Catholic critics of McAleese under fire on ecumenism

An editorial in the January/February issue of the Dominican publication Doctrine & Life criticises Catholic commentators who have spoken out since the President, Mrs McAleese, took Communion in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral. It also asks how anyone can truthfully claim that the Church of Ireland does not believe in the Real Presence.

The editorial, by Father Bernard Treacy OP, defends Catholics who accept the Anglican invitation to take Communion. They "clearly believe that the quest for unity has now reached a point where there is a truthful option even if Canon Law does not provide for it," he writes, adding it must be taken that such Catholics honestly see themselves as witnessing to the convergence already reached between the churches.

Father Treacy expresses disappointment that some Catholic commentators should have "refought the battles of 400 years ago with ringing denunciations of the Reformation churches as rejecting belief in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist". It was as if the work of the first Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), with its substantial agreement about the Eucharist, had never been undertaken.

"The fact that the [Vatican's] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sought further clarification should not trap us into thinking ARCIC has been rejected by Rome, and after the Agreement's formal acceptance by the Church of Ireland General Synod, how can anyone claim that the Church of Ireland does not believe in the Real Presence?"

After 30 years of ecumenical discussions many agreed documents had been produced "which chronicle a growing convergence and a deepening level of understanding", he says. This had meant accepting the concept of unity "by stages" instead of assuming it would come about by one final act. It also involved accepting that this was a process which could not be expected to be "absolutely neat and utterly tidy".

"Anyone who has lived through the years since the Vatican II decree Unitatis Redintegratio will recognise that this is what has been taking place."

He wonders whether people are now impatient to move to a stage of deeper recognition and refers to a comment that the Roman and Anglican Communions are now "like an engaged couple who lack the courage to go ahead and get married".

He says perhaps there is a need for Canon Law to be more courageous and more prompt in spelling out how each new stage in the ecumenical journey can be given liturgical expression.

Sunday, December 7th, was not likely to have been the first time a Catholic received Holy Communion from an Anglican but "what made the Christ Church photograph newsworthy was that it was the President's hands on the chalice".

There was now a danger that the President's future attendance at Church of Ireland celebrations of the Eucharist would be very closely observed. He believed this would be a most unhappy development.