CHAPTER 1: ECUMENICAL PROGRESS AND STAGNATION 41 certain conditions”99 as occasions, but that they may just as well include cases: “Here ‘cases’ is taken to refer to couples, that is, to persons and not to ‘occasions’.”100 Such a reading of the Directory would allow for the interpretation proposed by the German initiative. Indeed, the orientation aid states: “This reference not only directs the attention towards a specific situation, but also towards a specific attitude of people.”101 Fourth, Dutch Cardinal Eijk expressed his concern that “Protestants do not share the faith in the priesthood and the Eucharist.”102 Canon law requires nonCatholics who wish to receive Communion to express faith in Catholic teaching about the sacrament. As a matter of fact, immense ecumenical work has been done in this field, as can be seen in the 2017 Catholic-Lutheran dialogue document From Conflict to Communion.103 Apart from that, individual Lutherans (or other Protestants) may have developed considerable understanding of and faith in Catholic teaching at this point. Partners in mixed marriages seem the most likely to gain insight in Catholic doctrine, provided that they engage in a sincere dialogue with their spouses. Moreover, Cardinal Kasper, former president of the PCPCU, points out that few Catholics would be able to 99 Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism (Vatican, 1993), sec. 129, http://www.christianunity.va/content/unitacristiani/en/documenti/testo-in-inglese.html. Usually referred to as Ecumenical Directory. 100 Reardon does so in response to the 1999 document of the Bishops conferences of England & Wales, Ireland, and Schotland, One Bread One Body. Ruth Reardon, “One Bread One Body: A Commentary From an Interchurch Family Point of View,” One in Christ 35, no. 2 (1999): this article was consulted at http://www.interchurchfamilies.org/articles/OBOB_commentary.html. 101 Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, “Mit Christus gehen,” sec. 16. Original text in German: “Dieser Hinweis richtet die Aufmerksamkeit nicht nur auf eine bestimmte Situation, sondern auch auf eine bestimmte Einstellung der Menschen” (translation: FW). 102 Willem Jacobus Eijk, “Cardinal Eijk: Pope Francis Needed to Give Clarity on Intercommunion,” New Catholic Register website, May 7, 2018, http://www.ncregister.com/ blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-eijk-pope-needed-to-give-clarity-to-german-bishops-onintercommuni?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ NCRegisterDailyBlog+National+Catholic+Register#When%3A2018-05-7+08%3A03%3A0. 103 The Lutheran World Federation and The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, From Conflict to Communion: Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017 (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2013), https://www.lutheranworld.org/sites/ default/files/From%20Conflict%20to%20Communion.pdf. See especially sec. 140-161. The document states in sec. 153 that “[t]he question of the reality of the presence of Jesus Christ in the Lord’s Supper is not a matter of controversy between Catholics and Lutherans.” The Lutheran-Catholic debate rather circles around the question of presiding over the Eucharist and the sacrament of orders in general.
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