Editing Open communion (section)

== Position of the Catholic Church ==
The [[Catholic Church]] does not practise or recognise open communion.<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P2S.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 842 §1] and [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P2S.HTM Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 675 §2]</ref> In general it permits access to its Eucharistic communion only to baptized Catholics.<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P2S.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §1] and [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_PIN.HTM Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 671 §1]</ref> Catholics can only receive Holy Communion if they are in a state of grace, this is without any mortal sin: "A person who is conscious of grave sin ([[mortal sin]]) is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible."<ref>Code of Canon Law, canon [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P39.HTM 916] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628182123/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P39.HTM |date=28 June 2011 }}</ref>

In lieu of Holy Communion, some parishes invite non-Catholics to come forward in the line, with their arms crossed over their chest, and receive a [[blessing]] from the priest.<ref>{{cite book|last=Flader |first=John |title=Questions and Answers on the Catholic Faith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7kcK5YGvWkC&q=cross+arms+over+chest+communion&pg=PA133 |access-date=25 June 2012 |date=16 June 2010 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=9781589795945}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Mass & Communion Etiquette |url=http://www.holyfamilylawton.org/HFCC39.html |access-date=25 June 2012 |date=6 January 2012 |publisher=Holy Family Catholic Church}}</ref> However, [[Canon 844]] of the [[1983 Code of Canon Law]] of the [[Latin Church]] and the parallel canon 671 of the [[Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches]] also recognizes that in certain circumstances, by way of exception, and under certain conditions, access to these sacraments may be permitted, or even commended, for Christians of other Churches and ecclesial Communities.

Thus it permits [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christians]] who are not in [[full communion]] with the Catholic Church ([[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Oriental Orthodoxy]] and [[Assyrian Church of the East]]) to receive Communion from Catholic ministers, if they request it of their own accord and are properly disposed, and it applies the same rule also to some Western Churches that the [[Holy See]] judges to be in a situation similar to that of Eastern Christians with regard to the sacraments.<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P2S.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §3] and [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_PIN.HTM Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 671 §3]</ref> 

