The ecumenical
openness must be conducted
according to the norms of the Church
and you will exclude any tendency to
religious syncretism.
(Gd 9 b)
- Unitatis
Redintegratio (Decree on Ecumenism Vatican II)
- Directory
for the application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism (Pontificium
Consilium ad Christianorum Unitatem Fovendam)
- Ut
Unum Sint (On commitment to Ecumenism, Ioannes
Paulus pp. II)
- The
Ecumenical dimension in the formation of those engaged in
pastoral work (Pontificium Consilium ad
Christianorum Unitatem Fovendam)
- Address
of his holiness of John Paul II at the Ecumenical meeting with
the Protestant and Orthodox Hungarian communities (Calvinist
Church of Debrecen, Sunday, 18 August 1991)
- Vatican
cardinal warns against syncretism in dialogue; Polish prelate
speaks of Divine Mercy RE:
Cardinal
Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for
Inter-religious Dialogue, warned that poorly-catechized
Christians should not take part in inter-religious dialogue.
“Christians,
often ignorant of
the content of
their own faith
and incapable
because of this of
living of and for
it, are not
capable of inter-religious
dialogue
that always begins
with the assertion
of one’s own
convictions,” he
cautioned. “There
is no room for syncretism or relativism! Faced
with adepts from
other religions
with a strong
religious
identity, it is
necessary to
present motivated
and doctrinally
equipped
Christians.”
- Sacraments
(canon 844)
- §1. Catholic ministers administer the sacraments
licitly to Catholic members of the Christian faithful alone,
who likewise receive them licitly from Catholic ministers
alone, without prejudice to the prescripts of §§2, 3, and 4
of this canon, and can. 861, §2.
§2. Whenever necessity requires it or true spiritual
advantage suggests it, and provided that danger of error or
of indifferentism is avoided, the Christian faithful for
whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a
Catholic minister are permitted to receive the sacraments of
penance, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick from
non-Catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments
are valid.
§3. Catholic ministers administer the sacraments of penance,
Eucharist, and anointing of the sick licitly to members of
Eastern Churches which do not have full communion with the
Catholic Church if they seek such on their own accord and
are properly disposed. This is also valid for members of
other Churches which in the judgment of the Apostolic See
are in the same condition in regard to the sacraments as
these Eastern Churches.
§4. If the danger of death is present or if, in the judgment
of the diocesan bishop or conference of bishops, some other
grave necessity urges it, Catholic ministers administer
these same sacraments licitly also to other Christians not
having full communion with the Catholic Church, who cannot
approach a minister of their own community and who seek such
on their own accord, provided that they manifest Catholic
faith in respect to these sacraments and are properly
disposed.
§5. For the cases mentioned in §§2, 3, and 4, the diocesan
bishop or conference of bishops is not to issue general
norms except after consultation at least with the local
competent authority of the interested non-Catholic Church or
community.
- Guidelines for
the Reception of Holy Communion (US National
Conference of Catholic Bishops)
- On November 14, 1996, the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops approved the following guidelines on the
reception of Holy Communion. The guidelines seek to remind
all those who may attend Catholic liturgies of the present
discipline of the Church with regard to the sharing of
Eucharistic Communion.
- For Catholics: As Catholics, we fully
participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we
receive Holy Communion. We are encouraged to receive
Communion devoutly and frequently. In order to be properly
disposed to receive Communion, participants should not be
conscious of grave sin and normally should have fasted for
one hour. A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to
receive the Body and Blood of the Lord without prior
sacramental confession except for a grave reason where there
is no opportunity for confession. In this case, the person
is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect
contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as
possible (canon 916). A frequent reception of the Sacrament
of Penance is encouraged for all.
- For our fellow Christians: 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 that these will lessen
and finally disappear, in keeping with Christ's prayer for
us "that they may all be one" (Jn. 17:21). 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
(canon 844 Section 4). 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 (canon 844 Section
3).
- For those not receiving Holy Communion: All
who are not receiving Holy Communion are encouraged to
express in their hearts a prayerful desire for unity with
the Lord Jesus and with one another.
- For non-Christians: We also welcome to this
celebration those who do not share our faith in Jesus
Christ. While we cannot admit them to Holy Communion, we ask
them to offer their prayers for the peace and the unity of
the human family.
- Dominus
Iesus On the unicity and salvific universality
of Jesus Christ and the Church
- Non-Christian
meditation
- The
Quies 5 steps Ecumenic
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