The fake news brigade has been at it again. This time, it is falsely claiming the Vatican is creating an “ecumenical Mass”.
Archbishop Arthur Roche, who is the number two official at the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, says reports of a joint Mass were “utterly false”.
Greg Burke, Director of the Holy See Press Office, backs up Roche, saying the claims are “simply untrue.”
Their denials followed a report by author Marco Tosatti in “First Things” quoting anonymous sources who said a commission was looking at creating an “ecumenical Mass”.
First Things claims to be “America’s most influential journal of religion and public life”.
The report also says Cardinal Sarah, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, had not been informed of the plans.
In addition, it says Archbishop Roche and Archbishop Piero Marini – who was the former Master of Ceremonies for John Paul II – were both involved in the commission.
The First Things story was later followed up in The Australian, which put the claims of a possible joint Mass to the Vatican but did not receive a response.
Church teaching prevents Catholics and other Christian denominations from sharing communion.
However, joint prayer services with an ecumenical liturgy was agreed between Catholics and Lutherans to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
Pope Francis raised the possibility of Lutherans receiving communion during Mass in November 2015, although this did not include communion at church.
Canon law and the 1993 Ecumenical Directory allow for certain cases of emergency or “grave necessity” in which “intercommunion” is possible.
Source
- Aleteia
- The Tablet
- Image: Catholic Exchange
