www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Canon Law question

Hello,

I asked this in another forum and am actually meaning to speak with an Eastern Catholic priest later on this week, - but I was wondering also if anyone else here knows the answer... it's just something that's been bothering me.

I learned that in the Eastern Canon Law, there are no automatic excommunications but there's a penalty for those who take part in "communicatio in sacris" in another church. My question is, - is communicatio in sacris receiving Communion, or can it be common worship as well? the reason I ask is because apparently in the West, the traditional understanding has been that it is sharing in worship (I could be wrong though).

I am Russian Catholic but I don't have a Russian Catholic parish. I was told my Bishop is the local Latin bishop. I worshipped in another church (Eastern Orthodox) when I was really doubting the Papacy. So I'm worried if there's some sort of penalty for this, and if so what I should do. Am I supposed to follow the Eastern Canon Law? I also worshipped in a Protestant service a couple of times as well.

I'm going to ask an Eastern Catholic priest so hopefully that will clarify some things, but I can't speak to him yet and I was wondering if meanwhile anyone had any information.

Thank you!!

Well, considering that Unitatis Redintegratio actually encourages communicatio in sacris with the Eastern Orthodox, I would say that you have no reason for concern. Also, paragraphg 821 of the CCC encourages "prayer in common."

The CCEO also permits Eastern Catholics, for good reason, to receive the sacraments in other Apostolic Churches--including the Eastern Orthodox Church. Moreover, formal communicatio in sacis has been established between the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East. The faithful of both Churches can receive the sacraments in either without prejudice. The only difference between this and full and visible communion is the lack of concelebration by the clergy, and the absence of commemoration of each other's hierarchs.

Thank you for the replies! it's interesting that the Western idea developed differently and the Council of Trent and the 1917 canon law really discouraged common worship with others. Why do you think that is?

The Council of Trent was a reaction against the Reformation, the ecclesiology of which was based on the "invisible Church" of believers. As a response, the Church of Rome (the Eastern Churches were not a factor here) developed an ecclesiology that said the Church of Rome and the Catholic Church were co-terminous; that is, the Church of Rome is THE Church, outside of which is darkness. Since all those outside of the Church of Rome were by this definition heretics and schismatics (with schism a synonym for heresy), it would be impossible to worship with them, let alone share communion. The 1917 Code merely reflected the Tridentine ecclesiology of the Church at that time.

The Second Vatican Council revised the ecclesiology of the Catholic Church to say that the Church "subsists in" the Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church was redefined as those particular Churches in communion with the Bishop of Rome. It even recognized the existence of other true Churches outside of the Catholic communion; and that even those Protestant "ecclesial communities" that had, for various reasons, departed from the Apostolic Tradition and could not be considered true Churches, were still mystically part of the Catholic Church. Thus, communion under special circumstances was possible with other particular Churches; and while communion would not be possible with the Protestants, common prayer with them was not only appropriate but encouraged.