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Document Details : Title: The Synod on the Family Subtitle: An Interchurch Family Perspective Author(s): REARDON, Ruth Journal: Marriage, Families & Spirituality Volume: 20 Issue: 1 Date: 2014 Pages: 118-123 DOI: 10.2143/INT.20.1.3036704 Abstract : In addressing the 1980 Synod on the Family on ‘Mixed Marriages and their Christian Families’ Cardinal Willebrands, President of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, focused on the possibility of admitting the non-Catholic partner to Eucharistic communion in the Catholic Church, and on the witness to unity that could be made by mixed couples. Over the years there have been positive developments, and it is now clear that the non-Catholic partner can be admitted to Eucharistic communion at least on an occasional basis, in some cases and under certain conditions. However, Christian marriage is not a series of special occasions, but an on-going daily commitment to becoming an intimate community of life and love, a ‘domestic church’. Interchurch families now hope that the coming Synod on the Family will make an explicit statement that interchurch families can share communion on an on-going basis. This could transform life for some families, and would be a clear witness to the nature and importance of Christian marriage. |
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