Communion ecclésiale et "communicatio in sacris" appliquée à l'Eucharistie. Prise de position d'un catholique

The issue of intercommunion as been much discussed since the 1960s, but the accent has too often been placed exclusively on the individual, rather than the ecclesiological dimensions of the question. The Decree on Ecumenism of Vatican II states that «communicatio in sacris» cannot be used «indiscriminately» as a means to restoring Christian unity. This raises the question of how the necessary «discrimination» can be applied. Two principles govern its use: showing the unity of the church and allowing participation in the means of grace. In the conciliar texts, as well as in the two successive Directories on Ecumenism, the main preoccupation of the dispositions for applying «communicatio in sacris» is that of allowing individuals access to the means of grace. The Eucharist can be seen as both showing and building the unity of the Church (significant operando [causando] et operatur [causat] significando). The 1993 Directory asserts the existence of a «real though imperfect» communion among the baptized, which can be expressed in the sharing of sacramental worship. But sharing the spiritual resources of the Church must reflect both the existence and the incomplete character of that communion. The Directory bases sacramental sharing with members of the various (non-Catholic) Eastern churches not only on sacramental, but also on ecclesiological reasons, but here too, the primary goal of intercommunion is providing for the good of the individual, not showing the unity of the Church. The underlying principle of these dispositions appears to be the concept that one Church of Christ subsists fully only in the Roman Catholic church. After thirty years of ecumenical dialogue, the time must now be ripe for the Roman Catholic church to have a fresh look at the concept of her claim to exclusive mediation in the fullness of the means of salvation. Is it impossible to imagine that fullness elsewhere ? Further, might it not he possible to envisage a practice of sacramental sha.