April 28, 2003
Pope warns of communion abuses
___VATICAN CITY--Describing the Eucharist as the "most precious possession" of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II has warned Catholics against such "abuses" as taking communion in a state of sin or sharing it with non-Catholics.
___John Paul devoted the 14th encyclical letter of his papacy to the Eucharist, or communion, the sacrament in which the church perpetuates Jesus' sacrifice on the cross to redeem mankind. An encyclical is the highest form of written papal teaching.
___The pope signed the encyclical, titled "Ecclesia de Eucharistia: The Church Draws Her Life from the Eucharist," in St. Peter's Basilica during the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper. The day is known in some churches as Maundy Thursday.
___The main concerns John Paul appeared to be addressing were the practices of a nun or lay leader administering communion in the absence of a priest, the giving of communion to divorced Catholics who have remarried or to others who do not obey church rules, and the sharing of communion at ecumenical services.
___The Catholic Church teaches that the bread and wine of communion become the real body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus in accordance with his words to the disciples at the Last Supper. Baptists and many other Protestants consider the bread and wine--or grape juice--to be symbolic.
___While reiterating the "burning desire" to celebrate communion with Christians of other traditions, which he expressed in his 1995 encyclical "Ut Unum Sint: On Commitment to Ecumenism," John Paul said this remains impossible until unity is achieved.
___Meanwhile, a leading global Protestant body said John Paul's new encyclical threatens to delay progress in relations between Protestants and Catholics.
___The Geneva-based Lutheran World Federation said the pope's position threatens to prolong "the status quo" in relations between the two churches, and could be "detrimental" for the ecumenical movement.
___Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the 65 million-member Lutheran body, said the encyclical shows no "new considerations" of how to broaden the unity with non-Catholics.
___At the same time, a liberal U.S. Catholic group said if the pope wants Catholics to participate in the Eucharist, he should ordain women to help stem a shortage of priests.
___"If, as the pope says, the church truly 'draws her life from the Eucharist,' then we are in danger of starving," said Sister Christine Schenk, director of FutureChurch, a Cleveland-based group that advocates women's ordination.
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