On 15 November 2015, while at [[Christuskirche, Rome|Christuskirche in Rome]] Pope Francis answered a Lutheran woman wishing to be able to participate in Holy Communion with her Catholic husband: "It is a question that each person must answer for themselves … there is one baptism, one faith, one Lord, so talk to the Lord and move forward".<ref name="Heneghan2016">{{cite web |last1=Heneghan |first1=Tom |title=Catholics and Lutherans to worship together at Reformation anniversary |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/catholics-and-lutherans-reuniting-reformation-anniversary |publisher=[[America (magazine)|America Magazine]] |access-date=7 January 2024 |language=en |date=14 January 2016|quote=When a Lutheran woman married to a Catholic asked Pope Francis about this during his visit to her church in Rome last November, he said he couldn’t decide the question but hinted strongly that he supported it. “It is a question that each person must answer for themselves … there is one baptism, one faith, one Lord, so talk to the Lord and move forward,” he told the congregation, which broke out in applause.}}</ref><ref name="Magister2016">{{cite web |last1=Magister |first1=Sandro |title=Communion For All, Even For Protestants |url=https://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1351332bdc4.html?eng=y |publisher=[[GEDI Gruppo Editoriale]] |access-date=7 January 2024 |date=1 July 2016|quote=Pope Francis is now also encouraging Protestants and Catholics to receive communion together at their respective Masses. He is doing so, as always, in a discursive, allusive way, not definitional, leaving the ultimate decision to the individual conscience. Still emblematic is the answer he gave on November 15, 2015, on a visit to the Christuskirche, the church of the Lutherans in Rome (see photo), to a Protestant who asked him if she could receive communion together with her Catholic husband. The answer from Francis was a stupefying pinwheel of yes, no, I don’t know, you figure it out. ... Of course, however, by speaking in such a “liquid” form Pope Francis has brought everything into question again, concerning intercommunion between Catholics and Protestants. He has made any position thinkable, and therefore practicable. In fact, in the Lutheran camp the pope’s words were immediately taken as a go-ahead for intercommunion. But now in the Catholic camp as well an analogous position statement has come, which presents itself above all as the authentic interpretation of the words Francis said at the Lutheran church of Rome. Acting as the pope’s authorized interpreter is the Jesuit Giancarlo Pani, in the latest issue of “La Civiltà Cattolica,” the magazine directed by Fr. Antonio Spadaro that has now become the official voice of Casa Santa Marta, meaning of Jorge Mario Bergoglio himself, who reviews and adjusts the articles that most interest him before their publication. Taking his cue from a recent joint declaration of the Catholic episcopal conference of the United States and of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Fr. Pani dedicates the entire second part of his article to the exegesis of the words of Francis at the Christuskirche in Rome, carefully selected from among those most useful for the purpose. And he draws the conclusion from them that they marked “a change” and “a progress in pastoral practice,” analogous to the one produced by “Amoris Laetitia” for the divorced and remarried. They are only “small steps forward,” Pani writes in the final paragraph. But the direction is set.}}</ref><ref name="Montagna2015">{{cite web |last1=Montagna |first1=Diane |title=Pope Francis Stirs Communion Controversy at Lutheran Gathering in Rome |url=https://aleteia.org/2015/11/16/pope-francis-stirs-communion-controversy-at-lutheran-gathering-in-rome/ |publisher=[[Aleteia]] |access-date=7 January 2024 |language=en |date=16 November 2015 |quote=On Sunday, speaking to Evangelical Lutherans in Rome, the pope responded to a question posed to him by a non-Italian Lutheran woman married to an Italian Catholic man.  The Holy Father’s response suggests that while he was unprepared to pronounce with clarity on the issue, he considered the topic one that theologians such as Cardinal Walter Kasper, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (who was in attendance) might openly discuss.}}</ref> In the following year at [[Lund Cathedral]], in a joint Lutheran-Catholic service commemorating the Reformation, Pope Francis and [[Munib Younan|Bishop Munib Younan]] (the head of the [[Lutheran World Federation]]) "jointly pledged to remove the obstacles to full unity between their Churches, leading eventually to shared Eucharist."<ref name="Ivereigh2016">{{cite web |last1=Ivereigh |first1=Austen |title=Catholic and Lutheran Churches pledge to work for shared Eucharist |url=https://cruxnow.com/papal-visit/2016/10/31/catholic-lutheran-churches-pledge-work-shared-eucharist/ |publisher=[[Crux (online newspaper)|Crux Now]] |access-date=7 January 2024 |language=English |date=31 October 2016|archivedate=30 June 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630020035/https://cruxnow.com/papal-visit/2016/10/31/catholic-lutheran-churches-pledge-work-shared-eucharist/}}</ref> 

Recognizing that "that everyone in a marriage that binds denominations," the [[Catholic Church in Germany]] in 2018 produced a pastoral handout allowing [[Lutheran]] spouses of Catholics to receive Communion from Catholic ministers in certain cases, 'provided they "affirm the Catholic faith in the Eucharist".'<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2018/02/22/german-bishops-discuss-intercommunion-lutheran-catholic-spouses/ |title=German bishops discuss intercommunion of Lutheran, Catholic spouses |last=Wimmer |first=Anian Christoph |date=22 February 2018 |publisher=[[The Boston Globe#Crux|Crux]] |language=en |access-date=6 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/37817/german-bishops-discuss-intercommunion-of-lutheran-catholic-spouses |title=German bishops discuss intercommunion of Lutheran, Catholic spouses |date=22 February 2018 |publisher=[[Catholic News Agency]] |language=en |access-date=6 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://international.la-croix.com/news/german-bishops-allow-protestant-spouses-to-partake-in-communion/7020 |title=German bishops allow Protestant spouses to partake in communion |date=26 February 2018 |work=[[La Croix (newspaper)|La Croix]]|location=France |language=en |access-date=6 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lutheranworld.org/news/hopeful-step-lutheran-catholic-couples |title=A hopeful step for Lutheran-Catholic couples |date=23 February 2018 |publisher=[[The Lutheran World Federation]] |language=en |access-date=6 April 2018}}</ref> Thus far, Archbishop [[Hans-Josef Becker]] ([[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paderborn]]), Archbishop [[Stefan Heße]] ([[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hamburg]]), Archbishop [[Ludwig Schick]] ([[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fulda]]), and Bishop Franz Jung ([[Roman Catholic Diocese of Würzburg]]) have implemented the pastoral document, in addition to Bishops Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg and Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabrück declaring their intention to implement the pastoral document well.<ref name="Wimmer2018">{{cite web |last1=Wimmer |first1=Anian Christoph |title=German bishop issues open invitation to Protestant spouses at Communion |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/38814/german-bishop-issues-open-invitation-to-protestant-spouses-at-communion |publisher=[[Catholic News Agency]] |language=en |date=6 July 2018}}</ref> Bishop Franz Jung, while celebrating a Jubilee Mass on 5 July 2018 at [[Würzburg Cathedral]], called inter-denominational marriages "denomination-uniting" and thus "especially invited" couples in which one spouse is Protestant to receive the Eucharist during his sermon.<ref name="Wimmer2018"/>

