Getting Along at the Altar

In the course of a “self-interview” in his book Signposts in a Strange Land , Walker Percy discussed his becoming a Catholic Christian. What attracted him, he said, was “Christianity’s rather insolent claim to be true, with the implication that the other religions are more or less false.” In our time when “truth” is commonly put in ironic quotes, there is something bracingly contrarian in such a statement. Contrarianism can easily morph into crankiness, however, as witness Christians obsessively disputing and dividing over their supposedly singular grasp of the fine points of truth. The line between faithful insolence and egregious arrogance is not always clear. But the truth is that truth obliges, and sometimes truth divides. That is among the truths underscored in John Paul II’s fourteenth encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia (The Church of the Eucharist), issued on Thursday of Holy Week last.

“Can’t we all just get along?” The plaintive question of Rodney King during the 1991 Los Angeles race riots elicited a warm response from millions of Americans. Throughout the fractious history of Christian differences, many have asked the same question, and nowhere is it asked so insistently as at the point of intercommunion in the Eucharist. Many Christian communities, weary of the differences that divide, have answered that there is no reason at all why we can’t all just get along at the altar. I was impressed a while ago by a sign in a college chapel at Oxford that said all Christians were invited to share in Holy Communion”as well as those of other religions and no religion who wish to participate in, if I remember the wording correctly, this “symbolic act of the unity of humankind.” One recalls the response of Flannery O’Connor to Mary McCarthy at that New York dinner party: “If it’s just a symbol, to hell with it.” O’Connor reports the incident in a letter to a friend. Usually unmentioned is what she immediately adds: “That was all the defense I was capable of, but I realize now that this is all I will ever be able to say about it, outside of a story, except that it is the center of existence for me; all the rest of life is expendable.” That is pretty much what John Paul is saying in Ecclesia de Eucharistia .

Ecclesia de Eucharistia is about many things other than intercommunion. It is, in part, a movingly personal statement of the Pope’s experience of the Eucharist as “the source and summit” (Vatican II) of the Christian life and of his own life as a priest. It is, as is to be expected in an encyclical, a reprise of Catholic teaching on the Eucharist, drawing richly on scriptural, patristic, and conciliar sources. I was struck by the way it highlights the chief themes of the Eucharist as set forth in the 1930 classic by the Lutheran theologian and archbishop of Uppsala, Yngve Brilioth, Eucharistic Faith and Practice, Evangelical and Catholic , and then further developed by Father Louis Bouyer and others in writings that informed the great movement for liturgical renewal prior to the Second Vatican Council: the Eucharist is commemoration, thanksgiving, communion, sacrifice, and the mystery of Christ’s abiding presence on the pilgrim way to eschatological fulfillment. Each of these themes is lifted up, and some are freshly explored and expanded in Ecclesia de Eucharistia . The encyclical is at its heart ecclesiological. That is to say, it is about the Church as the Church is formed by the Eucharist. The title is telling: not the Church and the Eucharist, but the Church of the Eucharist. This is the ecclesiological context for the asking of the question, Why can’t we all just get along at the altar?

The subject has an autobiographical dimension. I was reared and ordained a pastor in the Lutheran Church”Missouri Synod (LCMS). That body practiced and, at least officially, still practices “closed communion,” or, as some prefer, “close communion.” Only members of the LCMS or of bodies formally in “pulpit and altar fellowship” with the LCMS were admitted to Holy Communion. Formal fellowship, in turn, was based on “complete doctrinal agreement” with the LCMS. Since propinquity is a common source of tensions, most particular attention was paid to avoiding intercommunion with other Lutherans who professed a seductive approximation of doctrinal agreement. (The stricter Wisconsin Synod did not countenance even prayer at the dinner table with other Lutherans.) A good thing about the LCMS at its best is that it cared about doctrine. To paraphrase Walker Percy, it made the rather insolent claim to be true, with the implication that the other Lutheran-isms, never mind non-Lutheran communions, are more or less false.

Of course, the logic of closed communion had ecclesiological implications. When the logic was robustly believed and practiced in the LCMS, a clear distinction was made between the visible and the invisible Church. Only God knows who belongs to the invisible Church. It was allowed that, by a “felicitous inconsistency,” even Roman Catholics might belong to the invisible Church and thus be saved. Things are more transparent when it comes to the visible Church. It was taught that the LCMS, along with bodies in complete doctrinal agreement with the LCMS, was “the true visible Church on earth.” Needless to say, the proposition that God established the true visible Church on earth in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1847 struck other Christians as somewhat counterintuitive. To be fair, some in the LCMS held a more nuanced version of the teaching, and the magisterial authority of Francis Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics is not what it was during the first half of the last century. But the LCMS was right in seeing that the question of communion and intercommunion necessarily entails a doctrine of the Church.

