The spiral is a picture that captures the idea of new things unfolding yet still attached to the centre and the old. It's a network of different groups who are pioneering new ways of doing church or are reaching into the places where the church doesn't usually reach. Continue reading

In an interview with aleteia.org, Cardinal Robert Sarah said intercommunion between Catholics and other Christians is not a matter of following one's conscience.

Rather, intercommunion between Christians not united in faith and doctrine would promote profanation, he said.

His comments came a few weeks after Pope Francis spoke to a Lutheran woman with a Catholic spouse, after she expressed her regret they could not receive Catholic Communion together.

The Pope said that while he didn't dare to give her permission to receive Catholic Communion because it was not his competence, he said she should "talk to the Lord and go forward" from there.

The Pope emphasised the fact that if Christians have the same Baptism, they must walk together.

Speaking to aleteia.org, Cardinal Sarah said that many priests have told him they give Communion to everyone.

The cardinal said this is "nonsense".

"Sometimes, an Anglican who is very far away from his church for a very long period of time and who desires to receive Communion, can participate in Mass and receive Communion in the Catholic Church, where there is no sin, and he is properly married," the cardinal said.

"Because they believe in the Eucharist, even if in the Anglican church is it not actually the Eucharist because there is no priesthood.

"But it is rare and would happen under very exceptional circumstances.

"This is something extraordinary and not ordinary."

Cardinal Sarah continued: "But a Catholic cannot receive communion in the Anglican church, because there is no Communion; there is only bread."

"The bread is not consecrated, because the priest is not a priest.

"With the break of Henry VIII with the Catholic Church, priestly orders in the Anglican Church became null and void.

"So the consecration isn't valid, and therefore it's not the Eucharist."

Sources

• Aleteia.org
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Rorate Caeli

Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham, who is Catholic co-chair of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) stressed he was expressing a "personal view".

In an interview with the Church of Ireland Gazette, he said that although the two churches now work closely together on a daily basis, it was a source of "pain" that they still could not share communion.

But he pointed to a Vatican document published in 1993 as well as a paper produced by bishops in the British Isles which already allows non-Roman Catholics to receive sacraments in very special circumstances, including if they are in danger of death.

The archbishop was asked whether he thought, given there had already been a limited relation, there could be room for further changes.

He responded: "My personal view is, you are right to draw attention to the changes which we have already seen on the basis of a deeper theological understanding of one another's churches."

"And on that basis the 1993 Ecumenical Directory made possible the reception of Holy Communion by the baptised who are not members of the Roman Catholic Church in a number of specified circumstances and with certain criteria.

"Given that that represents a change and a very significant shift away from the impossibility to the limited possibility then I could imagine and foresee one of the fruits of our ecumenical engagement as moving towards a deeper understanding of communion and a deeper sharing between our churches . . . which perhaps would lead to a reconsideration of some of the circumstances."

He added that it was impossible for him to predict the "speed of change", but that he hoped existing rules could be made use of.

The Anglican Bishop of Guildford, the Rt Rev Christopher Hill, noted that "Rome is considering updating the [1993]directory".

Archbishop Longley's remarks were warmly welcomed by leading figures in the Church of England who said it was time for closer ties.

Sources

• The Telegraph
• Image: Catholic Herald

The invitation to the primates from the Archbishop of Canterbury will bring together a number of church heads who have not spoken directly to each other for more than a decade.

As one way of dealing with such a rift, Archbishop Justin Welby reportedly wants the primates to scale the Anglican Communion back into a loosely linked organisation.

Aides have likened this to "moving into separate bedrooms" rather than full-scale divorce.

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