On The Mystery of the Church and the Eucharist in the Light of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity

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JOINT COMMISSION FOR THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

SECOND PLENARY MEETING

Munich, June 30 to July 6 - 1982

THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH AND OF THE EUCHARIST
IN THE LIGHT OF THE MYSTERY OF THE HOLY TRINITY

Faithful to the mandate received at Rhodes, this report touches upon the mystery of the church in only one of its aspects. This aspect, however, is particularly important in the sacramental perspective of our churches, that is, the mystery of the church and of the Eucharist in the light of the mystery of the holy Trinity. As a matter of fact the request was made to start with what we have in common and, by developing it, to touch upon from inside and progressively all the points on which we are not in agreement.

In composing this document we intend to show that in doing so we express together a faith which is the continuation of that of the apostles.

This document makes the first step in the effort to fulfill the program of the preparatory commission, approved at the first meeting of the commission for dialogue.

Since there is question of a first step, touching upon the mystery of the church under only one of its aspects, many points are not yet treated here. They will be treated in succeeding steps as has been foreseen in the program mentioned above.

I

1. Christ, Son of God incarnate, dead and risen, is the only one who has conquered sin and death. To speak, therefore, of the sacramental nature of the mystery of Christ is to bring to mind the possibility given to man, and through him, to the whole cosmos, to experience the "new creation," the kingdom of God here and now through material and created realities. This is the mode (tropos) in which the unique person and the unique event of Christ exists and operates in history starting from Pentecost and reaching to the Parousia. However, the eternal life which God has given to the world in the event of Christ, his eternal Son, is contained in "earthen vessels". It is still only given as a foretaste, as a pledge.

2. At the Last Supper, Christ stated that he "gave" his body to the disciples for the life of "the many," in the Eucharist. In it this gift is made by God to the world, but in sacramental form. From that moment the Eucharist exists as the sacrament of Christ himself. It becomes the foretaste of eternal life, the "medicine of immortality," the sign of the kingdom to come. The sacrament of the Christ event thus becomes identical with the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the sacrament which incorporates us fully into Christ.

3. The incarnation of the Son of God his death and resurrection were realized from the beginning, according to the Father's will, in the Holy Spirit, This Spirit, which proceeds eternally from the Father and manifests himself through the Son, prepared the Christ event and realized in fully in the resurrection. Christ, who is the sacrament par excellence, given by the Father for the world, continues to give himself for the many in the Spirit, who alone gives life (Jn 6). The sacrament of Christ is also a reality which can only exist in the Spirit.

4. The Church and the Eucharist:

a. Although the evangelists in the account of the Supper are silent about the action of the Spirit, he was nonetheless united closer than ever to the incarnate Son for carrying out the Father's work. He is not yet given, received as a person, by the disciples (Jn 7:39). But when Jesus is glorified then the Spirit himself also pours himself out and manifests himself. The Lord Jesus enters into the glory of the Father and, at the same time, by the pouring out of the Spirit, into his sacramental tropos in this world. Pentecost, the completion of the paschal mystery, inaugurates simultaneously the last times. The Eucharist and the church, body of the crucified and risen Christ, become the place of the energies of the Holy Spirit.

b. Believers are baptized in the Spirit in the name of the holy Trinity to form one body (cf. 1 Cor 12:13). When the church celebrates the Eucharist it realizes "what it is", the body of Christ (1 Cor 10:17). By baptism and chrismation (confirmation) the members of Christ are "anointed" by the Spirit, grafted into Christ. But by the Eucharist the paschal event opens itself out into church. The church becomes that which it is called to be by baptism and chrismation. By the communion in the body and blood of Christ, the faithful grow in that mystical divinization which makes them dwell in the Son and the Father, through the Spirit.

c. Thus, on the one hand, the church celebrates the Eucharist as expression here and now of the heavenly liturgy; but on the other hand, the Eucharist builds up the church in the sense that through it the Spirit of the risen Christ fashions the church into the body of Christ. That is why the Eucharist is truly the sacrament of the church, at once as sacrament of the total gift the Lord makes of himself to his own and as manifestation and growth of the body of Christ, the church. The pilgrim church celebrates the Eucharist on earth until her Lord comes to restore royalty to God the Father so that God may be "all in all". It thus anticipates the judgment of the world and its final transfiguration.

5. The mission of the Spirit remains joined to that of the Son. The celebration of the Eucharist reveals the divine energies manifested by the Spirit at work in the body of Christ.

a. The Spirit prepares the coming of Christ by announcing it through the prophets, by directing the history of the chosen people toward him, by causing him to be conceived by the Virgin Mary, by opening up hearts to his word.

b. The Spirit manifests Christ in his work as savior, the Gospel which is he himself. The Eucharistic celebration is the anamnesis (the memorial) Truly, but sacramentally, the ephapax (the "once and for all") is and becomes present. The celebration of the Eucharist is par excellence the kairos (proper time) of the mystery.

c. The Spirit transforms the sacred gifts into the body and blood of Christ (metabole) in order to bring about the growth of the body which is the church. In this sense the entire celebration is an epiclesis, which becomes more explicit at certain moments. The church is continually in a state of epiclesis.

d. The Spirit puts into communion with the body of Christ those who share the same bread and the same cup. Starting from there, the church manifests what it is, the sacrament of the Trinitarian koinonia, the "dwelling of God with men" (cf. Rv 21:4).

