Skip to main content

Eucharistic Sharing with Anglicans?

Question

Question

Can I go to communion in my best friend's Anglican church? Can she (who is a very active Anglican) come to communion at my church on weekdays ?

--Angst-ridden in Allen

Answer

Answer

Your question regarding eucharistic sharing is not an easy one to answer. The "rule of thumb" for eucharistic sharing (cf Code of Canon Law #844) is that Catholics should receive in their own Church or tradition. Exceptions are made only for serious reasons, and when it is not possible to receive in one's own Church. (This impossibility may be moral and not necessarily physical.)

The Catholic Church allows reciprocal reception of the Eucharist across church lines for the Orthodox Churches because they are in "almost full communion" with the Catholic Church, i.e. they share faith and "the Apostolic Succession" which means that bishops have ordained bishops and priests since the beginning of Christianity in these Churches.

The Code of Canon Law says that Churches that are in the "same condition as the Orthodox" e.g. Old Catholics, Polish National Church, etc. also permit sharing the Eucharist across Church lines.

The case of Anglicans (called Episcopalians in the United States) is more complex. In 1896 Pope Leo XIII declared that Anglican Ordinations were invalid because of a failure to preserve "the Apostolic Succession". While this decision is disputed between Anglicans and Catholics at the present time, it remains the official position of the Catholic Church.

There is genuine hope that the present controversy on Anglican Orders will be resolved and that Catholics and Anglicans will be permitted to share the Eucharist mutually. At the present time, however, the matter continues to be studied. The safe course is to refrain from sharing the Eucharist until this question has been resolved.

--by Ernest Falardeau, SSS