Why non-Catholics cannot receive Communion.

Cologne -- In response to a letter published February 11, 2004 on the Web page of the Cologne Archdiocese, which requested the introduction of "open Communion" to non-Catholics, Cardinal Joachim Meisner reiterated why this cannot be. "In the realm of ecumenical dialogue we must really remove all the differences that separate us. Only afterward will we be able to give ourselves the gift of the special Eucharistic Communion. The Church from its origins," he went on to say, "has been firmly convinced that the common celebration of the Eucharist represents the culmination of ecclesial life."

The exception to this rule, explained in No. 45 of Ecclesia de Eucharistia, was intended to "meet a grave spiritual need for an individual believer, not to bring about an intercommunion which remains impossible until the visible bonds of ecclesial communion are fully re-established."

In 2003 Bishop Reinhard Marx of Trier barred Fr. Gotthold Hasenhuettl, professor emeritus at the University of Saarbruecken, from celebrating Mass and withdrew his teaching permit, for leading an "open Communion" at a Lutheran Church at which he distributed Communion to Catholics and non-Catholics alike (Zenit, February 17, 2004; July 17, 2003).