The Spirit, by making present what Christ did once for all – the event of the mystery – accomplishes it in all of us. The relation to the mystery, more evident in the Eucharist, is found in the other sacraments, all acts of the Spirit. That is why the Eucharist is the center of sacramental life.

6. Taken as a whole, the Eucharistic celebration makes present the Trinitarian mystery of the church. In it one passes from hearing the word, culminating in the proclamation of the Gospel – the apostolic announcing of the word made flesh – to the thanksgiving offered to the Father and to the memorial of the sacrifice and to communion in it thanks to the prayer of epiclesis uttered in faith. For the epiclesis is not merely an invocation for the sacramental transforming of the bread and cup. It is also a prayer for the full effect of the communion of all in the mystery revealed by the Son.

In this way the presence of the Spirit itself is extended by the sharing in the sacrament of the word made flesh to all the body of the church. Without wishing to resolve yet the difficulties which have arisen between the East and the West concerning the relationship between the Son and the Spirit, we can already say together that this Spirit, which proceeds from the Father (Jn 15:26) as the sole source in the Trinity and which has become the Spirit of our sonship (Rom 8:15) since he is also the Spirit of the Son (Gal 4:6), is communicated to us particularly in the Eucharist by this Son upon whom he reposes in time and in eternity (Jn 1:32).

That is why the Eucharistic mystery is accomplished in the prayer which joins together the words by which the word made flesh instituted the sacrament and the epiclesis in which the church, moved by faith, entreats the Father, through the Son, to send the Spirit so that in the unique offering of the incarnate Son, everything may be consummated in unity. Through the Eucharist believers unite themselves to Christ, who offers himself to the Father with them, and they receive the possibility of offering themselves in a spirit of sacrifice to each other, as Christ himself offers himself to the Father for the many, thus giving himself to men.

This consummation in unity brought about by the one inseparable operation of the Son and the Spirit, acting in reference to the Father in his design, is the church in its fullness.

II

1. If one looks at the New Testament one will notice first of all that the church describes a "local" reality. The church exists in history as local church. For a region one speaks more often of churches, in the plural. It is always question of the church of God but in a given place.

Now the church existing in a place is not formed, in a radical sense, by the persons who come together to establish it. There is a "Jerusalem from on high" which "comes down from God", a communion which is at the foundation of the community itself. The church comes into being by a free gift, that of the new creation.

However, it is clear that the church "which is in" a given place manifests itself when it is "assembled." This assembly itself, whose elements and requirements are indicated by the New Testament, is fully such when it is the Eucharistic synaxis. When the local church celebrates the Eucharist, the event which took place "once and for all" is made present and manifested. In the local church, then, there is neither male nor female, slave nor free, Jew nor Greek. A new unity is communicated which overcomes divisions and restores communion in the one body of Christ. This unity transcends psychological, racial, sociopolitical or cultural unity. It is the "communion of the Holy Spirit" gathering together the scattered children of God. The newness of baptism and of chrismation then bears its fruit. And by the power of the body and blood of the Lord, filled with the Holy Spirit, there is healed that sin which does not cease to assault Christians by raising obstacles to the dynamism of the "life for God in Christ Jesus" received in baptism. This applies also to the sin of division, all of whose forms contradict God's design.

One of the chief texts to remember is 1 Cor 10:15-17: one sole bread, one sole cup, one sole body of Christ in the plurality of members. This mystery of the unity in love of many persons constitutes the real newness of the Trinitarian koinonia communicated to men in the church through the Eucharist. Such is the purpose of Christ's saving work, which is spread abroad in the last times after Pentecost.

This is why the church finds its model, its origin and its purpose in the mystery of God, one in three persons. Further still, the Eucharist thus understood in the light of the Trinitarian mystery is the criterion for functioning of the life of the church as a whole. The institutional elements should be nothing but a visible reflection of the reality of the mystery.

2. The unfolding of the Eucharistic celebration of the local church shows how the koinonia takes shape in the church celebrating the Eucharist. In the Eucharist celebrated by the local church gathered about the bishop, or the priest in communion with him, the following aspects stand out, interconnected among themselves even if this or that moment of the celebration emphasizes one or another.

The koinonia is eschatological. It is the newness which comes in the last times. That is why everything in the Eucharist as in the life of the church begins with conversion and reconciliation. The Eucharist presupposes repentance (metanoia) and confession (exomologesis), which find in other circumstances their own sacramental expression. But the Eucharist forgives and also heals sins, since it is the sacrament of the divinizing love of the Father, by the Son, in the Holy Spirit.

But this koinonia is also kerygmatic. This is evident in the synaxis not only because the celebration "announces" the event of the mystery, but also because it actually realizes it today in the Spirit. This implies the proclamation of the word to the assembly and the response of faith given by all. Thus the communion of the assembly is brought about in the kerygma, and hence unity in faith. Orthodoxy (correct faith) is inherent in the Eucharistic koinonia. This orthodoxy is expressed most clearly through the proclamation of the symbol of faith which is a summary of the apostolic tradition of which the bishop is the witness in virtue of his succession. Thus the Eucharist is inseparably sacrament and word since in it the incarnate word sanctifies in the Spirit. That is why the entire liturgy and not only the reading of holy scriptures constitutes a proclamation of the word under the form of doxology and prayer. On the other hand, the word proclaimed is the word made flesh and become sacramental.

Koinonia is at once ministerial and pneumatological. That is why the Eucharist is its manifestation par excellence. The entire assembly, each one according to rank, is leiturgos of the koinonia. While being a gift of the Trinitarian God, koinonia is also the response of men. In the faith which comes from the Spirit and the word, these put in practice the vocation and the mission received in baptism: to become living members, in one's proper rank, of the body of Christ.

