President's action reopens unity debate

The impact of President McAleese receiving Holy Communion in Christ Church Cathedral will probably be more keenly felt on this island than the many inter-church discussions and documents there have been, over many years, on the topic of churches sharing in each other's Eucharist.

Some may presume it shows that the difficulties about receiving Holy Communion in churches other than one's own are now resolved. Others may have great difficulty in reconciling her action with their knowledge of the discipline of their church.

It is true to say many of the major Christian denominations do have an "open table", where full communicant members of other Christian churches are welcomed to share Holy Communion/the Lord's Supper with the local congregation. The Church of Ireland would be among these, so the invitation to other Christians present at the Eucharist in Christ Church last Sunday would be normal practice.

However, there are two major strands of the Christian church who hold a different view on the question of inter-communion. These are the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions. Both maintain a very close identity between their understanding of church and Sacrament.

They view Holy Communion as a sign and as an intrinsic part of being in full communion with their own church and its tradition. Because of this, they believe that receiving Communion in a church other than one's own, or asking people who are not full members of their church to share Communion, does not make sense - it is an anomaly.

In recent years, however, some progress has been made on this question of the Eucharist and sharing Communion, both ecumenically and within the directives of the Roman Catholic Church.

It was very encouraging, for instance, to see the degree of convergence achieved on this topic in 1982, with the publication of Bap- tism, Eucharist and Ministry. It emerged from discussions involving a very broad spectrum of Christian churches, including the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions. Sadly, however, many people in our churches here in Ireland seem unaware of this.

The Roman Catholic Church has shown some movement towards the possibility of there being some circumstances in which other Christians may receive Holy Communion consecrated at its Eucharist.

One of the most recent references to this is in Pope John Paul II's encyclical on Christian Unity, Ut Unum Sint (1995). Here, the conditions laid down are that the person must greatly desire to receive Communion; that he/she freely requests it; and finally, that he/she manifests a faith which the Catholic Church professes, with regard to the Sacrament. (It is perhaps significant that an earlier, fourth, condition has been omitted. It required that a person should have been unable to have access to their own church or minister for a long time).

It has been suggested that the third condition might be met by a person accepting "the remarkable consensus" (a Vatican phrase) on the Eucharist achieved by the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches in 1982.

If we are to move forward on the issue of sharing Eucharist in our churches and receiving Communion from one another, we need to continue to reach agreements on Holy Orders too, so it is acceptable to receive Holy Communion from those we believe to be validly ordained ministers in our churches.

In advancing towards such a circumstance, perhaps the heart-felt desire of inter-church families to be united around a meal symbolising love and unity in God's family will energise us. Maybe the voices of long-standing and committed ecumenical groups of Christians, who regularly pray together and seek God's will, can be a prophetic call.

In conclusion, we might ponder on a suggestion of John Coventry SJ, who said: "We need to make a clear distinction between inter-communion as a formal relationship between churches and inter-communion as an actual event, or as an approved practice in the case of individuals or groups."

Yes, we must continue the long task of building formal relationships between the churches. But let us also recognise the unpredictable spirit of God in prophetic actions that look beyond the here and now.

Pamela Stotter is a lecturer in Ecumenical Theology at the Irish School of Ecumenics.