Dr Daly's proposal criticised for not dealing with most controversial issue

Cardinal Cahal Daly's suggestion of an alternative to inter-church Communion has been welcomed by representatives of both Catholic and Protestant churches, but the proposal has also been criticised for not dealing with the central issue raised by the recent controversy.

Speaking at an ecumenical service on Tuesday to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the cardinal suggested that seeking the blessing of a priest or ordained minister was a respectful alternative to inter-church Communion.

But while there was a general welcome for the tone of his comments yesterday, clergy and theologians on both sides of the religious divide said the proposal was not new and did not deal with the problems of those who wanted to receive Communion in a church of which they were not members.

The Rev Brian Stewart, rector of the parish church of St George in Belfast, said the blessing was already being used in Ireland in ecumenical settings. But the problem for priests and ministers was the "normal Sunday morning service" where members of another religious persuasion came forward to receive Communion. "Am I supposed to turn people away in that situation? Is that what the cardinal is suggesting?"

He said the proposal did not help Catholics who were taking "temporary hospitality" in his church, or persons of mixed marriage, "constantly separated at the altar rails".

Ms Anne Thurston, a Catholic theologian who regularly takes Communion in her husband's Anglican church, said Dr Daly's suggestion was "very appealing as he describes it and valuable in its own right".

"But we still need to address the issue of sharing the Eucharist. The practice of receiving a blessing already exists within the Anglican tradition, but to participate in the the Eucharist is a very different thing and I don't think the blessing answers that. In that sense, I feel the cardinal's suggestion is another way of avoiding the issue."

Dr Daly's proposal was "useful as a way of reducing embarrassment for those unable to take Communion, but it isn't a real answer", according to Father Bernard Treacy, editor of the Dominican publication, Doctrine and Life.

"It's been done in England and the US for years and it's a good way of overcoming the embarrassment when you're the only person who doesn't go forward to the altar rails. But it doesn't overcome the real difficulty."

Father Gabriel Daly, a lecturer in theology at Trinity College, Dublin, and at the School of Ecumenics, said he had always been taught that Communion is never refused, as to do so could be to defame a person.

Speaking on RTE radio, he said the cardinal had not dealt with the substantive issue, but his own view on the matter was that church law could be broken in circumstances where conscience dictated. The former spokesman for the diocese of Ferns, Father Walter Forde, said the cardinal's "calm and reasonable" comments were helpful "but I would still feel there's scope for movement by the church at international level to broaden the range of occasions where inter-communion is possible". He was particularly thinking of "inter-church families", he said.

The President, Mrs McAleese, declined to comment on Dr Daly's suggestion, while a church spokesman said the cardinal did not want to add to his comments in Bray. "His idea was to put this idea into the ether, as it were, and he's said all he wants to for the moment".

The US ambassador, Mrs Jean Kennedy Smith, said the suggestion of the blessing was "interesting and helpful", but she declined to say whether she would opt to receive it in future attendances at Anglican churches.

The ambassador has regularly received Communion at Protestant churches in the US and did so again in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, before Christmas.