Intercommunion: Interfaith Sharing of the Bread of Life

When Catholics from all the nations and cultures of the world gather for a Eucharistic Congress, like the one in Rome in June 2000, they celebrate a tremendous sign of unity. All who participate in this Eucharist are fed by the same life of Christ. At the same time the worldwide eucharistic celebration is a sign of unity it is also a source, or cause, of unity. We are nourished by the same body and blood of Christ, strengthened in unity. Yet there's a flip side of the coin. As remarkable a display of unity as eucharistic congresses are they also show us how far we are from unity among all Christians. A eucharistic congress makes us long for the day when all Christians can share in the one body of Christ: intercommunion. To what degree is intercommunion possible today? Are there ways we can hasten the day when all communions can participate in one Eucharist?

Different Christian Churches answer this question in various ways. Some Christians favor "open Communion." Open Communion is the position that holds that no one can stop a baptized person who believes in Jesus Christ from receiving Communion in any Church. They would say that open Communion is the preferred option because the Holy Supper is a source of unity—a means by which unity among Christians can be achieved. This, however, is not the official Roman Catholic position.

Other Christians believe that the condition for receiving Holy Communion in another Church is unity of faith in the Real Presence. Intercommunion will be possible when the Churches reach a doctrinal consensus regarding Eucharist. While much progress has been made regarding our common doctrinal understanding of Real Presence, the official Catholic position asks for more than common belief in the real presence. Some Christians—Catholics included—hold that sharing Holy Communion is only proper between Churches which have a historical succession of bishops and true priesthood. For real (valid) Eucharist, you need real priesthood. This is an important element of the Catholic position.

The official Catholic position holds that Holy Communion is not only a source of Christian unity, but it is also a sign of unity—real unity, existing now. "Strengthened in holy Communion by the body of Christ, [the faithful] manifest in a concrete way the unity of the people of God that this sacrament aptly signifies and wondrously causes" (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 11).

We cannot put forth signs of unity when obvious division still exists. Receiving Communion at the same altar is not a sign of unity when we do so with the intention of separating afterwards to return to our various Churches. In short, the Catholic Church teaches that we should not pretend to have true unity if, in reality, we are separated from other Christian bodies. That separation is often seen now not so much over basic beliefs as it is over mutual recognition of the validity of Holy Orders.

The Eucharist is more than food for the individual Christian. When we come together to celebrate the Eucharist we express who we are as Church. The liturgy, especially the Eucharist, "is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 2).

The fundamental meaning of any sacrament can be found in the prayers which accompany the sacramental action. In each of the seven sacraments we invoke the Holy Spirit and petition the Spirit to make us holy and to build up the Body of Christ. This petition is the key to understanding the sacrament: The primary petition of the eucharistic prayer is for unity in Christ. We ask that the Spirit change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ so that we who eat and drink might be changed into the Body of Christ. "Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ....May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit." (Eucharistic Prayer, 2) "Grant that we, who are nourished by his body and blood, may be filled with his Holy Spirit, and become one body, one spirit in Christ." (Eucharistic Prayer, 3) The other eucharistic prayers have similar invocations. This can be a foundation for future intercommunion and well as other communal acts between various Christian spiritualities.