198 PART TWO: AN EMPIRICAL ACCOUNT a pointer to something, and that for us it is also the... ... a sort of living together, sharing in the source of the Eucharist, of the presence of Christ, in the sacrament, who gives himself to us, so this can be a sort of pointer to... to... to what we... to one very important element of the church.454 TC adds that Brother Roger’s experience is not only an exception in order to accommodate the individual needs of these particular monastics. The community’s way is one that can guide people towards a deeper unity. Thanks to its daily reality of sharing life and sharing the Eucharist, it can be a place where others discover that reconciliation is indeed possible: I don't think there was any... any claim or pretention in that direction, no, Brother Roger didn't want Taizé to be understood in that way... [we don't need] very strong words, we're just a small community, and we... But at the same time, I don't think it would be right to say that Brother Roger's experience, and Taizé, is just an exception. That it has no role, or something {laughs}, because uh... what Brother Roger experienced, and what the community lived for... ... I think he kind of hoped also that other people would discover that you can be reconciled, that you can live as a reconciled Christian.455 When asked to elaborate on his own level of communion with the Roman Catholic Church, Brother BE connects the notions of imperfect communion, Eucharistic sharing, sign, and the Eucharist as sources of unity: I feel in communion, in the fact that, because, I feel I’m able, as a Protestant brother to take part in this celebration, which is also a way to, to come near to what we both, Protestants and Catholics, desire, so, this wider unity. But at the same time, of course, this communion is not complete, it’s uh… it’s just a sign of a possible communion, which does not only depend on me, but also on decisions of churches and of church leaders….456 And he continues: I think, at least it’s a sign for the churches, uh… that it’s a sign, that says, it’s possible to live together even if we are brothers and sisters belonging to separated churches, uh, we still are brothers and sisters, and we find ways, uh… more or less according, main, most more 454 TB-1,4f. 455 TC-1,22a. 456 BE-2,40.
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