56 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION ÖAK with examples within the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD) in which Baptism apparently is not required for admission to Communion; in which – in case of emergency – a layman can preside over a Eucharistic liturgy; or in which anamnesis and epiclesis are poorly developed, if at all, in a liturgy designed to prepare for the 2021 ecumenical Kirchentag. Still, his line of argumentation presupposes that the ideal of theological convergence should be reflected in practice and does not necessarily examine practice as a source of theology in the way my study does. The issue of practice and experience as locus theologicus will be discussed in more detail in section 2.2. Anglo-Saxon contributions Other contributions to the debate do start from practice, such as those articulating the experiences of mixed marriages. In a response to the 1998 teaching document by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, Ireland, and Scotland entitled One Bread One Body, 143 secretary of the Association for Interchurch Families, Ruth Reardon, heralds its comprehensive presentation of the Catholic Eucharistic faith – manifesting what is listed among the preconditions for Eucharistic hospitality. In addition to her already mentioned alternative view on the nature of the Directory’s ‘certain circumstances’ as cases rather than occasions, Reardon’s main point of criticism is that the bishops fail to acknowledge the deep reality of the ‘need’ of mixed couples: they do not merely experience pain from encountering a boundary, but “their need springs from the nature of the marriage commitment itself.”144 This vision is shared by the wider community of interchurch families, noting that “many feel the need for Eucharistic sharing every time they are at mass together.”145 As described in section 1.3, this interpretation has now been adopted by the majority of the German bishops. Summarizing recent developments in ecumenical theology, systematic theologian Thomas P. Rausch argued in 2013 that “current Roman Catholic discipline regarding sacramental sharing does not seem to express the degree of communion that now exists between and among the churches.”146 He 143 Bishops’ Conferences of England and Wales Ireland and Scotland, One Bread, One Body: A Teaching Document on the Eucharist in the Life of the Church, 1998. The document clarifies the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church on the eucharist and the implications for ecumenical contexts, reiterating the norms of the 1993 Ecumenical Directory. 144 Reardon, “One Bread One Body: A Commentary.” 145 Association of Interchurch Families, “Interchurch Families and Christian Unity: Rome 2003,” 2003, sec. D,7. 146 Rausch, “Occasional Eucharistic Hospitality,” 399.
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