On the occasion of his recent visit to the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, of Canterbury, George Carey, reopened the question of intercommunion. We asked English Catholics what they think of the matter “Only a priest ordained according to the criteria dictated by the Catholic Church can administer the sacrament of the Eucharist” and “the validity of Holy Orders cannot be affirmed for those Christian communities that have their roots in the Reformation. Nor can we affirm that these communities have maintained the full and authentic reality of the eucharistic mystery”. The document “One Bread, One Body”, drawn up by the Catholic bishops of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland in the autumn of 1998 and recalled by the Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey in his recent meeting with the Pope in Rome, reaffirms that the so-called “intercommunion”, that is possible with the Orthodox Churches, is only in exceptional circumstances permitted with the Protestant Churches. In other words, Catholics can never receive communion in a Church that originated from the divisions of the Reformation, because the Catholic Church does not recognize the ordination of Protestant pastors. Vice versa, only on some particular occasions is it possible for a Protestant to participate in the Catholic Eucharist. Quite different are the relations with the Orthodox Churches which, as repeatedly stated in the most important documents of the Vatican on the question, have maintained the validity of the apostolic succession. The document “One Bread One Body” comprises an introduction and three sections. The first, entitled “Our Catholic faith”, reaffirms the significance of the Eucharist. In the second section, entitled “Together and yet divided”, the bishops explain that, however painful it may be to accept, Protestants married to Catholics may participate in Communion only in exceptional circumstances, and divorced or remarried Catholics cannot participate in the Eucharist at all. The third section consists of the “General Norms”. this is the key section of the document, where the criteria and limits of intercommunion are defined. Protestants may receive the Eucharist from a Catholic priest only “if they are in danger of death or in some other situation of grave need, as in the case of persecutions, imprisonment or isolation in countries where Catholicism is the majority religion”. The exceptional circumstances also comprise an unique situation of joy or grief in the life of a person or of a family, such as Baptism, Confirmation, First Communion, marriage, the ordination of a priest or mourning for someone’s death. In these cases it is the bishop of the diocese who must decide if the non Catholic person may participate in Communion. We asked Bernard Longley, expert in ecumenism of the Catholic Bishop’s conference, who contributed to the drafting of the document, what the consequences of “One Bread, One Body” are. “It depends on how it is interpreted”, Longley explains, “some Anglican theologians and the Association for mixed families have pointed out that the general norms established at the end of the document seem to restrict the margins of intercommunion with the Protestant Churches more that the ‘Directory for the application of the principles and norms on ecumenism’ of 1993, because in the latter document the term ‘exceptional cases’ is used, whereas the Catholic bishops of the UK speak of ‘unique occasions’, which only happen once in the life of an individual”. “Moreover, the decision on Protestants who ask to participate in Communion is, according to “One Bread, One Body”, to be referred to the diocesan bishop and the parish priest may only decide in the case of the danger of death, whereas the Directory left the priest free to make the decision himself”. “In actual fact, however, – Longley continues – the circumstances in which a Protestant may receive Catholic communion are increased. Prior to “One Bread, One Body” Protestants could only take communion in a Catholic church in special circumstances such as on the point of death or in a situation of persecution. Today they may do so for the Baptism, First Communion and Confirmation of their children, for a marriage, the ordination of a priest or in the case of death”. “Receiving Communion does not mean merely participating in the sacrifice of Christ at the personal level, but entering into communion with the whole Catholic Church, the Bishops and the Pope, having a relation of complete unity of faith and love with the whole Church. We are saved as church, as community, not as individuals”, explains the theologian Michael Evans, parish priest of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, who also contributed to the drafting of “One Bread, One Body”. “That’s why it makes no sense for someone who isn’t a Catholic to wish to participate in Communion on a regular basis. He first needs to become conscious of this relation of communion that he has with the Catholic Church”. Silvia Guzzetti
