Word: sacramentally
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Pope Paul VI last week lifted the ban of excommunication against Catholics who marry outside the Roman Church, and in several other ways softened "the stiffness of present legislation" on mixed marriages. Paul issued his 1,500-word decree on The Sacrament of Matrimony just four days before the scheduled arrival in Rome of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had planned to discuss the Catholic Church's refusal to accept the validity of mixed marriages performed outside the church and its insistence that children of such unions be raised as Catholics...
What God Has Joined. The new emphasis in Catholic opinion is the distinction between civil and religious law, each of which remains valid in its own sphere. The Catholic Church believes that marriage is a sacrament instituted by Christ, when he said, "What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder." Catholics who have been civilly divorced remain in good standing in the church if they do not remarry. Remarriage, however, is forbidden while the ex-spouse lives...
...married Roman Catholic layman, I have always felt that I should much prefer to receive marital guidance from a married priest. I firmly believe that clerical celibacy should be a matter of choice, not a requirement for ordination. Matrimony is considered a sacrament by Roman Catholics. Why deprive our priests of its many graces...
Breaking the Law. For Catholics and most Protestants, this kind of ecumenical disobedience is a violation of church rule. Catholicism's canon law forbids interCommunion, although an exception is made for Eastern Rite Catholics, who under certain circumstances may receive - the sacraments in Orthodox churches. While some Protestant groups -such as the Disciples of Christ-admit any baptized believer to the Communion table, most take the view that admittance to the sacrament should be preceded by a confession of faith...
...disagree about what the Eucharist signifies-Catholics believe that the bread and wine become Christ's body and blood, while Reformed churches say that he is spiritually present in the consecrated elements. The advocates of interCommunion argue that since the "church" embraces all those who follow Christ, the sacrament is not the property of a single tradition, and is thus appropriate for Christians working or praying together. Van den Heuvel points out that most cases of interCommunion have taken place in situations of "secular ecumenicity," where Christians are working together to relate the church to social problems, and "there...