Unique move on Communion in America

FOR THE FIRST TIME a bishop has given his priests the • authority to admit nonCatholics to Communion without asking him first. Archbishop Peter Gerety of Newark, New Jersey, in the United States, has issued a set of "Guidelines on Fostering Spiritual Ecumenism" in which he lays down the guidelines for admitting non-Catholics to Communion.
Following the Vatican's 1972 instruction on allowing Christians of other denominations to receive Communion, the Archbishop says that the person must have a serious spiritual need, have no access to a minister of his or her own Communion "for a signifi cant time or reason", spontaneously and freely ask to receive Communion, have a faith in the Eucharist which conforms to Catholic belief, lead a Christian life and be free in his own Church to ask for admission to the Eucharist. Un til now a non-Catholic wishing to receive Communion at a Catholic church must first ask the priest, who in turn asks his bishop.
A strict interpretation of the Vatican's 1972 instruction on admitting non-Catholics to Communion would prevent any Anglican receiving the Eucharist From a Catholic priest or any Catholic receiving Communion at an Anglican church.
The Vatican rules that Catholics may receive Commu nion only at the hands of a validly ordained priest, but the edict Apostolicae Curse of 1896 pronounced Anglican orders null and void.
Since one of the provisos of the Vatican instruction on ad mitting non-Catholics to Cornmunion is that they should not have access to their own church it is unlikely that many Anglicans in Britain would qualify. Unofficially, however, quite a large number of people, both Anglican and Catholic, do share each other's Communion on occasions.
Some priests are known to waive the rules for pastoral reasons at weddings, funerals and other sacramental occasions involving families of mixed marriages. In other cases priests "prefer not to know" because if' they are asked by a non-Catholic who wishes to go to Communion they must refuse. Fr Adrian Hastings, who called for inter-Communion in a sermon in Westminster Abbey on New Year's Day, said this week that he thought the practice of inter-Communion had grown quite a lot in the 1970s. "One is sometimes quite surprised at the extent to which it is taking place", he said.
Ile thought that it was best to "go quietly" until people found that they did in fact share a common faith and common work.