3. The ministry of the bishop is not merely a tactical or pragmatic function (because a president is necessary) but an organic function. The bishop receives the gift of episcopal grace (1 Tm 4:14) in the sacrament of consecration effected by bishops who themselves have received this gift, thanks to the existence of an uninterrupted series of episcopal ordinations, beginning from the holy apostles. By the sacrament of ordination the Spirit of the Lord "confers" on the bishop, not juridically as if it were a pure transmission of power, but sacramentally, the authority of servant which the Son received from the Father and which he received in a human way by his acceptance in his passion.

The function of the bishop is closely bound to the Eucharistic assembly over which he presides. The Eucharistic unity of the local church implies communion between him who presides and the people to whom he delivers the word of salvation and the Eucharistic gifts. Further, the minister is also the one who "receives" from his church, which is faithful to tradition, the word he transmits. And the great intercession which he sends up to the Father is simply that of his entire church praying with him. The bishop cannot be separated from his church any more than the church can be separated from its bishop.

The bishop stands at the heart of the local church as minister of the Spirit to discern the charismas and take care that they are exercised in harmony, for the good of all, in faithfulness to the apostolic tradition. He puts himself at the service of the initiatives of the Spirit so that nothing may prevent them from contributing to building up koinonia. He is minister of unity, servant of Christ the Lord, whose mission is to "gather into unity the children of God". And because the church is built up by the Eucharist, it is he, invested with the grace of priestly ministry, who presides at the latter.

But this presidency must be properly understood. The bishop presides at the offering which is that of his entire community. By consecrating the gifts so that they become the body and blood the community offers, he celebrates not only for it, nor only with it and in it, but through it. He appears then as minister of Christ fashioning the unity of his body and so creating communion through his body. The union of the community with him is first of all of the order of mysterion and not primordially of the juridical order. It is that union expressed in the Eucharist which is prolonged and given practical expression in the "pastoral" relations of teaching, government and life. The ecclesial community is thus called to be the outline of a human community renewed.

4. There is profound communion between the bishop and the community in which the Spirit gives him responsibility for the church of God. The ancient tradition expressed it happily in the image of marriage. But that communion lies within the communion of the apostolic community. In the ancient tradition (as the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus proves) the bishop elected by the people – who guarantee his apostolic faith, in conformity with what the local church confesses – receives the ministerial grace of Christ by the Spirit in the prayer of the assembly and by the laying on of hands (chirotonia) of the neighboring bishops, witnesses of the faith of their own churches. His charism, coming directly from the Spirit of God, is given him in the apostolicity of his church (linked to the faith of the apostolic community) and in that of the other churches represented by their bishops. Through this his ministry is inserted into Apostolic succession, therefore, means something more than a mere transmission of powers. It is succession in a Church which witnesses to the apostolic faith, in communion with the other Churches witnessing to the same apostolic faith. The see (cathedra) plays an essential role ? faith. The see (cathedra) plays an essential role in inserting the bishop into the heart of ecclesial apostolicity. On the other hand, once ordained, the bishop becomes in his church the guarantor of apostolicity and the one who represents it within the communion of churches. That is why in his church every Eucharist can only be celebrated in truth if presided over by him or by a presbyter in communion with him. Mention of him in the anaphora is essential.

Through the ministry of presbyters, charged with presiding over the life and the Eucharistic celebration of the communities entrusted to them, those communities grow in communion with all the communities for which the bishop has primary responsibility. In the present situation the diocese itself is a communion of Eucharistic communities. One of the essential functions of presbyters is to link these to the Eucharist of the bishop and to nourish them with the apostolic faith of which the bishop is the witness and guarantor. They should also take care that Christians, nourished by the body and blood of him who gave his life for his brethren, should be authentic witnesses of fraternal love in the reciprocal sacrifice nourished by the sacrifice of Christ. For, according to the word of the apostle, "if someone sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" The Eucharist determines the Christian manner of living the paschal mystery of Christ and the gift of Pentecost. Thanks to it there is a profound transformation of human existence always confronted by temptation and suffering.

III

1. The body of Christ is unique. There exists then only one church of God. The identity of one Eucharistic assembly with another comes from the fact that all with the same faith celebrate the same memorial, that all by eating the same bread and sharing in the same cup become the same unique body of Christ into which they have been integrated by the same baptism. It there are many celebrations, there is nevertheless only one mystery celebrated in which all participate. Moreover, when the believer communicates in the Lord's body and blood, he does not receive a part of Christ but the whole Christ.

In the same way, the local church which celebrates the Eucharist gathered around its bishop is not a section of the body of Christ. The multiplicity of local synaxes does not divide the church, but rather shows sacramentally its unity. Like the community of the apostles gathered around Christ, each Eucharistic assembly is truly the holy church of God, the body of Christ, in communion with the first community of the disciples and with all who throughout the world celebrate and have celebrated the memorial of the Lord. It is also in communion with the assembly of the saints in heaven, which each celebration brings to mind.

2. Far from excluding diversity or plurality, the koinonia supposes it and heals the wounds of division, transcending the latter in unity.

Since Christ is one for the many, as in the church which is his body, the one and the many, the universal and local are necessarily simultaneous. Still more radically, because the one and only God is the communion of three persons, the one and only church is a communion of many communities and the local church a communion of persons. The one and unique church finds her identity in the koinonia of the churches. Unity and multiplicity appear so linked that one could not exist without the other. It is this relationship constitutive of the church that institutions make visible and, so to speak, "historicize".

