{"id":31783,"date":"2015-11-15T11:57:04","date_gmt":"2015-11-15T17:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=31783"},"modified":"2019-10-26T08:06:09","modified_gmt":"2019-10-26T13:06:09","slug":"pope-francis-on-intercommunion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/15\/pope-francis-on-intercommunion\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis on Catholic-Lutheran Intercommunion [UPDATED]"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning Pope Francis visited the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rome. Here is an English translation of what Pope Francis said to the Lutheran woman, married to a Catholic man, when asked about the possibility of sharing together in Communion. H\/T Whispers in the Loggia<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The question on sharing the Lord\u2019s Supper isn\u2019t easy for me to respond to, above all in front of a theologian like Cardinal Kasper \u2013 I\u2019m scared! <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span> I think of how the Lord told us when he gave us this mandatum<\/i> to \u201cdo this in memory of me,\u201d and when we share the Lord\u2019s Supper, we recall and we imitate the same as the Lord. And there will be the Lord\u2019s Supper in the final banquet in the new Jerusalem \u2013 it\u2019ll be there! But that will be the last one\u2026 in the meantime, I ask myself and don\u2019t know how to respond \u2013 what you\u2019re asking me, I ask myself the question. To share the Lord\u2019s banquet: is it the goal of the path or is it the viaticum [etym.<\/i> \u201cto accompany you on the journey\u201d] for walking together? I leave that question to the theologians and those who understand. <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span> It\u2019s true that in a certain sense, to share means that there aren\u2019t differences between us, that we have the same doctrine \u2013 underscoring that word, a difficult word to understand. But I ask myself: but don\u2019t we have the same Baptism? If we have the same Baptism, shouldn\u2019t we be walking together? And you\u2019re a witness of a likewise profound journey, a journey of marriage: itself a journey of family and human love and of a shared faith, no? We have the same Baptism. <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span> When you feel yourself a sinner \u2013 and I\u2019m much more of a sinner \u2013 when your husband feels he\u2019s sinned, you go forward to the Lord and ask forgiveness; your husband does the same and also goes to the priest and asks absolution, [thus] I\u2019m healed and kept alive in my Baptism. When you pray together, that Baptism grows, becomes stronger. When you teach your kids who is Jesus? Why did Jesus come? What did Jesus do for us?, you\u2019re doing the same thing, whether in the Lutheran language or the Catholic one, but it\u2019s the same. <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span> The question [Pope draws question mark with his finger]\u2026. The supper? There are questions that only if one is sincere with oneself and the little theological light one has, must be responded to on one\u2019s own. See for yourself. This is my body. This is my blood. Do it in remembrance of me \u2013 this is a viaticum that helps us to journey on. <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span> I once had a great friendship with a bishop who went a little wrong * \u2013 48 years old, he married [then had] two children. This made for great discomfort in him \u2013 a Catholic wife, Catholic children, him a bishop. He accompanied them on Sunday, his wife and children, to Mass, and then went to worship with his community\u2026. It was a step toward his participation in the Lord\u2019s Supper. Then he went forward, then the Lord called him [to realize] \u201cI\u2019m not right.\u201d **<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span> I can only respond to your question with a question: what can I do with my husband that the Lord\u2019s Supper might accompany me on my path? It\u2019s a problem that each must answer [for themselves], but a pastor-friend once told me that \u201cWe believe that the Lord is present, he is present\u201d \u2013 you believe that the Lord is present. There are explanations, interpretations, but life is bigger than explanations and interpretations. Always refer back to your baptism \u2013 one faith, one baptism, one Lord: this Paul tells us; the consequences come later. <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span> I would never dare to give permission to do this, because it\u2019s not my competence. One baptism, one Lord, one faith. Talk to the Lord and go forward. [Pauses] And I wouldn’t dare \u2013 I don\u2019t dare say anything more.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On this difficult question we’ve had some fifty years now of studies and dialogues and papers and conferences and books and statements and official documents and…<\/p>\n

If I’m not mistaken, the pope just cut through all of it and said everyone can follow their own conscience and decide for themselves.<\/p>\n

True, this was only a Q&A and no official statement of the magisterium. But the pope said it. This is a significant.<\/p>\n

awr<\/p>\n

* PT<\/em> reader Padraig McCarthy points out that the official Italian text is “grande amacizia con un vescovo episcopaliano.”\u00a0Francis did not say that the bishop went a little wrong.<\/p>\n

** Padraig points out that that official Italian is: \u201cil Signore lo ha chiamato, un uomo giusto.\u201d This is quite the opposite of the translation, which should read: \u201cThe Lord called him, a just man.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“There are questions that … must be responded to on one\u2019s own. See for yourself… Talk to the Lord and go forward…”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[13,19,2224],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ecumenism","category-mass","category-pope-francis"],"yoast_head":"\nPope Francis on Catholic-Lutheran Intercommunion [UPDATED] - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/15\/pope-francis-on-intercommunion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope Francis on Catholic-Lutheran Intercommunion [UPDATED] - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""There are questions that ... must be responded to on one\u2019s own. 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