sdyer@bbnccv.UUCP (Steve Dyer) (02/10/85)
> The Roman Catholics are a special problem. But even they > consider other churches to be part of the true church. I will leave it to a > Catholic to explain why they do not practice open Communion. Vatican II reaffirmed the fact that the Church (as a body of believers in Christ) is NOT to be identified as one and the same as the Roman Catholic Church. There have never been any official statements declaring full and open Communion between the Catholic Church and other Christian Churches, although there have been several ecumenical studies which indicate substantial, and in some cases full, agreement on the nature of the Eucharist by Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran Churches, which would form the groundwork for any future progress. On the other hand, special instructions on administration of the Eucharist to non-Catholic Christians (members of Orthodox Churches are exempted from these) were issued by the Vatican in 1972, so one-way intercommunion has precedent, though the conditions under which it may be administered are rather tightly prescribed. Fron what I've read, the reluctance of the Catholic Church to participate in full and open intercommunion with other Churches stems from two issues: o the Eucharist as a symbol of unity among the participants; full Eucharistic sharing without progress on the underlying differences which separate the communities is facile at best. o withholding of recognition of Holy Orders of the non-Orthodox Christian Churches Most discussions of intercommunion focus on the first issue, the second being problematic, if not downright inflammatory. Naturally, many theologians make the important point that the Eucharist is as important in producing unity as reflecting it. -- /Steve Dyer {decvax,linus,ima,ihnp4}!bbncca!sdyer sdyer@bbnccv.ARPA