That is the argument made also by Ecclesia de Eucharistia . A great difference is that the LCMS defined the reality of the Church entirely by doctrine. Sola doctrina , so to speak. The true Church is constituted, in effect, by a school of theology and those who adhere to it. The Catholic understanding, by way of sharpest contrast, is that the Church is the People of God through time, identified and sustained by apostolic doctrine and ministry, by the holiness of saints and those called to be saints, and by the faithful doing of the sacramental things”above all the Eucharist”that Jesus commanded his disciples to do. The question of intercommunion as it is addressed by Ecclesia de Eucharistia is, then, the question of ecclesiology: whether the Catholic Church is what she claims to be.

She claims to be the Church of Jesus Christ most fully and rightly ordered through time. Or, to use the language of Vatican II, the Church of Jesus Christ uniquely “subsists” in the Catholic Church. She does not claim to be the Church exhaustively or without remainder. Other Christians are, by virtue of baptism and faith, in “real but imperfect communion” with the Catholic Church. As, conversely, Catholics are in real but imperfect communion with other Christians. The Council readily acknowledges that the signs of saving and sanctifying grace, including outstanding marks of holiness, are sometimes more evident among those outside than within the boundaries of the Catholic Church. Why, then, can’t we all just get along at the altar?

No Place for Duplicity

Ecclesia de Eucharistia fills in the necessary background to the statement of the U.S. conference of bishops that is to be found in the Mass guides or bulletins of Catholic parishes:

We welcome our fellow Christians to this celebration of the Eucharist as our brothers and sisters. We pray that our common baptism and the action of the Holy Spirit in this Eucharist will draw us closer to one another and begin to dispel the sad divisions which separate us. We pray these will lessen and finally disappear, in keeping with Christ’s prayer for us “that they may all be one.”

Because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship, members of those churches with whom we are not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Holy Communion. Eucharistic sharing in exceptional circumstances by other Christians requires permission according to the directives of the diocesan bishop and the provisions of canon law. Members of the Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Polish National Catholic Church are urged to respect the discipline of their own Churches. According to Roman Catholic discipline, the Code of Canon Law does not object to the reception of Communion by Christians of these Churches.

Ecclesia de Eucharistia underscores that this is not just an institutional rule that defies the high value our culture places on “inclusiveness.” The Pope writes: “The Eucharist, as the supreme sacramental manifestation of communion in the Church, demands to be celebrated in a context where the outward bonds of communion are intact . . . . Christ is the truth, and he bears witness to the truth (cf. John 14:6; 18:37); the sacrament of his body and blood does not permit duplicity ” (emphasis added). The encyclical says that the Church understands “an ecclesiology of communion [to be] the central and fundamental idea of the documents of the Second Vatican Council.” Intercommunion without a shared ecclesiology of communion is the enemy of authentic unity. John Paul puts it this way:

Precisely because the Church’s unity, which the Eucharist brings about through the Lord’s sacrifice and by communion in his body and blood, absolutely requires full communion in the bonds of the profession of faith, the sacraments, and ecclesiastical governance, it is not possible to celebrate together the same eucharistic liturgy until those bonds are fully reestablished. Any such concelebration would not be a valid means and might well prove instead to be an obstacle to the attainment of full communion by weakening the sense of how far we remain from this goal and by introducing or exacerbating ambiguities with regard to one or another truth of the faith. The path toward full unity can only be undertaken in truth. In this area, the prohibitions of church law leave no room for uncertainty. (Emphasis added.)

The encyclical quotes a 1993 document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “On Some Aspects of the Church Understood as Communion”: “Every Eucharist is celebrated in union not only with the proper bishop, but also with the pope, with the episcopal order, with all the clergy, and with the entire people. Every valid celebration of the Eucharist expresses this universal communion with Peter and with the whole Church, or objectively calls for it, as in the case of the Christian churches separated from Rome.” The objective call for such universal communion is evident in the “churches” of the East, as distinct from the “ecclesial communities” resulting from divisions in the West. As I have written elsewhere, the only thing that is lacking for full communion between the Orthodox East and the Catholic West is full communion. That reconciliation between East and West”so that, as John Paul has often said, “the Church can again breathe with both lungs””has not been achieved is undoubtedly the greatest single disappointment of this pontificate.

