Swiss Vicar General Warns of Massive Ecumenical Setback

This news from Switzerland is about an issue that concerns all of us. Josef Annen, vicar general of Zurich and Glarus in Switzerland, warned of massive steps backwards in eucharistic ecumenical sharing at a press conference today in Zurich. Topic of the press conference was publication of the book Katholiken im Kanton Zürich.

Annen notes that over half the marriages and partnerships in Zurich canton are of mixed confession. He said that through the bonds of baptism “all are members of the one Church of Jesus Christ,” and that “at the Table of the Lord, at least in confessionally mixed marriages, [this unity] should not continue to lead down separate paths.” But some of the bishops seem intent on interpreting intercommunion restrictively. It would be advantageous for the Swiss church, Annen said, if the bishops would say nothing on the topic at this point. The Swiss church can “no longer afford such a step backward,” he warned.

It is feared by some that the Swiss bishops’ conference will soon issue a document treating intercommunion. Book co-author Urban Fink said that the ecumenical commission of the bishops’ conference, of which he is a member, has not been consulted. The ecumenical commission has asked the bishops’ conference that the proposed document be shown to the theological commission and the ecumenical commission, but so far this has not happened.

Werner Kramer, official in the Reformed church, reports in the book that the Catholic bishop of Chur personally invited him to receive Communion before the concluding Mass of a synod in 1972. (Did you know that I once concelebrated with Anglican priests? No, not my initiative or idea, so don’t anyone try to go turn me in. It was a huge diocesan Mass in a diocese in Europe with over 100 concelebrants. Lining up for the opening procession, I was put next to English-speaking priests who I found out were from the Anglican Communion. They were there at the invitation of the Catholic bishop as part of an ongoing sister relationship between the dioceses.)

There is presently a regular meeting of the Swiss bishops underway, and they expected to repeat on their deliberations tomorrow.

Source: KIPA.