The president of the German Catholic bishops’ conference said he will continue to give Holy Communion to Protestants who ask for it.
Bishop Georg Bätzing said it was necessary to respect the “personal decision of conscience” of those seeking to receive Communion.
CNA Deutsch reported that Bätzing responded to a question about a controversial proposal for a “Eucharistic meal fellowship” between Catholics and Protestants.
The proposal was made by the Ecumenical Study Group of Protestant and Catholic Theologians (ÖAK) in a 2019 document entitled “Together at the Lord’s Table.”
The ÖAK adopted the text under the co-chairmanship of Bätzing and the retired Lutheran Bishop Martin Hein.
Asked how he would respond if a Protestant came to him seeking the Eucharist, he told reporters: “I have no problems with it and I see myself in line with papal documents.”
The 59-year-old bishop added that this was already a “practice” in Germany “every Sunday”. He said priests in his Diocese of Limburg would not face negative consequences if a case were reported to him.
He underlined that one should not “simply invite everyone.”
A general invitation to receive the Eucharist was not permitted. But Bätzing said it was important to show “respect for the personal decision of conscience of the individual” seeking Communion.
“I do not deny Holy Communion to a Protestant if he asks for it,” he said.
The ÖAK document raised concerns at the Vatican. It prompted an intervention by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in September 2020.
In a letter to Bätzing, the doctrinal congregation emphasized that significant differences in understanding of the Eucharist and ministry remained between Protestants and Catholics.
“The doctrinal differences are still so important that they currently rule out reciprocal participation in the Lord’s Supper and the Eucharist,” it said.
“The document cannot therefore serve as a guide for an individual decision of conscience about approaching the Eucharist.”
The CDF cautioned against any steps towards intercommunion between Catholics and members of the EKD.