3. Since the universal church manifests itself in the synaxis of the local church, two conditions must be fulfilled above all if the local church which celebrates the Eucharist is to be truly within the ecclesial communion.

a) First, the identity of the mystery of the church lived by the local church with the mystery of the church lived by the primitive church - catholicity in time - is fundamental. The church is apostolic because it is founded on and continually sustained by the mystery of salvation revealed in Jesus Christ, transmitted in the Spirit by those who were his witnesses, the apostles. Its members will be judged by Christ and the apostles (cf. Lk 22:30).

b) Today mutual recognition between this local church and the other churches is also of capital importance. Each should recognize in the others through local particularities the identity of the mystery of the church. It is a question of mutual recognition of catholicity as communion in the wholeness of the mystery. This recognition is achieved first of all at the regional level. Communion in the same patriarchate or in some other form of regional unity is first of all a manifestation of the life of the Spirit in the same culture, or in the same historical conditions. It equally implies unity of witness and calls for the exercise of fraternal correction in humility. This communion within the same region should extend itself further in the communion between sister churches.

This mutual recognition, however, is true only under the conditions expressed in the anaphora of St. John Chrysostom and the first Antiochene anaphoras. The first condition is communion in the same kerygma, and so in the same faith. Already contained in baptism this requirement is made explicit in the Eucharistic celebration. But it also requires the will for communion in love (agape) and in service (diakonia), not only in words but in deeds.

Permanence through history and mutual recognition are particularly brought into focus in the Eucharistic synaxis by the mention of the saints in the Canon and of the heards of the churches in the diptychs. Thus it is understood why these latter are signs of catholic unity in Eucharistic communion, responsible, each on its own level, for maintaining that communion in the universal harmony of the churches and their common fidelity to the apostolic tradition.

4. We find then among these churches those bonds of communion which the New Testament indicated: communion in faith, hope and love, communion in the sacraments, communion in the diversity of charisms, communion in the reconciliation, communion in the ministry. The agent of this communion is the Spirit of the risen Lord. Through him the church universal, catholic, integrates diversity or plurality, making it one of its own essential elements. This catholicity represents the fulfillment of the prayer of Chapter 17 of the Gospel according to John, taken up in the Eucharistic epicleses.

Attachment to the apostolic communion binds all the bishops together, linking the episkope of the local churches to the college of the apostles. They too form a college rooted by the Spirit in the "once for all" of the apostolic group, the unique witness to the faith. This means not only that they should be united among themselves by faith, charity, mission, reconciliation, but that they have in common the same responsibility and the same service to the church. Because the one and only church is made present in his local church, each bishop cannot separate the care for his own church from that of the universal church. When, by the sacrament of ordination, he receives the charism of the Spirit for the episkope of one local church, his own, by that very fact be receives the charism of the Spirit for the episkope of the entire church. In the people of God he exercises it in communion with all the bishop who are here and now in charge of churches and in communion with the living tradition which the bishops of the past have handed on. The presence of bishops from neighboring sees at his episcopal ordination "sacramentalizes" and makes present this communion. It produces a thorough fusion between his solicitude for the local community and his care for the church spread throughout the world. The episkope for the universal church is seen to be entrusted by the Spirit to the totality of local bishops in communion with one another. This communion is expressed traditionally through conciliar practice. We shall have to examine further the way it is conceived and realized in the perspective of what we have just explained.

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Dope le Publicazione (Note Interpreting "In Quibus Rerum Circumstantiis")

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DOPO LE PUBLICAZIONE
Note Interpreting the

"Instruction on Admitting Other Christians to

Eucharistic Communion in the Catholic Church"

Secretariat for Christian Unity

17 October, 1973

1. After the publication of the "Instruction on Admitting Other Christians to Eucharistic Communion in the Catholic Church"[1] on 1 June 1972, various interpretations of it were given, some of which depart from the letter and the spirit of the document. To prevent the spread of such inaccurate interpretations and their consequences, we think it useful to recall to mind a few points.

2. With this Instruction, pastoral in character, the Secretariat for Promotion of the Unity of Christians had no intention of changing the rules laid down by the Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism and further explained by the Ecumenical Directory.[2] The intention was to explain that the existing discipline derives from the requirements of the faith and so retains its full vigor.

3. The basic principles of the Instruction are:

(a) There is an indissoluble link between the mystery of the Church and the mystery of the Eucharist or between ecclesial and Eucharistic communion; the celebration of the Eucharist of itself signifies the fullness of profession of faith and ecclesial communion.[3]

(b) The Eucharist is for the baptized a spiritual food which enables them to live with Christ's own life, to be incorporated more profoundly in him and share more intensely in the whole economy of the Mystery of Christ.[4]

4. Within the full communion of faith, Eucharistic communion is the expression of this full communion and therefore of the unity of the faithful; at the same time it is the means of maintaining and reinforcing this unity. But Eucharistic communion practiced by those who are not in full ecclesial communion with each other cannot be the expression of that full unity which the Eucharist of its nature signifies and which in this case does not exist; for this reason such communion cannot be regarded as a means to be used to lead to full ecclesial communion.

5. All the same, both the Ecumenical Directory and the Instruction, on the strength of what has already been said in the Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism, allow the possibility of exceptions insofar as the Eucharist is necessary spiritual nourishment for the Christian life.