For other baptized Christians (such as [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]], [[Methodism|Methodists]] and other [[Protestantism|Protestants]]) under the jurisdiction of other episcopal conferences, the conditions are more severe. Only in danger of death or if, in the judgment of the local bishop, there is a grave and pressing need, may members of these Churches who cannot approach a minister of their own Church be invited to receive the Eucharist, if they spontaneously ask for it, demonstrate that they have the [[Catholicity|catholic]]<!-- not a typo: the source renders "catholic" in lowercase." --> faith in the Eucharist, and are properly disposed.<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P2S.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §4] and [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_PIN.HTM Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 671 §4]</ref>

Catholic priests have sometimes not observed these rules, giving Holy Communion to non-Catholics sometimes unknowingly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uscatholic.org/glad-you-asked/2008/11/can-a-non-catholic-receive-communion |title=Can a non-Catholic receive Communion? |website=[[US Catholic]]|date=25 November 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2011-12/table-manners |title=Table Manners: Unexpected Grace at Communion |last=Packman |first=Andrew |publisher=[[The Christian Century]] |access-date=25 June 2012}}</ref> Notably, [[Pope John Paul II]] gave Holy Communion to [[Brother Roger]], a [[Reformed Church|Reformed]] pastor and founder of the [[Taizé Community]], several times; in addition Cardinal Ratzinger (later [[Pope Benedict XVI]]) also gave Brother Roger the Eucharist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://americamagazine.org/content/all-things/brother-roger-taize-catholic-protestant-what |title=Brother Roger of Taize -- Catholic, Protestant, what? |last=Ivereigh |first=Austen |date=26 August 2008 |publisher=[[America (Jesuit magazine)|America Magazine]] |language=en |access-date=24 July 2015 |quote=Brother Roger also received communion several times from the hands of Pope John Paul II, who had become friends with him from the days of the Second Vatican Council and who was well acquainted with his personal journey with respect to the Catholic Church. In this sense, there was nothing secret or hidden in the attitude of the Catholic Church, neither at Taizé or in Rome. During the funeral of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger only repeated what had already been done before him in Saint Peter’s Basilica, at the time of the late Pope.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Catholic World Report, Volume 15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WPEtAAAAYAAJ |year=2005 |publisher=Ignatius Press |language=en |quote=During the funeral for Pope John Paul II, Brother Roger himself received Communion directly from then-Cardinal Ratzinger.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/another-tribute-taiz%C3%A8-vatican|title=Another tribute for Taizé from the Vatican|author=John L. Allen Jr. |date=11 August 2010 |publisher=[[National Catholic Reporter]] |language=en |access-date=24 July 2015 |quote=Brother Roger received communion several times from the hands of Pope John Paul II, who had become friends with him from the days of the Second Vatican Council, and who was well acquainted with his personal journey with respect to the Catholic Church.}}</ref> Moreover, after Brother Roger's death, at the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] celebrated for him in France, "communion wafers were given to the faithful indiscriminately, regardless of denomination".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/world/europe/at-his-funeral-brother-roger-has-an-ecumenical-dream-fulfilled.html?_r=0 |title=At His Funeral, Brother Roger Has an Ecumenical Dream Fulfilled |last=Tagliabue |first=John |date=24 August 2005 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en |access-date=24 July 2015}}</ref>

The Catholic Church does not allow its own faithful to receive Communion from non-catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments are valid, apart from in extreme cases, such as danger of death, and only if it recognizes the validity of the sacraments of that Church. Other conditions are that it be physically or morally impossible for the Catholic to approach a Catholic minister, that it be a case of real need or spiritual benefit, and that the danger of error or [[indifferentism]] be avoided.<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P2S.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §2] and [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_PIN.HTM Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 671 §2]</ref>