Might as well, at this point…
German Diocese Officially Allows ‘Eucharistic Sharing’ with Protestants
The diocese of Osnabrück in Germany is currently vacant, even from a Novus Ordo perspective. Its most recent ‘bishop’ was Franz-Josef Bode, who resigned on March 25, 2023, over his handling of abuse cases in the diocese.
To get an idea of what kind of ‘shepherd’ had led the ‘Catholics’ of Osnabrück since 1995, it suffices to know that in 2014, Bode was responsible for an abominable quasi-nude spectacle taking place in the diocesan cathedral, and that he thinks highly of Dr. Stephan Goertz, a lay theologian who is on record suggesting that “a committed, loving homosexual union, which sees itself as a relationship of faith in the God of Israel and Jesus” might actually “possess a sacramental character.”
This just for some background info. The big news today is something different.
It turns out that just before his resignation was accepted by ‘Pope’ Francis, in March of 2023, ‘Bp.’ Bode had approved of the introduction of ‘Eucharistic hospitality’ in his diocese, also known as ‘intercommunion’ with other ‘Christians’ (i.e. Protestants, mainly Lutherans). He wrote the foreword to a 76-page booklet that was published in June ’23 (full PDF here), which serves as the official manual for ‘Eucharistic sharing’ in the diocese and was first published in connection with a big ecumenical conference that year.
This news reached us only today, after kath.net reported on an interview that had been published on Jan. 18, 2024, by the Novus Ordo news site Aussicht.
The interview is a conversation by reporter Astrid Fleute with ‘Fr.’ Reinhard Molitor, one of the canons of the Osnabruck cathedral chapter, and Rev. Günter Baum, a local Lutheran pastor.
Molitor explains that although allowing Eucharistic sharing is an important step opening a big door, it is “not a revolution”. Rather, he says, it is simply the acceptance and official recognition of a reality that has long existed in the practical order. “Even before, I was giving Communion to Lutheran Christians”, he admits. “But I wasn’t able to officially invite them [to receive]. I’m glad that’s different now.” (All translations our own.)
Baum, for his part, expresses his delight that there is now not only “communion in the Word [Scripture]” between the two denominations but also “communion in the bread”, even though they do not agree theologically on what the Holy Eucharist exactly is.
Asked about such intercommunion perhaps also happening in other places, Molitor reveals that aside from Osnabruck, there is one other German diocese “working on” permitting intercommunion. Not surprisingly, it is the diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, which is likewise currently vacant. (It was formerly headed by ‘Bp.’ Gebhard Fürst and, before him, the notorious ‘Cardinal’ Walter Kasper.)
Both Baum and Molitor are in agreement that this ‘Eucharistic sharing’ is not to be allowed all the time. Of course not! Naturally, we are talking about mere “exceptions” for special occasions, preferably events with some ecumenical significance. Examples given include funerals, school liturgies, celebrations of First Communion, Confirmations, etc. After all, “Christ shed his Blood for all, not just for Catholics”, Molitor notes, revealing some stunning theological prowess.
Of course, shared communion means not only that Lutherans are now officially invited to receive the invalid host at the ‘Eucharistic celebration’ of a Novus Ordo church, it also means that ‘Catholics’ are now permitted to receive the bread at the Lutheran ‘Lord’s Supper’ service.
Pastor Baum, aware of a stupendous new responsibility in that regard, assures us that he and his coreligionists have polished their theological understanding of the Eucharist a bit:
We celebrate the Lord’s Supper more frequently now [and] treat the gifts [i.e., bread and wine] with greater delicacy. In the past, the farmer would take the remaining bread and feed it to the geese. Now we’ve learned that when we have Catholic fellow-Christians in our services, we have to handle the bread and wine more carefully.
So the leftover Lutheran ‘Body of Christ’ is no longer fed to the geese, at least not when ‘Catholics’ are around. If that isn’t some serious ecumenical progress!
What is this if not some utterly sickening clown show? The Vatican II Sect, especially in the Land of Luther, is a madhouse!
Now, what will ‘the Pope’ say about this? That’s anybody’s guess, but let’s not forget a few key facts:
On Nov. 15, 2015, Francis visited the Lutheran church in Rome and gifted a beautiful golden paten and chalice — the sacred vessels used in the celebration of the Holy Catholic Mass — to the heretical pastor. Remember?
In 2018, Francis officially rejected the German church’s intercommunion proposal. However, he did so only for reasons of prudence, such as bad timing and ecumenical sensitivities; he did not reject the possibility per se:
And why should he? The Second Vatican Council itself admits the practice in principle under the misleading cover of “sharing in the means of grace”, and the 1983 Code of Canon Law and the 1990 Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches enshrine it as church law. The 1993 Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism applies the new law further, and “Pope” John Paul II‘s 2003 encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia confirms the practice and its theological foundation. All this is explained and documented here:
Since the possibility is therefore admitted in principle in the Vatican II Church and “Eucharistic sharing” is thus not considered intrinsically wrong, the only issue that is left for Novus Ordos to disagree on is the precise circumstances that permit it.
How Francis handles such questions in the practical order could be seen on the occasion of that visit to the Lutheran church in Rome we already mentioned. When a Lutheran woman asked the ‘Pope’ if he would finally permit Catholics and Protestants to share each other’s communion, he gave a lengthy answer that included everything and its opposite. In the end, however, he told the woman to simply do some praying and then “move forward”.
In the diocese of Osnabrück, they did.
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