6. It is the local ordinary's responsibility to examine these exceptional cases and make concrete decisions. The Instruction[5] recalls that the Ecumenical Directory gives the episcopal authority power to decide whether in these rare cases the required conditions are present or not. The episcopal authority's faculty of examining and deciding is governed by criteria laid down in the Ecumenical Directory[6] and further explained in the Instruction: "...admission to Catholic Eucharistic communion is confined to particular cases of those Christians who have a faith in the sacrament in conformity with that of the Church, who experience a serious spiritual need for the Eucharistic sustenance, who for a prolonged period are unable to have recourse to a minister of their own community, and who ask for the sacrament of their own accord all this provided that they have proper dispositions and lead lives worthy of a Christian."[7]

This criterion is observed if all the required conditions are verified. An objective, pastorally responsible examination does not allow any of the conditions to be ignored.

It must also be noted that the Instruction speaks of particular cases, which are to be examined individually. Hence a general regulation cannot be issued which makes a category out of an exceptional case, nor is it possible to legitimize on the basis of epikeia by turning this latter into a general rule.

Nevertheless, the bishop can in the various situations decide what are the needs that make exceptions applicable, that is to say, what constitutes a special case, and they can determine the manner of verifying whether all the required conditions are fulfilled in such a particular case. When particular cases present themselves fairly often in one region, following a recurrent pattern, episcopal conferences can issue some guiding principles for ascertaining that all the conditions are verified in particular cases. Normally however it will be within the competence of the local ordinary to judge such cases.

7. For other Christians to be admitted to the Eucharist in the Catholic Church the Instruction requires that they manifest a faith in the sacrament in conformity with that of the Catholic Church. This faith is not limited to a mere affirmation of the "real presence" in the Eucharist, but implies the doctrine of the Eucharist as taught in the Catholic Church.

8. It is to be noted that the Instruction[8] calls to mind the fact that the Directorium Oecumenicum provides for the Orientals not in full communion with the Catholic Church[9] rules different from those regarding other Christians.[10] For example:

(a) since they belong to a community whose Eucharistic faith is in conformity with that of the Catholic Church, a personal declaration of faith in the sacrament will not be required of them when they are admitted: in an Orthodox Christian this faith is taken for granted;

(b) since the Orthodox Churches have true sacraments and, above all, by virtue of apostolic succession, the priesthood and the Eucharist, concessions for sacramental communion must take account of legitimate reciprocity;[11]

(c) justifiable reasons for advising sacramental sharing are considerably more extensive.

9. The question of reciprocity arises only with these Churches which have preserved the substance of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Orders and apostolic succession. Hence a Catholic cannot ask for the Eucharist except from a minister who has been validly ordained.[12]

10. The desire to share the Eucharist fundamentally expresses the desire of the perfect ecclesial unity of all Christians which Christ willed. Inter-confessional dialogue on the theology of the Eucharist (as sacrament and sacrifice), on the theology of ministry and of the Church is pursuing its course within the ambit of the ecumenical movement, supported by the promises and prayer of our Lord; it is stimulated and enlivened by the charity, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. We express the hope that the ecumenical movement will lead to a common profession of faith among Christians, and so allow us to celebrate the Eucharist in ecclesial unity, giving fulfillment to the words "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body".[13]

---

[1] In quibus rerum circumstantiis

[2] D. 37 and 40

[3] Cf. In quibus, II, 1, 2, 3

[4] Cf. ibid, II

[5] Cf. ibid, VI

[6] Cf. Ecumenical Directory, n. 55

[7] In quibus, IV, 2

[8] Cf. ibid, V

[9] Cf. Ecumenical Directory, nos. 34-54

[10] Cf. ibid, nos. 55-63

[11] Cf. ibid, no. 43

[12] Cf. ibid, no. 55

[13] 1 Cor 10:17

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In quibus rerum circumstantiis (On the admission of other Christians to the Eucharist)

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IN QUIBUS RERUM CIRCUMSTANTIIS
Instruction on Admitting Other Christians to

Eucharistic Communion in the Catholic Church

Secretariat for Christian Unity

1 June, 1972

I. The Question

We are often asked the question: "In what circumstances and on what conditions can members—of other Churches and ecclesial communities be admitted to Eucharistic Communion in the Catholic Church?"

The question is not a new one. The Second Vatican Council[1] and the Ecumenical Directory dealt with it.

The pastoral guidance offered here is not intended to change the existing rules but to explain them, bringing out the doctrinal principles on which the rules rest and so making their application easier.

II. The Eucharist and The Mystery Of The Church

There is a close link between the mystery of the Church and the mystery of the Eucharist.

1. The Eucharist really contains what is the very foundation of the being and unity of the Church: the Body of Christ, offered in sacrifice and given to the faithful as the bread of eternal life. The sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, given to the Church so as to constitute the Church, of its nature carries with it:

(a) the ministerial power which Christ gave to his apostles and to their successors, the bishops along with the priests, to make effective sacramentally his own priestly act—that act by which once and forever he offered himself to the Father in the Holy Spirit, and gave himself to his faithful that they might be one in him;

(b) the unity of the ministry, which is to be exercised in the name of Christ, Head of the Church, and hence in the hierarchical communion of ministers;

(c) the faith of the Church, which is expressed in the Eucharistic action itself—the faith by which she responds to Christ's gift in its true meaning. The sacrament of the Eucharist, understood in its entirety with these three elements, signifies an existing unity brought about by him, the unity of the visible Church of Christ which cannot be lost.

