Synod official says bishops must consider priests, Communion issues

Published: 2005-10-03

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As it looks for ways to increase Catholics' love for the Eucharist, the world Synod of Bishops also will have to grapple with questions about ordaining married men, sharing Communion with other Christians and allowing divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive the sacrament, said a synod official. Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice, the synod's recording secretary, told synod participants and reporters Oct. 3 that he did not believe current church practice should change on any of those issues. However, even before the synod debate began, the two bishops who joined Cardinal Scola in facing the press Oct. 3 offered slightly different views on the issues. In his 52-page, Latin-language summary of topics awaiting the synod, Cardinal Scola said the Eucharist must be understood as a gift from God; it is not a possession or a right. "The problem of the scarcity of priests must be faced with courage in the framework of the Eucharist as a gift," he said. Some people, while recognizing the value of priestly celibacy, have said that the need and right of Catholic faithful to receive the Eucharist regularly meant the church must consider the possibility of ordaining married men in the Latin rite when the lack of celibate priests is particularly serious. But Cardinal Scola said that attitude assumes that the church is like a business and can calculate exactly how many priests it requires; priests, too, are a gift from God and, if more are needed, people should pray.

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