Apostolicity

In the Nicene Creed, Christians profess the Church to be “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.” Ecclesia de Eucharistia stresses in particular the importance of apostolicity. It is to the apostles that Jesus entrusted the Eucharist, and “it is in continuity with the practice of the apostles, in obedience to the Lord’s command, that the Church has celebrated the Eucharist down the centuries.” Apostolic practice is joined to apostolic faith. “With the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, the ‘good deposit,’ the salutary words she has heard from the apostles.” “Here too,” says John Paul, “the Eucharist is apostolic, for it is celebrated in conformity with the faith of the apostles. At various times in the 2,000 year history of the people of the new covenant, the Church’s Magisterium has more precisely defined her teaching on the Eucharist . . . precisely in order to safeguard the apostolic faith with regard to this sublime mystery. This faith remains unchanged, and it is essential for the Church that it remain unchanged.”

Then there is the question of apostolic ministry. The encyclical cites the Catechism of the Catholic Church ’s assertion that the Church “continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ’s return through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops, assisted by priests, in union with the successor to Peter, the Church’s supreme pastor.” John Paul adds, “Succession to the apostles in the pastoral mission necessarily entails the sacrament of holy orders, that is, the uninterrupted sequence from the very beginning of valid episcopal ordinations. This succession is essential for the Church to exist in a proper and full sense.” Needless to say, not all Christians agree with this understanding of apostolic fidelity. But despite the divisions at the altar that it necessarily entails, the Catholic Church is bound by it. The conviction is that a unity purchased at the price of evasion or duplicity cannot be a unity pleasing to God.

The above-mentioned distinction between the visible and invisible Church also comes into play. The Pope writes:

The celebration of the Eucharist cannot be the starting point for communion; it presupposes that communion already exists, a communion which it seeks to consolidate and bring to perfection. The sacrament is an expression of this bond of communion both in its invisible dimension, which in Christ and through the working of the Holy Spirit unites us to the Father and among ourselves, and in its visible dimension, which entails communion in the teaching of the apostles, in the sacraments, and in the Church’s hierarchical order. The profound relationship between the invisible and the visible elements of ecclesial communion is constitutive of the Church as the sacrament of salvation. Only in this context can there be a legitimate celebration of the Eucharist and true participation in it. Consequently, it is an intrinsic requirement of the Eucharist that it should be celebrated in communion and specifically maintaining the various bonds of that communion intact.

The Uncompromisable Goal

The Church’s commitment to full Christian unity is, as this pope has repeatedly said, irrevocable. Catholics must be in dialogue with Christians who do not share the Catholic understanding of apostolic fidelity, they should develop cooperative relationships in work and witness, and they can engage in common prayer and worship. But they cannot receive communion at other altars lest they “condone an ambiguity about the nature of the Eucharist and consequently fail in their duty to bear clear witness to the truth.” Such intercommunion is sometimes seen as a mark of ecumenical progress, but, in fact, the practice “would result in slowing the progress being made toward full visible unity.” On the other hand, common services of prayer, worship, and Bible study may “prepare for the goal of full communion, including eucharistic communion, but they cannot replace it.” The uncompromisable goal of ecumenism, in the Catholic understanding, is full communion.

But what about the statement that non-Catholics are “ordinarily” not admitted to Holy Communion? The answer is that exceptions to the rule are indeed extraordinary and made for compelling pastoral reasons. John Paul writes, “In this case, the intention is to meet a grave spiritual need for the eternal salvation of an individual believer, not to bring about an intercommunion which remains impossible until the visible bonds of ecclesial communion are fully reestablished.” He then repeats what he wrote in the encyclical Ut Unum Sint (That They May be One): “It is a source of joy to note that Catholic ministers are able in certain particular cases to administer the sacraments of the Eucharist, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick to Christians who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church but who greatly desire to receive these sacraments, freely request them, and manifest the faith which the Catholic Church professes with regard to these sacraments.” Catholics, on the other hand, “may not receive communion in those communities which lack a valid sacrament of orders.” Those churches in communion with Peter and the Orthodox are held to have a valid sacrament of orders.

“The ecclesial communion of the eucharistic assembly,” the encyclical states, “is a communion with its own bishop and with the Roman pontiff.” St Ignatius of Antioch is cited: “That Eucharist which is celebrated under the bishop, or under one to whom the bishop has given this charge, may be considered certain.” And Vatican II: “The Roman pontiff, as the successor of Peter, is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity of the bishops and of the multitude of the faithful.” From the beginning, the Church understood that fellowship at the eucharistic table defined the boundaries of those who are and those who are not in full communion with one another and with Christ. St. Paul writes, “Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28). John Paul quotes a homily of St. John Chrysostom: “I too raise my voice, I beseech, beg, and implore that no one draw near to this sacred table with a sullied and corrupt conscience. Such an act, in fact, can never be called ‘communion,’ not even were we to touch the Lord’s body a thousand times over, but ‘condemnation,’ ‘torment,’ and ‘increase of punishment.’” St. Augustine is called to witness: “Christ the Lord hallowed at his table the mystery of our peace and unity. Whoever receives the mystery of unity without preserving the bonds of peace receives not a mystery for his benefit but evidence against himself.”