2. "The celebration of Mass, the action of Christ and of the people of God hierarchically ordered, is the center of the whole Christian life, for the Universal Church as for the local Church and for each Christian." Celebrating the mystery of Christ in the Mass, the Church celebrates her own mystery and manifests concretely her unity.

The faithful assembled at the altar offer the sacrifice through the hands of the priest acting in the name of Christ, and they represent the community of the people of God united in the profession of one faith. Thus they constitute a sign and a kind of delegation of a wider assembly.

The celebration of Mass is of itself a profession of faith in which the whole Church recognizes and expresses itself. If we consider the marvelous meaning of the Eucharistic prayers as well as the riches contained in the other parts of the Mass, whether they are fixed or vary with the liturgical cycle; if at the same time we bear in mind that the liturgy of the word and the Eucharistic liturgy make up a single act of worship, then we can see here a striking illustration of the principle lex orandi lex credendi. Thus the Mass has a catechetical power which the recent liturgical renewal has emphasized. Again, the Church has in the course of history been careful to introduce into liturgical celebration the main themes of the common faith, the chief fruits of the experience of that faith. This she has done either by means of new texts or by creating new feasts.

3. The relation between local celebration of the Eucharist and universal ecclesial communion is stressed also by the special mention in the Eucharistic prayers of the Pope, the local bishop and the other members of the Episcopal College.

What has been said here of the Eucharist as center and summit of the Christian life holds for the whole Church and for each of its members, but particularly for those who take an active part in the celebration of Mass and above all for those who receive the Body of Christ. Communion during Mass is indeed the most perfect way of participating in the Eucharist, for it fulfills the Lord's command, "take and eat."

III. The Eucharist as Spiritual Food

The effect of the Eucharist is also to nourish spiritually those who receive it as what the faith of the Church says it truly is—the Body and Blood of the Lord given as the food of eternal life[2]. For the baptized, the Eucharist is spiritual food, a means by which they are brought to live the life of Christ himself, are incorporated more profoundly in Him and share more intensely in the whole economy of his saving mystery. "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him"[3].

1. As the sacrament of full union with Christ and of the perfection of spiritual life, the Eucharist is necessary to every Christian: in our Lord's words, ". . . unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you"[4]. Those who live intensely the life of grace feel a compelling need for this spiritual sustenance, and the Church herself encourages daily communion.

2. Yet though it is a spiritual food whose effect is to unite the Christian man to Jesus Christ, the Eucharist is far from being simply a means of satisfying exclusively personal aspirations, however lofty these may be. The union brings about the union of the faithful themselves with each other. It is on their sharing of the Eucharist bread that St. Paul bases the union of all the faithful: "Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the same loaf"[5]. By this sacrament man is incorporated in Christ and united with his members. By frequent receiving of the Eucharist the faithful are incorporated more and more in the Body of Christ and share increasingly in the mystery of the Church.

3. Spiritual need of the Eucharist is not therefore merely a matter of personal spiritual growth: simultaneously, and inseparably, it concerns our entering more deeply into Christ's Church, "which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all"[6].

IV. General Principles Governing Admission to Communion

Where members of the Catholic Church are concerned, there is a perfect parallel between regarding the Eucharist as the celebration of the entire ecclesial community united in one faith and regarding it as sustenance, as a response to the spiritual needs, personal and ecclesial, of each member. It will be the same when, in the Lord's good time, all the followers of Christ are reunited in one and the same Church. But what are we to say today, when Christians are divided? Any baptized person has a spiritual need for the Eucharist. Those who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church have recourse to the ministers of their own communities, as their conscience dictates. But what about those who cannot do this, and who for that or other reasons come and ask for communion from a Catholic priest?

The Ecumenical Directory[7] has already shown how we must safeguard simultaneously the integrity of ecclesial communion and the good of souls. Behind the Directory lie two main governing ideas:

1. The strict relationship between the mystery of the Church and the mystery of the Eucharist can never be altered, whatever pastoral measures we may be led to take in given cases. Of its very nature, celebration of the Eucharist signifies the fullness of profession of faith and the fullness of ecclesial communion. This principle must not be obscured and must remain our guide in this field.

2. The principle will not be obscured if admission to Catholic Eucharistic communion is confined to particular cases of those Christians who have a faith in the sacrament in conformity with that of the Church, who experience a serious spiritual need for the Eucharistic sustenance, who for a prolonged period are unable to have recourse to a minister of their own community, and who ask for the sacrament of their own accord; all this provided that they have proper dispositions and lead lives worthy of a Christian. This spiritual need should be understood in the sense defined above: a need for an increase in spiritual life and a need for a deeper involvement in the mystery of the Church and of its unity.

Further, even if those conditions are fulfilled, it will be a pastoral responsibility to see that the admission of these other Christians to communion does not endanger or disturb the faith of Catholics.

V. Differences, In View Of These Principles, Between Members Of The Oriental Churches And Other Christians

The Ecumenical Directory gives different directions for the admission to Holy Communion of separated Eastern Christians and of others. The reason is that the Eastern Churches, though separated from us, have true sacraments, above all because of the apostolic succession, the priesthood, and the Eucharist, which unite them to us by close ties, so that the risk of obscuring the relation between Eucharistic communion and ecclesial communion is somewhat reduced. Recently the Holy Father recalled that: "between our Church and the venerable Orthodox Churches there exists already an almost total communion, though it is not yet perfect: it results from our joint participation in the mystery of Christ and of his Church."

