272 PART THREE: CONCLUSIONS Tied to this point, the communities of Bose and Taizé might be able to do more to substantiate and materialize their principle of preserving the original denominational memberships of their monastics. This is expressed in incorporating the richness of each tradition in the common life, but perhaps it is also possible to make the belonging of the individual monastic to his tradition of origin more concrete in order to substantiate the node function of the community. The data collected in this study suggest that this remains somewhat abstract in the current practices of both communities. Such an effort might also be needed to counter a risk that both communities face: the risk of being absorbed by the Roman Catholic Church. This is most obvious in Bose, of which Brother BE feels the need to insist that it is an ecumenical, not a Roman Catholic community. Given the overwhelming Catholic presence at Bose and its embeddedness in the Roman Catholic canonical framework, the ecumenical nature of the community is indeed at stake. Taizé’s choice to have the Eucharist presided over by (a) Roman Catholic member(s) has similar implications. On top of that, the community now has a Roman Catholic prior in the person of Brother Alois. Renewed efforts on both sides – recognition and facilitation of joint faithfulness in canon law and an active participation in the life of multiple ecclesial traditions on the part of the monastics – would contribute to this issue as well as to the challenge articulated by MyriamWijlens as discussed in section 1.4. Wijlens focuses on canon law and thus on the perspective of the Roman Catholic Church; however, her point appeals just as much to the selfunderstanding of the communities: The Catholic Church still has to face the challenge to provide for norms on sharing the Eucharist in which baptized non-Catholics are seen first as members of an Ecclesial Community or Church not in full communion with the Catholic Church.565 It seems to me that this effort on both sides would constitute an important substantiation of Catholic principles for the promotion of unity in the current liminal, intermediate phase of the ecumenical process as it radically overcomes the ecumenism of return paradigm and enables a genuine, organic coalescence between faith communities. This requires the churches involved, as well as the communities, to consider the monastics not only as individual faithful, but also – or even especially – as members of the respective traditions that seek reconciliation. 565 Wijlens, Sharing the Eucharist, 365.
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