At a Nov. 15 prayer service at a Lutheran church in Rome, a Lutheran who is married to a Roman Catholic asked Pope Francis what she could do to attain communion in the Catholic Church. After joking that he was “afraid” to respond on such a topic, the pope pondered aloud whether the eucharist should be thought of as an end point to ecumenism or as an aid on the journey together toward full denominational communion. While he noted it wasn’t his place to give permission, he said that “life is greater than explanations and interpretations.” A crucial condition for Protestants to receive communion is that they genuinely believe in the “real presence” of Christ in the eucharist. That is a point that Lutheran and Catholic leaders agree on, said Denis J. Madden, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Pope on Lutherans
December 21, 2015
