184 PART TWO: AN EMPIRICAL ACCOUNT struggle to accept this reality. They agree that, in fact, they occasionally choose to refrain from partaking, considering the ‘scandal’ that it might provoke. Still, they seem to disagree with defining such controversy as scandalous in the same way as Christian division itself. In their view, it is not-sharing the Eucharist that should be considered scandalous, contradictory to the inner logic of the Gospel, or a stumbling block to unity and evangelization. Therefore, confronted with this continuing reality in the life of the churches, BF speaks of a contradiction, a logical impasse, “a sort of uh… permanent uh, a permanent aporia, a permanent not reasonable wall, I mean.”429 6.2 A PROVISIONAL AND LOCAL SOLUTION The monastics stress that they perceive of their practice of Eucharistic sharing as a provisional and local solution that helps them cope with the enduring problem of Christian division. Brother TB explains the circumstances under which Taizé’s current practice was initiated. I will elaborate on parts of the following quotations in the next section. For now, let me focus on the context of hope for imminent reciprocity in which the practice of unilateral Eucharistic hospitality seemed a temporary solution to the pressing issue of table fellowships with the first Roman Catholics who joined the community in the early 1970s. At first, the Eucharist was presided by a Protestant one week, and by a Catholic priest or bishop the next, as Brother TC points out: The first time I came... in '74, I don't remember exactly how it went on Sundays, but... but as a permanent, it was like at one Sunday there was a Catholic, one Sunday was a Protestant Eucharist, and when there was a Protestant Eucharist, the brothers, the Catholic brothers... received from the blessed sacrament, no? the reserved sacrament... because the Catholic Church would not accept it....430 This solution proved to be too complicated and confusing for guests, especially since the two liturgies appeared so very similar. Brother TB explains with appreciation the next step taken by the brothers: And then I understood uh, understood that the brothers~ and this was this quite original idea ... that they... most the brother who have, who are ordained pastors didn't celebrate anymore, when I came... they didn't preside anymore, because they hadmade a sort of choice to say, 429 BF-1,2e. 430 TC-1,4d, cf. TC-1,10a.
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