c. 1998 Religion News Service

LONDON _ The Roman Catholic bishops of Britain and Ireland, in their first joint doctrinal statement, warned Catholics they may not receive Holy Communion in Anglican and Protestant churches and told non-Catholics they are welcome at the Catholic communion table only in”grave”circumstances.

The 80-page statement,”One Bread, One Body,”comes in the wake of a series of highly-publicized intercommunion incidents involving British and Irish political figures, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish President Mary McAleese.

In addition, there were incidents involving President Clinton, a Southern Baptist who took communion at a Catholic church during his visit to Africa earlier this year, and members of the Protestant Dutch royal family who received the sacrament during the wedding ceremony of Prince Maurits, who was marrying a Catholic.

But the document was aimed more at the increasingly common grassroots practice of intercommunion, a practice especially prevalent among intermarried couples.

The document emphasizes that church law requires there must be some”grave and pressing need”for a non-Catholic to be admitted to communion and such eucharistic hospitality is by way of exception.

It argues that in Britain and Ireland occasions when Christians cannot receive the sacraments from a minister of their own church will be infrequent though it acknowledges there are”unique occasions”such as baptisms, first communions, weddings, and funerals.

But even then the document takes a restrictive line. “Even when the bride or groom is indeed admitted to holy communion at a nuptial Mass, it is not envisaged that this be extended to relatives and other guests not in full communion with the Catholic Church,”the bishops said.

Moreover, while non-Catholics may be admitted to communion, there can be no reciprocity as far as Anglican and other Protestant churches are concerned, the bishops said.”It is not permissible for Catholics to receive Holy Communion … from ministers of the Anglican Communion … the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland, or of other faith communities rooted in the Reformation,”the bishops _ from Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland _ said.

Catholics are allowed to receive the sacraments only from a minister in whose church the sacraments are considered valid and from a priest known to be”validly ordained”according to Catholic teaching, as the Catholic Church considers the Eastern churches.”It is for this reason that exceptional sacramental sharing between the Catholic Church and these faith communities cannot be reciprocal, whereas this is sometimes a real possibility with the Eastern (Orthodox) Churches not in full communion with the Catholic Church.” While the Catholic and Anglican churches are theologically close, the bishops said”special difficulties”with regard to Anglican orders _ the priesthood _”remain unresolved”despite the agreement reached between Catholics and Anglicans on ministry and ordination.

By taking note of those difficulties, the document implied a response to Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey’s plea in April that the Catholics be”more generous”in offering eucharistic hospitality to Anglicans.

But Cardinal Basil Hume, Catholic archbishop of Westminster, told reporters Sept. 30 the document teaches there are”no circumstances”in which a Roman Catholic could legitimately receive communion at an Anglican eucharist.

Hume said he had met with Carey and shared with him the substance of the new statement. They had, he said,”a very full, a very frank, and very good discussion”of the document that was”a very fine example of ecumenical dialogue. He respects my view; I respect his. And we will go on dialoguing together.” Carey told reporters Thursday the document”will disappoint many people in mixed marriages. It does not acknowledge the particular situation that they are in.” In Britain, as in the United States, many parish priests _ for pastoral reasons _ turn a blind eye to non-Catholic participation in the Eucharist, especially with intermarried couples.

Hume said the document’s interpretation of Vatican norms is that it is only in exceptional cases that the non-Catholic partner could receive communion.

But, he added,”We (bishops) can set out the norms, but if someone does it differently, there’s not much we can do about it.” Hume did say it was OK for Blair to receive the sacrament when he was on vacation in Tuscany.”It answered the rules,”Hume said.”He couldn’t get to his own (Anglican) church. He believes what we believe.”

DEA END NOWELL