Just to set the record straight, the simple truth is that it is not against Catholic doctrine for Protestants to receive Communion at Mass. 1. We believe that Baptism in the Protestant Churches gives exactly the same thing Baptism in the Catholic Church gives — the “state of grace”: divine life and the divine gifts Read more
I can’t pray in Jesus’ name, but I say “peace be upon him” when I hear it. For though he is one of Islam’s greatest prophets, referenced throughout the Quran and praised with lofty virtues, to pray in his name would be a violation to my faith’s tenets. In a recent conversation with two friends, Read more
Twenty-five years ago, St. John Paul II’s encyclical on ecumenism, “Ut Unum Sint,” put the papal seal of approval on a shift in the Catholic Church’s approach to the search for Christian unity. For the 30 years from the Second Vatican Council to the publication of St. John Paul’s encyclical May 25, 1995, official ecumenical Read more
A Swiss cathedral’s first Catholic mass in nearly five hundred years will be celebrated at a cathedral in Geneva at the end of this month. The mass will be celebrated at Saint-Pierre de Genève Cathedral on 29 February. The last Mass celebrated at the cathedral took place in 1535. After the Reformation, it was taken Read more
Pope Francis, Sunday wished Patriarch Bartholomew a blessed feast of Saint Andrew and praised their shared friendship. He then went further, expressing his desire for full communion between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Following a long-standing custom, the Holy See sent a delegation to Istanbul to celebrate the feast of Saint Andrew, the patron saint Read more
November 13, at the Vatican, Pope Francis received His Grace, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. During the cordial talks, the Holy Father and the Archbishop of Canterbury agreed that, if the political situation in the country should allow the establishment of a transitional government of national unity in the next 100 days, at the Read more
In an example of ecumenism in unity, Pope Francis and Orthodox Archbishop Job of Telmessos left mass together down the stairs under the main altar in St Peter’s Basilica and prayed together at St Peter’s tomb. Job was representing Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at the pope’s celebration of the feast of Sts Peter Read more
Until now, church officials have always said theological agreement between the various Christian churches is needed before Christian unity or Eucharistic sharing could be possible. That may have changed during an in-flight press conference on Sunday as Pope Francis returned to Rome after visiting Romania. Asked what advice he could offer Romanians about the relationship Read more
A hundred years ago, Catholics were not interested in celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, except to remember how a bunch of reformers led people astray. How times have changed! This year, Catholics, led by Pope Francis, are celebrating the Reformation with their fellow Christians. However, it is important that we not simply Read more
Catholic and Anglican theologians have been meeting near Rome to discuss ordination rites in the two communions. The members of the Malines Conversation group also considered the ecumenical implications of Pope Francis’s recent document Amoris Laetitia. A communique issued after the encounter said the theologians from seven different countries discussed “contemporary and historic ordination rites”. Read more