Replies

Please keep in mind that the bishops are tossing out personal impressions from their own experiences. Nothing is cast in concrete. It's a big world - what works in one culture doesn't always work in another.

This is printed from the official Vatican transcripts. Now let's see how the media rewrites them.

Keep in mind that there are representatives from the Orthodox Churches, and other denominations, present at the Synod. They have no voting privilege, though.

I had always understood that Catholics were allowed to receive Communion in an Orthodox church if they were so invited. But I've since learned here on FR that is not the case.

Dear friends of ours are Russian Orthodox. They've never received Communion in our family's Masses, though they understand they've always been invited by the priest saying the Mass. However, their church forbids them to take Communion in a Catholic Mass.

Thanks for the post. Each intervention speaks to a different aspect of the Eucharist and I especially like the one from +Menghisteab of Eritrea. It is "ontologically" Orthodox.

The one from the Exarch for Serbia and Montegnegro is certainly more cautious in that he recognizes that..."the Eucharist cannot be the means for communion, not even the means for building a generic human community. The Eucharist is not even a starting point." This is a distinctly Orthodox point of view, which understands that the Eucharist is, among other things, a symbol of unity. That unity does not yet exist. I suspect he would say, at this time, that intercommunion is a fraud.

Finally, the interesting, if somewhat disingenuous, questions of +Lubomyr of Kiev. He asks:

"If the Liturgy is a regula fidei (lex orandi, lex credendi)

- if the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Oriental Churches in communion with the See of Rome and by the Orthodox or Apostolical Churches is identical for both,

-if there is mutual recognition of the Apostolic Succession of Bishops and, consequently, of priests that celebrate it, then my question is: what more is required for unity?"

Let's assume for the moment that everything he says is true. He knows the answer as well as his own name.

" Is there maybe another fons or another culmen superior to the Eucharist?"

Yes, an infallible, monarchical papacy claiming universal jurisdiction over the whole Church. + Lubomyr knows this as well as I do. he isn't speaking to the Orthodox in the hall, he's speaking to the Pope. Once again this rather odd, but very interesting and maybe brave, man is right in the face of Latin ecclesiology. He is a man to watch; from the Roman standpoint, maybe the proverbial "man on horseback".

My experience is that the Orthodox Churches will not let their faithful communicate in a Catholic Church unless it is a dire emergency; Traditionalist bodies like Old Calendar Orthodox Churches don't even consider the Church of Rome as a Catholic Church with valid sacraments; for them the Roman See has been vacant since the Great Schism and Apostolic Succession interrupted.

For the Orthodox Traditionalists, the question isn't even academic: for them to receive communion from a Catholic priest is like a Catholic receiving it from a Mormon minister, iow, "there's nothing there"--pace Mormons. Therefore they don't do it.

I don't understand these prelates agitating for intercommunion with the Orthodox when we can't even agree with them if we hold the same faith in common. The Orthodox seem to be sure of what they believe in order to justify their reluctance against intercommunion. I humbly suggest that we do the same.

-Theo

Please keep in mind that the bishops are tossing out personal impressions from their own experiences. Nothing is cast in concrete. It's a big world - what works in one culture doesn't always work in another.

Thanks for the reminder.

China rejects Pope's invitation for bishops to attend Synod
Trautman on the Synod
Vatican publishes list of special experts and auditors for next Synod
Synod of Bishops to review liturgical issues, emphasize Sunday Mass
CONFIRMED: CHINESE BISHOPS CANNOT ATTEND SYNOD

Bishops meet at Vatican for synod; Communion to Catholic politicians on agenda
Papal Homily at Opening of Synod - "Lord: Help Us to Be Converted!"
Briefing on Synod of Bishops (to the media)
A primer on the October Synod of Bishops in Rome
Top Cardinal Plays Down Priest Shortage (Divorcees to receive communion?)

The First Synod after the Conclave Gets Underway. The Pope Is Being Tested
Ordination of married men is raised at Vatican synod
Bishop Urges Talk of Polticians at Vatican
Abandon Eucharistic doctrine, dissidents urge Synod
Vatican clamps down on information at synod

Bishops Discussing Communion in the Hand - Also Concerned About How the Mass Is Celebrated
Synod Reflects on a Key Ecumenical Question
SYNODUS EPISCOPORUM BULLETIN (Summary of Synod Working Groups - First Session - Oct.5
Archbishop Jan Lenga of Kazakhstan: Restore Tabernacle, Stop Communion in the Hand
"No to General Absolution," Except Rarely, Says Cardinal Re

SYNOD - Report #5: Environment, social justice emerge as eucharistic themes
No ban on gays expected in Vatican document; will advise 'prudential judgement'
Communion in hand versus on tongue gets attention at synod (strange commentary from bishops)
Synod - 07Oct - Married vs Celibate Priests
Synod - 06Oct - The Trinitarian, Marian, and Ecclesiological dimension of the Eucharist

Pope Addresses Synod Unexpectedly
Some bishops say church must reconsider role for married priests
Deja vu: First week of (Vatican) synod follows patterns from past
7 Key Topics Discussed So Far at (Vatican) Synod - Spokesman Assesses 1st Week of Assembly
Eucharistic adoration is key, but also has drawbacks, bishops say

SYNOD OF BISHOPS - 10OCT05 - Intercommunion (with Orthodox Church among topics)
SYNOD OF BISHOPS - 10OCT05 - Participation of the Laity (with music)