With Christians who belong to communities whose Eucharistic faith differs from that of the Church and which do not have the Sacrament of Orders, admitting them to the Eucharist entails the risk of obscuring the essential relation between Eucharistic communion and ecclesial communion. This is why the Directory treats their case differently from that of the Eastern Christians and envisages admission only in exceptional cases of "urgent necessity." In cases of this kind the person concerned is asked to manifest a faith in the Eucharist in conformity with that of the Church, i.e., in the Eucharist as Christ instituted it and as the Catholic Church hands it on. This is not asked of an orthodox person, because he belongs to a Church whose faith in the Eucharist is conformable to our own.

VI. What Authority Decides Particular Cases: The Meaning of No. 55 of the Ecumenical Directory

No. 55 of the Directory allows fairly wide discretionary power to the episcopal authority in judging whether the necessary conditions are present for these exceptional cases. If cases of the same pattern recur often in a given region, episcopal conferences can give general directions. More often, however, it falls to the bishop of the diocese to make a decision. He alone will know all the circumstances of particular cases.

Apart from danger of death, the Directory mentions two examples, people in prison and those suffering persecution, but it then speaks of "other cases of such urgent necessity." Such cases are not confined to situations of suffering and danger. Christians may find themselves in grave spiritual necessity and with no chance of recourse to their own community. For example, in our time, which is one of large-scale movements of population, it can happen much more often than before that non-Catholic Christians are scattered in Catholic regions. They are often deprived of the help of their own communion and unable to get in touch with it except at great trouble and expense. If the conditions set out in the Directory are verified, they can be admitted to Eucharistic communion, but it will be for the bishop to consider each case.

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[1] Cf. Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio

[2] Cf. Jn. 6:50, 58

[3] Jn. 6:56

[4] Jn. 6:53

[5] 1 Cor. 10:17

[6] Eph. 1:23

[7] D. 37 and 40

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Dans ces derniers temps (On the Position of the Catholic Church on the Celebration of the Eucharist in Common by Christians of Different Confessions)

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DANS CES DERNIERS TEMPS
Declaration On The Position Of The Catholic Church

On The Celebration Of The Eucharist In Common

By Christians Of Different Confessions

Secretariat for Christian Unity

7 January, 1970

1. Recently, in various parts of the world, certain initiatives have been taken with regard to common participation in the Eucharist. They have involved, on the one hand, faithful and clergy of the Catholic Church and, on the other, laity and pastors of other Christian Churches and ecclesial communities. At times there is question of the admission of Catholic faithful to a Protestant or Anglican Eucharistic communion; at other times, participation by Protestants and Anglicans in the Eucharistic communion in a Catholic church; or again, there are common acts of Eucharistic worship jointly celebrated by ministers belonging to Churches and ecclesial communities still separated from one another, and in these the laity of the communities concerned take part.

This subject is of great theological, pastoral and, above all, ecumenical importance, and we desire to recall the Church's recently formulated norms concerning it.

2. The Second Vatican Council addressed itself to this subject in the Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio. After having called to mind that common prayers for; unity are an efficacious means for asking for the grace of unity and constitute an authentic expression of the bonds by which Catholics remain united with other Christians, the Decree continues: "As for common worship, however, it may not be regarded as a means to be used indiscriminately for the restoration of unity among Christians. Such worship depends chiefly on two principles: it should signify the unity of the Church; it should provide a sharing in the means of grace. The fact that it should signify unity generally rules out common worship. Yet the gaining of needed grace sometimes commends it. The practical course to be adopted, after due regard has been given to all the circumstances of time, place, and persons, is left to the prudent decision of the local episcopal authority, unless the bishop's conference according to its own statutes, or the Holy See, has determined otherwise."[1]

3. In applying these general principles, the Council asks us to consider well "the particular situations of the Churches of the East."[2] and to draw the appropriate consequences from these facts: "Although these Churches are separated from us, they possess true sacraments, above all—by apostolic succession—the priesthood and the Eucharist, whereby they are still joined to us in a very close relationship Therefore, given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, some worship in common is not merely possible but is recommended".[3]

The Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches, Orientatium Ecclesiarum, makes some applications. It permits Eastern Christians not in full communion with the Apostolic See of Rome to be admitted to the Sacraments of Penance, of the Eucharist and of the Anointing of the Sick when they find themselves in the specified circumstances. It equally authorizes Catholics to request these same sacraments from Eastern priests whenever necessity or a genuine spiritual benefit call for it and access to a Catholic priest is physically or morally impossible. It also recommends that the authorities of the Churches involved contact each other about the matter.[4]

4. The section of the Decree on Ecumenism devoted to "the separated Churches and ecclesial communities in the West" includes Christian confessions of great variety. In it the Council treated the theological problem which underlies Eucharistic sacramental relations with Christian communities where those conditions found in the Churches of the East are lacking: "The ecclesial communities separated from us lack that fullness of unity with us which should flow from Baptism, and we believe that especially because of a deficiency of the Sacrament of Order they have not preserved the genuine and total reality of the Eucharistic mystery. Nevertheless when they commemorate the Lord's death and resurrection in the Holy Supper, they profess that it signifies life in communion with Christ and they await his coming in glory. For these reasons, dialogue should be undertaken concerning the true meaning of the Lord's Supper, the other sacraments, and the Church's worship and ministry."[5]

It should be noted that the doctrinal appreciation of the Eucharist of these communities is bound up with an appeal for dialogue about the Eucharist and the entire sacramental life, and a special mention is made of the ministries of the Church.

It is well known that the Catholic Church attaches a decisive importance to the traditional teaching about the necessity of the ministerial priesthood connected with the apostolic succession, and the conditions in which it exists.

