58 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Council’s entire Section Theological Questions (Sectie theologische vragen) collapsed. It was revived as Section Faith Questions (Sectie geloofsvragen) but this group would not comprehensibly address the issue.150 In the 1980s, new efforts were made, this time by comparing liturgical texts of the respective traditions. Instead of promoting Eucharistic sharing, however, the Dutch bishops rather discontinued existing initiatives in the country. In general, the Roman Catholic Church has shifted its focus from questions of Eucharistic theology towards ecclesiology and the theology of ministry as areas representing remaining hurdles towards Eucharistic communion of any kind. Ton van Eijk, in his comparative study of liturgical texts, likewise points at the difficulties posed by differences in the theology of ministry in general and by the question of ordination of women in particular. Although he mentions the practice of Eucharistic hospitality only in passing – encouraging a generous application of current guidelines, especially in the case of mixed marriages – Van Eijk promotes further conceptual and theological integration of word and sacrament, of Scripture and the Eucharistic elements of bread and wine. Both form one Eucharist and the spiritual consumption of both can offer a (temporary) way out of the liturgical impasse. Van Eijk concludes: “we should choose another direction, in which not the sacramental eating and drinking of bread and wine come first, but the manducare Christum as consuming the Word that He is. Christians can unite in that.”151 “This eating,” Van Eijk explains, “consists of the unification with Christ in faith and love, in spiritual communion or in personal communication. It is independent from receiving the sacrament.” 152 Acknowledging that his proposal might come across as a solution for lack of anything better, Van Eijk thus promotes a rediscovery of the practice of spiritual Communion as a theologically sound alternative to 150 A.H.C. (Ton) van Eijk and Martien Brinkman, “De eenheid die wij zoeken. Een weg van spannende vragen,” in Waakvlam van de Geest: 40 Jaar Raad van Kerken in Nederland, ed. Anton Houtepen, Herman Noordegraaf, and Mijnke Bosman-Huizinga (Zoetermeer: Meinema, 2008), 43. 151 A.H.C. (Ton) van Eijk, Eucharistie. Het woord en het brood (Bergambacht: 2VM, 2010), 164 (italics in original). Original text in Dutch: “Daarommoeten we een andere weg gaan, waarbij niet het sacramentele eten en drinken van brood en wijn als lichaam en bloed van Christus voorop staat, maar het manducare Christum als het eten van het Woord dat Hij is. Daarin kunnen christenen zich verenigen” (translation: FW). 152 Van Eijk, 160. Original text in Dutch: “Dit eten bestaat in de vereniging met Christus in geloof en liefde, in geestelijke gemeenschap of persoonlijke communicatie. Het is onafhankelijk van het ontvangen van het sacrament” (translation: FW).
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