virtue of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, can confect the Eucharistic sacrifice in persona Christi and offer it in the name of all Christian people. {Cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 10}" (SCDF, 1983 - Sacerdotium Ministeriale, I.1)
"Since it is of the very nature of the Church that the power to consecrate the Eucharist is imparted only to the bishops and priests who are constituted its ministers by the reception of Holy Orders, the Church holds that the Eucharistic mystery cannot be celebrated in any community except by an ordained priest, as expressly taught by the Fourth Lateran Council." (SCDF, 1983 - Sacerdotium Ministeriale, III.4)
"The liturgy [shows] that every celebration of the Eucharist is performed in union not only with the proper Bishop, but also with the Pope, with the episcopal order, with all the clergy, and with the entire people. Every valid celebration of the Eucharist expresses this universal communion with Peter and with the whole Church, or objectively calls for it, as in the case of the Christian Churches separated from Rome." (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 1992 - Communionis Notio, n. 14)
"In eucharistic celebrations deacons and non-ordained members of the faithful may not pronounce prayers — e.g. especially the eucharistic prayer, with its concluding doxology — or any other parts of the liturgy reserved to the celebrant priest. Neither may deacons or non-ordained members of the faithful use gestures or actions which are proper to the same priest celebrant. It is a grave abuse for any member of the non-ordained faithful to 'quasi preside' at the Mass while leaving only that minimal participation to the priest which is necessary to secure validity." (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 1997 - Ecclesiae de mysterio, art. 7 §2)
"[I]t is the ordained priest who, 'acting in the person of Christ, brings about the Eucharistic Sacrifice and offers it to God in the name of all the people'. {Lumen Gentium, n. 10}" (Pope John Paul II, 2003 - Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 28)
"The ministry of priests who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders, in the economy of salvation chosen by Christ, makes clear that the Eucharist which they celebrate is a gift which radically transcends the power of the assembly and is in any event essential for validly linking the Eucharistic consecration to the sacrifice of the Cross and to the Last Supper. The assembly gathered together for the celebration of the Eucharist, if it is to be a truly Eucharistic assembly, absolutely requires the presence of an ordained priest as its president. ... It is the Bishop who, through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, makes a new presbyter by conferring upon him the power to consecrate the Eucharist. Consequently, 'the Eucharistic mystery cannot be celebrated in any community except by an ordained priest, as the Fourth Lateran Council expressly taught'. {Sacerdotium Ministeriale, III.4}" (Pope John Paul II, 2003 - Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 29)
"[T]he denial of one or more truths of the faith regarding these sacraments [of Eucharist, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick] and, among these, the truth regarding the need of the ministerial priesthood for their validity, renders the person asking improperly disposed to legitimately receiving them." (Pope John Paul II, 2003 - Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 46)
"There can be no substitute whatsoever for the ministerial Priesthood. For if a Priest is lacking in the community, then the community lacks the exercise and sacramental function of Christ the Head and Shepherd, which belongs to the essence of its very life. For 'the only minister who can confect the sacrament of the Eucharist in persona Christi is a validly ordained Priest'. {Cf. CIC, can. 900 §1}" (Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 2004 - Redemptionis Sacramentum, n. 146)
"As has already been recalled, 'the only minister who can confect the Sacrament of the Eucharist in persona Christi is a validly ordained Priest'. {Cf. CIC, can. 900 §1} Hence the name 'minister of the Eucharist' belongs properly to the Priest alone." (Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 2004 - Redemptionis Sacramentum, n. 154)
"The eucharistic Sacrifice absolutely requires a ministerial priesthood. The encyclical reminds us that the common priesthood [of the baptized] is not sufficient for the eucharistic celebration." (Congregation for the Clergy, 2003 - The Eucharist and the Priest (commentary on Ecclesia de Eucharistia), heading "The Eucharist and Ministerial Priesthood")
"The Church teaches that priestly ordination is the indispensable condition for the valid celebration of the Eucharist. {Cf. Sacerdotium Ministeriale}" (Pope Benedict XVI, 2007 - Sacramentum Caritatis, n. 23)
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