uniate Synod To Ponder Unity As "Eucharistic Concelebra

[Kollyvas]

This is why there are canons against praying with heretics and why they are oh so appropos today.

ORTHODOXIA I THANATOS!
R M Malleev-Pokrovsky

http://www.zenit.org/english/

[尼古拉前执事]

Posted on Wed, Oct. 12, 2005
Churchmen speak of 'pain' at being excluded from Communion
http://centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/ ... 884296.htm
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY - Ecumenical delegates to a Vatican meeting of bishops urged the church to more readily allow non-Catholic Christians to receive Communion, saying it could help foster unity.

The delegates told the Synod of Bishops that the Vatican's position on so-called intercommunion "pains" or "saddens" them.

Catholic teaching says Communion can only be given to non-Catholic Christians under certain circumstances, primarily because of differing interpretations of the sacrament. They can receive Communion if they desire it, request it and "manifest the faith" that Catholics profess toward the sacrament.

In special circumstances, Catholics can also request to receive Communion in other Christian churches that recognize the sacrament.

Per Lonning, the bishop emeritus of the Lutheran Church in Norway, criticized the synod's working document, which scolded non-Catholic Christians for erroneously seeking Communion in Catholic churches.

"Many presume to receive Communion ... without a proper faith in the sacrament and full communion with the church," the document says. "This attitude is surprising since it makes no sense not to belong to a church community, and at the same time to want to receive the Eucharist, which is a sign of belonging to that community."

Lonning said at the Oct. 2-23 meeting that the reference made him "very sad" and suggested that if the document's references to the issue are published as the "official voice" of the Roman Catholic Church, ecumenical progress could be set back.

An Anglican representative, Bishop John Hind of Chichester, England, also raised the intercommunion question, asking the synod when it was "appropriate" to share Communion.

"How should we interpret the public giving of Communion to the Protestant Frere Roger Schultz?" Hind said in prepared remarks, referring to the April 8 funeral for Pope John Paul II, during which then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger gave Communion to the founder of the Taize ecumenical community.

The question of intercommunion was also raised by a bishop representing Eastern rite Catholics, who share many rituals with Orthodox Christians but are loyal to the pope. Archbishop Basil Myron Schott of Pittsburgh spoke of "pain" experienced by Eastern rite Catholics concerning intercommunion with Orthodox Christians.

"Practically speaking, we often pray together, even attending the Eucharistic celebration of each other," he said. "However, the pain remains of not being able to partake of the Eucharist in these situations."

A representative of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's 200 million Orthodox, said that while issues separate Catholics and Orthodox, both believe the Eucharist was at the heart of the church.

"Eucharistic ecclesiology can guide us in our efforts to overcome a thousand years of separation," said the Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Pergamo, Johannis (Zizioulas). "For it is a pity to hold to the same conviction of the importance of the Eucharist but not able to share at the same table."

Also at the meeting, Hong Kong Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun said bishops from China's official church want to be united with the pope, saying those ordained without Rome's approval are no longer accepted by the faithful.

Zen said the "overwhelming majority" of Chinese bishops have been legitimized by Rome.

"The church in China, which appears to be divided in two - one official, recognized by the government, and one clandestine, which refuses to be independent from Rome - is in reality only one church because everybody wants to be united with the pope," Zen said.

"After long years of forced separation, the overwhelming majority of bishops of the official church have been legitimized by the magnanimity of the Holy Father," he said. "Especially in recent years it is becoming ever clearer that the bishops ordained without the approval of the Roman pontiff are accepted neither by the clergy nor by the faithful."

Pope Benedict XVI had invited four mainland Chinese bishops to attend the synod as part of his unification efforts, but they weren't allowed by the Beijing government to attend.

China forced its Roman Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, shortly after the officially atheist Communist Party took power. Worship is allowed only in government-controlled churches. Millions of Chinese, however, belong to unofficial congregations loyal to Rome.

Benedict has tried to reach out to Beijing, saying he wants to establish diplomatic relations and bring all of China's Catholics under Rome's wing.

Zen said he hoped the Beijing government "sees the convenience to reach a normalization of the situation, even though conservative elements within the official church put up resistance for obvious motives of interest."