By: Anna Smith

Sharing the Eucharist in Catholicism and Orthodoxy

"The Uncommon Cup"

The focus: a large, golden, ornate, and celestial chalice, centered and elevated. It is representative of the Eucharist, of Holy Communion, which is celebrated similarly in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, but not shared. The hands holding up the chalice seem to have found it amidst their adverse differences. On the right side is the hand of a Catholic clergyman, who liberally offers the chalice to the Orthodox Church. On the left side of the chalice is the hand of an Orthodox clergyman accepting the chalice with the promise of Eucharistic sharing. The hands are muted in a neutral, gray tone to trivialize them and also to draw attention to the focus: the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The hands become a part of the background, where the factors preventing Eucharistic sharing are lightly inscribed. Repeated subtly is church doctrines and canons, filioque, pastoral practice, leavened and unleavened bread, and eucharistic fasting period, as such claims are insignificant barriers to finding mutuality in the Eucharist. 

It is necessary for both denominations to put aside differences and come together once again to share the universal Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The simplicity of the solution is reflected in the simplicity of the painting. Because the Catholic and Orthodox Churches agree on the meaning, symbolism, transubstantiation, and purpose of Holy Communion, there is no reason why intercommunion cannot be possible.

Until then, the chalice remains the "Uncommon Cup."

Since 1054, the Catholic and Orthodox Churches have been divided.

I was determined to find similarities in beliefs and traditions of both denominations that could lead to Ecumenism: the reunification of the Christian Church that existed in the first ten centuries.

Q: How can tracing the historical practice of Holy Communion in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy drive the idea of Ecumenism?

Many scholars agree that because of:

1. differing church doctrines and canons

2. pastoral practice

3. leavened versus unleavened bread

4. the Catholic addition of the "filioque," and

5. the differences in the Eucharistic fasting period

that Holy Communion should remain reserved for the members of each respective church. 

However, the diagram summarizes my findings:

The differences are considerably fewer in number and insignificant compared to the similarities, which hold much greater meaning and substance. 

Essentially, the Catholic and Orthodox Churches have mutual understandings of Holy Communion that are enough for EUCHARISTIC SHARING, a step towards Ecumenism. 

"the same Eucharist is celebrated on the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic altar... the Eucharist is an unbroken link which unites profoundly and in an invisible way the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics in spite of the apparent visible separation between their two churches" 

                                                                              ---Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh

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