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Communion with Heretics Rome Has Spoken

apostolicfathers
edited December 1969 in Coptic Orthodox Church
Anyone familiar with the matter of "Communicatio in Sacris"? I went to a lecture at BC and came across a very gifted writer that spoke on the matter of Communion and the Church. It went into the Ecclesiology of the Sacraments and Eastern, Oriental and Western Christianity on the matter of what the Early Church Fathers taught about receiving the Holy Mysteries at the hands of non-Orthodox. Especially also did it focus in on the matter of "refusing" communion with the heterodox and schismatics. The book was written by a scholar William DeTucci called Rome Has Spoken An Exhaustive Handbook on Communicatio in Sacris - www.romehasspoken.com

  Now, the book, very filled with robust documentation and photos; clearly illustrates that the Early Church Fathers up to the current thought on this matter always condemned intercommunion with those outside the Church.

  I recall reading a book by Fr. Markos Hanna that stated one cannot under any circumstances receive the Eucharist from heretics or schismatics. It appears this matter is very neglected today.

  I was surprised at the wealth of documentation in the book and at the lecture the author was very much into Latin theology but was very friendly and persuasive.

I think all Orthodox need to reflect on this matter seriously. Many pray with all religions even those that have no basic Christian tenants rooted in Orthodox Christianity. Communion in prayer and Sacraments was forbidden by the Holy Fathers.

 

Comments

  • irishpilgrimirishpilgrim
    apostolicfathers,

    I am not familiar with "Communicatio in Sacris." I presume it is a Roman papal encyclical. I tried to study them for years and eventually realized that they are, for the most part, deviously written to achieve some largely "political" objective. The text has no relevance to the context of the scripture verses that are cited as references. Thank God that I finally got my fill and could never revisit that chapter. If you like this type exercise, read an encyclical critically and check every scriptural citation against the context of the text it is cited to reference. And relevance of modern references to cited 100 year old papal encyclicals are mostly imaginary.   

    Remember the subjects of your username in times like these. Also remember, as you noted, that Satan and Catholic theologians and apologists are very intelligent, clever, persuasive, studied and always have an agenda that does not include the full teachings of our Orthodox Church and of The Orthodox Holy Apostolic Fathers. If they didn't have this misguided agenda, wouldn't they all still be Orthodox Christians? Maybe not Satan, though. You will probably not ever hear, or see, the blunt, clear description of their errors in their honey covered words and arguments. It is necessary to always jealously guard and strengthen your Orthodox knowledge and mindset.

    Remember that Catholic belief depends upon papal infallibility, and also on "developmental" theology, to accommodate every new pope's "vision." Opposing claims, requiring ever more complicated manipulative rhetoric to explain. Sadly, we're now seeing these hypocritical trends in modern "orthodox" theological suggestions and practices. Like marriage, and family. 

    The Roman Church wouldn't be in such immorality and chaos if they even tried to act according to their "preaching." On this subject, communion with heretics, as I recall, the RC African bishops gave "holy" communion to Bill and Hilary Clinton a few years ago. Of course Orthodox should not pray or commune with heretics, including Catholics. The early church wouldn't even permit catechumens to see the consecration service before baptism.

    As you implied, we are now in The Century of The Self. Instead of strengthening ourselves and our neighbors, we take pride in weakening everything, especially everything that is old, traditional, established, Orthodox. Without structure and strength, how can we avoid disintegration and chaos? Call a shrink? Take a pill?

    Sorry to wonder so far afield, but some may be amazed at my content discipline. 
  • nicemexguy
    "Communicatio in sacris" means to have a sacred communion with others. In this case, it refers to the sharing o the mysteries (to celebrate mass together or to share the bread & chalice). Before the "Second Vatican Council", the Roman Catholic Church explicitly forbit its clergy to celebrate mass with those who are not Catholic. This includes Protestans (heretics) and Orthodox Christians (which Rome considers to be schismatic but not heretic). Nowadays, the Roman Church allows Catholics to receive communion from Orthodox priests in places where no Catholic church is available and whenever the Orthodox counterpart agrees (and allows Roman clergy to do the same). As far as I know, the only place where this happens frequently is the Middle East. Eastern Orthodox attitude toward the sharing of sacraments with Catholics has been influenced by Church politics: before the Cold War, the Russian Orthodox would allow their priests to give the mysteries to Catholics and viceversa. Now that Orthodox countries are open to the Western world, this practice is forbidden (as they've discovered that modern Catholicism is very different from that of the 1930's which was very close to Orthodox practice and doctrine). Concerning the Oriental Orrthodox communion, the Syriac, Armenian and Indian Churches allow it with some restrictions (for pastoral reasons, as Middle-East & Indian Chritsians are a small minority, divided in several jurisdictions). The Coptic Church does not permit it as there is no need to make this exception: in Egypt, most Christians are Copts who have no reason to join a different Christian Church. Coptic Christians abroad are also strong in their institutions and presence, the fact that no communion is allowed outside Orthodoxy also estimulates people to build a structure and attempt to have a church of their own. If we said "let us take communion everyone in a Catholic Church" then there would be no reason to build a church of our own. If we said "let us allow everyone to take communion in our church" we would have no real converts, as they would come to church whenever they want, take communion and never come back.
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