Clarity but no less ecumenical commitment” “
It’s many-faceted, the ‘reading’ given by the Churches of Europe to the encyclical “Ecclesia de Eucharistia”, published by John Paul on 17 April, Maundy Thursday. We have sounded out some views. Belgium A seed for the future. “An elucidation but, at the same time, a seed for the future”. The Pope “places the ‘new times’, as rich in hope as they are full of fear, under the sign of the Eucharist” which “is not an isolated element”, but should be seen “in its close link with the Church. The Church and the Eucharistic cannot be understood the one without the other”. And the Eucharist, “mystery of the faith”, is “so rich a mystery” that there is a risk, once “one facet of this diamond is discovered, of finding so much light in it as to make one forget to observe the treasure from a different viewpoint, it too no less radiant”. (Cardinal Godfried Danneels, archbishop of Malines-Brussels) Germany The ecumenical commitment. “The Pope does not detract anything from the ecumenical commitment of the Catholic Church, indeed he reinforces it”. Nonetheless “he clarifies matters, while at the same time avoiding harshness” and gives voice to the desire “that the Churches together, but especially the Catholic Church, may emerge reinforced from respect for the Eucharist and from the solemnity of its celebration”. This will only happen “if impropriety, ambiguity and abuse are avoided in the way this supreme mystery is used.” (Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Episcopal Conference) Italy A providential gift. “A providential gift”, not only “because the encyclical, right from its opening sentences, forcefully affirms that ‘the Church is born from the paschal mystery’, but also due to the method that the Pope adopts in his desire to ‘revive this eucharistic wonder’ in the life of our communities and of each one of us”. “The commitment to communicate the Gospel in a changing world, to which our Christian communities are called in this decade, is only possible on the basis of the Eucharist, its source and culmination”. (Archbishop Francesco Cacucci of Bari, president of the Italian Episcopate’s Commission for culture and social communications) Netherlands A little catechism. A moment of joy, a “‘little catechism’ of the Church’s doctrine of faith on the theme of the Eucharist”. “A mirror” that ought to “encourage many people to reflect on the place that the Eucharist occupies in the life of faith of everyone and in the liturgical practice of the parishes”. In this regard “new initiatives for eucharistic adoration may represent an important impulse to revitalize eucharistic devotion.” (Dutch Bishops’ Conference) Switzerland A valuable tool. “A valuable tool, sometimes affectionate in tone, and always permeated by sacred fear before every person”, the encyclical “provides at the same time clear directives for ecumenical dialogue in love and in truth”. It reaffirms, for Catholics, the “central position of the Eucharist in our everyday life”. It calls for responsibility “at a twofold level, both in daily life and in liturgical celebrations”. It’s a text that needs to be “read with calm if its proper meaning is to be grasped”. Its style reveals the Pope’s intention to “help guide Catholics in the third millennium” in a period “full of hope but also laden with an oppressive sense of insecurity”. (Swiss Bishops’ Conference)