5. The dispositions of the Second Vatican Council were applied through the Ecumenical Directory which was approved by the Holy Father on 22 April 1967 and published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis on 5 July of the same year.

For Eucharistic relations with Eastern Christians not in full communion with the Apostolic See of Rome, the Directory reproduces the dispositions of the Council and determines in a precise way certain useful points especially in what concerns reciprocity and previous agreement between the ecclesiastical authorities of the Churches concerned.[6]

6. The Directory went more into detail when treating of those Christian communities with which we do not share the same ecclesiological and sacramental bases that particularly unite us to the Churches of the East. After giving doctrinal justifications of its norms, it formulates these in the following way: "Celebration of the sacraments is an action of the celebrating community, signifying the oneness in faith, worship and life of the community. Where this unity of sacramental faith is deficient, the participation of the separated with Catholics, especially in the Sacraments of the Eucharist, Penance and Anointing of the Sick, is forbidden. Nevertheless, since the sacraments are both signs of unity and sources of grace,[7] the Church can for adequate reasons allow access to those sacraments to a separated brother. This may be permitted in danger of death or in urgent need (during persecution, in prisons) if the separated brother has no access to a minister of his own communion, and spontaneously asks for a Catholic priest for the sacraments-so long as he declares a faith in these sacraments in harmony with that of the Church, and is rightly disposed. In other cases the judge of this urgent necessity must be the diocesan bishop or the episcopal conference. A Catholic in similar circumstances may not ask for these sacraments except from a minister who has been validly ordained".[8]

7. In commenting on this passage, one month before his death, Cardinal Bea, President of the Secretariat for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians, endeavored to throw light on its exact meaning. "These texts determine precisely the conditions required for admitting an Anglican or a Protestant to Eucharistic communion in the Catholic Church. It is not enough, then, that one of these Christians be spiritually well disposed and that he spontaneously request communion from a Catholic minister. In the first place two other conditions must be verified: that they hold the faith that the Catholic Church herself professes concerning the Eucharist, and that they are unable to approach a minister of their own confession.

"The Directory cites as examples three very special cases, where these conditions can be verified: danger of death, persecution, imprisonment. In other cases the ordinary of the place or the episcopal conference will be able to give the permission, if it is asked. The condition must be, however, that urgent necessity similar to that in cases cited as examples and the same conditions must be verified.

"When one of these conditions is lacking, admission to Eucharistic communion in the Catholic Church is not possible."[9]

8. With regard to the role which the Directory plays in the pastoral action of the Church, it is useful to recall the words addressed by the Holy Father on 13 November 1968 to the members of the Secretariat for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians: "We need not tell you that, to promote ecumenism in an efficacious way, one must also guide it, submit it to the rules that are quite precise. We regard the Ecumenical Directory not as a collection of advisory principles which one can freely accept or ignore, but as an authentic instruction, an exposition of the discipline to which all those who wish truly to serve ecumenism should submit themselves".[10]

9. The Secretariat for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians is following this question very closely and itself has taken various initiatives concerning it. Recently, during its plenary assembly (Congregatio plenaria of which forty bishops from all over the world are members), held in Rome from 18 to 28 November, it devoted a great deal of attention to it. At the same time the Secretariat particularly appreciates the work being done all over the world to deepen the theology of the Church, of ministry and of the Eucharist, both as sacrament and sacrifice, done within the historical context of the division among Christians. It is following with interest and profit the efforts being made to clarify the problem in all its dimensions and to work out a more precise vocabulary. Above all it is pleased with the inter-confessional dialogue on this subject which is now taking place at both local and international levels. The Secretariat hopes that these conversations will help to bring about a convergence of positions on the subject. Still, it must be pointed out that, up to the present, these dialogues have not yet produced results which can be adopted on both sides by those who have responsibility in the Churches and ecclesial communities involved.

The Catholic Church, then, is not at present in a position to modify the norms of the Directory concerning Ecumenical Matters as given above. The line of conduct traced out there results from the Church reflecting on her own faith and considering the pastoral needs of the faithful. Before considering another way of acting in the matter of a common Eucharist, it will be necessary to establish clearly that any change to be made will remain totally in conformity with the Church's profession of faith and that it will be a service to the spiritual life of her members.

10. At this time when the Week of Prayer for Unity is about to begin, we are taking into account the extent to which the desire for a common Eucharist powerfully stimulates the search for that perfect ecclesial unity among all Christians willed by Christ. This desire can be expressed very appropriately in the celebrations which will take place during this Week of Prayer. As well as the reading of and meditation upon holy Scripture, these celebrations could in fact include elements which point towards the common Eucharist so much desired: our gratitude for the partial unity already obtained, our regret for the divisions which still remain and our firm resolve to do everything possible to overcome them, and finally our humble petition to the Lord to hasten the day when we will be able to celebrate together the mystery of the Body and the Blood of Christ.

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[1] Decree on Ecumenism, D. 32, n. 8

[2] Decree on Ecumenism, n. 14

[3] Decree on Ecumenism, n. 15

[4] Cf. Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches, nn. 27, 29

[5] Decree on Ecumenism, n. 22

[6] Directory Concerning Ecumenical Matters, Part One, nn. 39-47

[7] Cf. Decree on Ecumenism, n. 8

[8] Directory concerning Ecumenical Matters, Part One, nn. 55

[9] Note on application of Directory concerning Ecumenical Matters, L'Osservatore Romano 6 October 1968

[10] L'Osservatore Romano, 14 November 1968

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