Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Open communion" in English language version.
On Sunday, speaking to Evangelical Lutherans in Rome, the pope responded to a question posed to him by a non-Italian Lutheran woman married to an Italian Catholic man. The Holy Father's response suggests that while he was unprepared to pronounce with clarity on the issue, he considered the topic one that theologians such as Cardinal Walter Kasper, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (who was in attendance) might openly discuss.
When a Lutheran woman married to a Catholic asked Pope Francis about this during his visit to her church in Rome last November, he said he couldn't decide the question but hinted strongly that he supported it. "It is a question that each person must answer for themselves … there is one baptism, one faith, one Lord, so talk to the Lord and move forward," he told the congregation, which broke out in applause.
Brother Roger also received communion several times from the hands of Pope John Paul II, who had become friends with him from the days of the Second Vatican Council and who was well acquainted with his personal journey with respect to the Catholic Church. In this sense, there was nothing secret or hidden in the attitude of the Catholic Church, neither at Taizé or in Rome. During the funeral of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger only repeated what had already been done before him in Saint Peter's Basilica, at the time of the late Pope.
Many faith communities, including ours, practice open communion, meaning that if you are a baptized Christian of any "brand" you can take the Lord's Supper with us. Our theology is that sharing the bread and wine is a mark of fellowship in Jesus, not of a denominational identity, so should be available to everyone.
Pastoral blessings are often available for children or adults who are not communing. Simply cross your arms over your chest if you wish to receive a blessing.
During the funeral for Pope John Paul II, Brother Roger himself received Communion directly from then-Cardinal Ratzinger.
Brother Roger received communion several times from the hands of Pope John Paul II, who had become friends with him from the days of the Second Vatican Council, and who was well acquainted with his personal journey with respect to the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis is now also encouraging Protestants and Catholics to receive communion together at their respective Masses. He is doing so, as always, in a discursive, allusive way, not definitional, leaving the ultimate decision to the individual conscience. Still emblematic is the answer he gave on November 15, 2015, on a visit to the Christuskirche, the church of the Lutherans in Rome (see photo), to a Protestant who asked him if she could receive communion together with her Catholic husband. The answer from Francis was a stupefying pinwheel of yes, no, I don't know, you figure it out. ... Of course, however, by speaking in such a "liquid" form Pope Francis has brought everything into question again, concerning intercommunion between Catholics and Protestants. He has made any position thinkable, and therefore practicable. In fact, in the Lutheran camp the pope's words were immediately taken as a go-ahead for intercommunion. But now in the Catholic camp as well an analogous position statement has come, which presents itself above all as the authentic interpretation of the words Francis said at the Lutheran church of Rome. Acting as the pope's authorized interpreter is the Jesuit Giancarlo Pani, in the latest issue of "La Civiltà Cattolica," the magazine directed by Fr. Antonio Spadaro that has now become the official voice of Casa Santa Marta, meaning of Jorge Mario Bergoglio himself, who reviews and adjusts the articles that most interest him before their publication. Taking his cue from a recent joint declaration of the Catholic episcopal conference of the United States and of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Fr. Pani dedicates the entire second part of his article to the exegesis of the words of Francis at the Christuskirche in Rome, carefully selected from among those most useful for the purpose. And he draws the conclusion from them that they marked "a change" and "a progress in pastoral practice," analogous to the one produced by "Amoris Laetitia" for the divorced and remarried. They are only "small steps forward," Pani writes in the final paragraph. But the direction is set.
Open Communion is the practice of allowing individuals from different denominations commune together. This means, for example, that Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Lutherans are all communed together in the same church, even though each one holds a different belief about the Lord's Supper (and Original Sin, Baptism, Justification, Good Works, etc.).