For many Christians, and for not a few Catholics, this teaching on intercommunion is both incomprehensible and offensive. In ecumenical circles, our division at the altar is commonly described as tragic, and it is that. In those communities, however, where the Eucharist is not understood or practiced as “the source and summit” of Christian existence, the use of the word “tragic” is somewhat hyperbolic. When non-Catholics speak of the tragedy of our not being united in eucharistic celebration, the tragedy they often have in mind is the “narrow” and “rigid” position of the Catholic Church. In the Catholic understanding, however, we really cannot do what others, and we, earnestly want to do, and that really is tragic because our “real but imperfect communion” is objectively ordered to, yearns and groans for, its perfection in eucharistic communion. But the Eucharist and other sacraments do not belong to the Church, to do with them as we wish. The Eucharist belongs to Christ, is Christ, and of that mystery we are the ministers and stewards. “The sacrament of his body and blood does not permit duplicity.”

The End of Ecumenism

Consider, too, that, were we now to act on our desire for a common celebration of the Eucharist, that would be the end of ecumenism, of the quest for the unity that Christ intends for his disciples. Eucharistic communion is the consummate expression of our unity in Christ. Were we to pretend that it had already been achieved, we would all be free to return to our several and separate religious communities and associations and go about business as usual. It would be not only the end of ecumenism but the end of faithfulness to the truth, as God has given us to know the truth. Is this bread and wine symbolic of Christ’s spiritual presence, or is this the body and blood of the crucified and risen Lord in the fullness of his humanity and divinity? Never mind. Does Christ intend an apostolically ordered community through time with a teaching authority under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or is belief determined by private judgment or majority vote? Never mind. For that matter, is Jesus true God and true man? Never mind. What matters is that we all call ourselves Christians, and Christians “do this in memory of him,” regardless of our conflicted understandings of what, in fact, we are doing, and of what, in fact, if anything, Christ is doing in our doing of it. This way of thinking is the way of duplicity in which we succeed in deceiving only ourselves. It would signal the end of the quest for unity in truth. A sure way not to reach a destination is to pretend that you have arrived before you get there.

An evangelical reader writes about an earlier comment on the Catholic Church’s commitment to unity being irrevocable. “That’s exactly what worries me,” he says. “The Catholic Church will never give up until all of us return to Rome.” In a recent lecture in England, Walter Cardinal Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, said, “We do not advocate an ecumenism of return. Ecumenism is not a way back; it is a way ahead into the future. Ecumenism is an expression of a pilgrim Church, of the people of God, which in its journey is guided, inspired, and supported by the Spirit, which guides us in the whole truth” (John 16:13). Of course there is always a necessary return to the sources ( ressourcement ), especially the Scriptures and the fullness of the apostolic tradition. But it is precisely the sources that mandate and inform the spirituality and hard work of ecumenism, which is directed toward the future. That future may be a long way off. Christian unity, like world evangelization and much else to which we are called, must be seen against an eschatological horizon.

When the prayer of Jesus in John 17 is fulfilled, it will not be a matter of Baptists or Presbyterians becoming Roman Catholics. There will be but one Church, and it may well be that distinct traditions of theology and practice, now embodied in separated denominations, will continue, perhaps in the form that such traditions continue in ordered communities such as the Benedictines, Dominicans, and Franciscans today. But this is in the realm of speculation. In truth, nobody knows what the institutional form of visible unity among all Christians would look like. We can know that we will be united in the proclamation of the gospel, in sacramental life, in discernible continuity with apostolic ministry through time, and in communion with Peter. But even communion with Peter, perhaps the major stumbling block at present, will have different forms then. That was the bold proposal of John Paul II in the encyclical Ut Unum Sint , where he invites separated communities to join in exploring how the Petrine ministry might better serve as an instrument of unity. But this we know for certain: the cause of unity cannot be served by duplicity at the altar. If the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of the Church’s life, it must be maintained as the place and moment of uncompromised honesty, or else all hope for unity in truth is abandoned. There is no remedy for the painful absence of full communion other than full communion in the fullness of the truth that Christ intends for his Church.

Ecclesia de Eucharistia is about much more than ecumenism. But because the Church is of the Eucharist, and all Christians are, however imperfectly and confusedly, engaged in the life of the one Church, it is very importantly about ecumenism. The encyclical urges us to recognize that overcoming our differences begins with recognizing that our differences make a difference. In our longing for the eucharistic destination of the unity that is ours, the way forward is the way of prayer, honest dialogue, patience, and disciplined restraint.