Perspectief 2016-34

2016-34 Eucharistic hospitality 57 Com ment Re-interpreting the terminology Hospitality, in our interpretation, must be understood as a welcoming and receptive attitude towards the other who wishes to participate in one’s own Eucharistic communion. The adjective Eucharistic thus includes the double reference to both the liturgical Eucharistic celebration (including the administration and consumption of Holy Communion) and the Eucharistic communion that is the gathered community as (part of) a local church. Integrating all the elements and applying them to the specific focus of our studies, we advocate the use of the term Eucharistic hospitality as interpreted as follows: the practice of the Roman Catholic Church of welcoming non-Catholic Christians into its Eucharistic communion by administering Holy Communion to them during the Eucharistic celebration. We use this definition to research the place of this practice within the ecumenical process in the past, the present, and the future. As we are still in an early stage of our projects, however, we remain open for other terms and interpretations. Future research might as well suggest other existing terms or develop new formulations. Finally, we can reconsider the term intercommunion this article started with. From the above analysis we can differentiate between modes of Eucharistic hospitality, according to three levels of admission: limited, general, and reciprocal. 25 In case of limited admission, churches allow members of other churches to receive communion only in exceptional and well defined cases, considering personal circumstances, such as a threat of death. Churches with a policy of general admission allow many or all other Christians to receive communion, typically not because of their personal circumstances (as is the case in limited admission) but on grounds of their being Christians, or in some cases, their belonging to a certain church. Both types do not necessarily include mutuality; the last type does. In our interpretation, reciprocal admission is the particular form of Eucharistic hospitality that can best be described as intercommunion. As far as lay participation is concerned, it is the closest to full communion, which implies visible, structural unity between churches and which is the goal of the ecumenical process. 25 Cf. WCC, Faith and Order Louvain 1971; Study Reports and Documents , Faith and Order Paper no. 59 (Geneva: WCC, 1971), pp. 63-64.