<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-article-header"><header><h1 class="gmail-article-title">What’s wrong with the German bishops’ statement on intercommunion</h1>
<div class="gmail-article-meta">
<div class="gmail-article-author">by <strong><a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/author/edward-condon/" title="Posts by Ed Condon" rel="author">Ed Condon</a></strong></div>
<div class="gmail-article-date">posted <time datetime="2018-02-23 08:27:13">Friday, 23 Feb 2018<br><a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2018/02/23/whats-wrong-with-the-german-bishops-statement-on-intercommunion/">http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2018/02/23/whats-wrong-with-the-german-bishops-statement-on-intercommunion/</a><br></time></div>
</div>
</header></div>
<div class="gmail-content-container gmail-clearfix">
<div class="gmail-article-content">
<div class="gmail-article-featured"><img src="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/content/uploads/2018/02/20170307T1326-8324-CNS-GERMAN-BISHOPS-MEETING-800x500.jpg" class="gmail-featured-image gmail-wp-post-image" alt="" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="293" height="183"> <div class="gmail-featured-caption">
Prelates and other clergymen attend Mass at the annual meeting of Germany's bishops in Cologne. (CNS) </div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-article-text">
<p class="gmail-article-standfirst"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Canon law does not envisage</span></b> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the ongoing reception of</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Communion</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> by</b><b> someone who remains</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Protestant</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>To the shock and dismay</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>of many Catholics</b></span>, t<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>he German Bishops’ Conference has <a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2018/02/23/german-bishops-guidelines-allow-communion-for-protestant-spouses-in-certain-circumstances/">voted by an “overwhelming” margin</a> to
produce a “guide” on the reception of</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Communion</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> by</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>the Protestant
spouses of</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Catholics</b></span>. The news is indeed concerning – but let’s be
clear: <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>we are not dealing with any kind of canonically or doctrinally
authoritative document.</b></span> Even once it has been written – at the moment,
no such guide exists –<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> the German bishops</b></span> have conceded that, as a
conference, they <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>do not have</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>the ability to legislate</b> <b>on this matter</b></span> and
that it would be for bishops to apply this forthcoming guide to their
individual dioceses.</p>
<p>Nevertheless,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> this is – to say the least – a rash step for such a
powerful bishops’ conference to take.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>The bishops have agreed that
following a “serious examination of conscience” guided by a priest or
another pastoral guide, a <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">Protestant spouse</span> who “affirms the faith of
the Catholic Church” and wishes to end “serious spiritual distress” and a
“longing to satisfy a hunger for t<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">he Eucharist”</span> should be able to
receive <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Communion</span>.</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>These guidelines would seem to go well beyond </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>canon law, which puts
very definite limits on who can receive Communion and when. <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">“Danger of
death” or comparable “grave necessity</span>” is what the Code of Canon Law
speak about for</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Protestants</b></span>. Clearly this is only envisaged as a one-off
occasion. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The German bishops’ intentions appear to go well beyond and
provide for some kind of stable arrangement – receiving Communion week
a<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><span style=""></span></span>fter week – which is completely outside <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">what the Church provides for</span>.</b></span></p>
<p>A key requirement of canon law, which the German bishops have
included in their own deliberations, is that a Protestant “manifest the
Catholic faith in respect to these sacraments” (c. 844 §4). But <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>to
really believe in the Eucharist doesn’t just mean believing in the Real
Presence; it means one has to believe in what comes with it, including
the reality of the sacramental priesthood, and the validity and efficacy
of the rest of the sacraments, and the authority of the Church over
them. </b></span>The social teaching of the Church is often described as a
“seamless garment”, and this is even more true of the sacraments.</p>
<p>Now,<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> if </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>a Protestant spouse</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>believes in the claims of the Catholic
Church, and does so continuously, receiving Communion week after week,
they would effectively be professing themselves to be Catholic, and
<u>should be properly received into the Church accordingly</u>.</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> The German
bishops’ plan – however much they deny it – sounds very much like a
template for pseudo-conversions:</b></span> these Protestant spouses would
essentially be Catholics in belief but not in name.<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> <u>In Germany, the
bishops claim the power to deny <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Catholics the sacraments,</span> even <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">a
Christian burial,</span> if <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">they don’t pay their Church tax</span>; but they are
apparently happy to hand out <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the sacraments</span> to <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">Protestants</span> for free</u>.</b></span></p>
<p>Of course, until the text of the guidelines is published, it is hard
to guess how flawed their reasoning really is. Even then, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>such a
document </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>would have not legal force </b></span>–<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> though it could prove a serious
inducement to error</b></span>. What we can say is that it appears <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the German
Bishops’ Conference is preparing to play fast and loose with <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the source
and summit of Christian life</span>.</b></span> T<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>hey risk treating <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the Eucharist</span> as a mere
expression of<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"> unity between Catholics and Protestants</span> –</b></span> and<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> so
committing the serious error of placing <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">our communion with each other </span>
ahead of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">communion with God and the Church.</span></b></span></p>
<div class="gmail-subscribe-actions"><h2 class="gmail-subscribe-actions__title"></h2></div></div></div></div>
<br></div><div id="DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2"><br> <table style="border-top:1px solid #d3d4de">
<tr>
<td style="width:55px;padding-top:18px"><a href="https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail" target="_blank"><img src="https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-round-orange-animated-no-repeat-v1.gif" alt="" width="46" height="29" style="width: 46px; height: 29px;"></a></td>
<td style="width:470px;padding-top:17px;color:#41424e;font-size:13px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:18px">Mentes a vírusoktól. <a href="https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail" target="_blank" style="color:#4453ea">www.avast.com</a> </td>
</tr>
</table>
<a href="#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2" width="1" height="1"></a></div>