Eucharistie Et Œcuménisme by Georges-Henri Ruyssen

Abstract

Cortese also presents a warning regarding the anastatic reprint of Diplovatatius’s edition of Bartolus de Saxoferrato’s works, highlighting numerous changes and even falsification, despite the claims to the status of a reprint. The practical work of a medieval jurist is magisterially presented in Padoa Schioppa’s paper on Martino da Fano’s Formulario as well as in Condorelli’s analysis of a quaestio of Enrico Anglico, dealing with papal provisions and a canon of the Liber Sextus (VI. 1.7.2) that was clearly influenced by the quaestio. This relationship between theory and practice is naturally at the basis of all other essays dealing with consilia and their application as well. A particularly impressive example of the implications of consilia is highlighted by Wunderlich for the early sixteenth century, when the imperial city of Goslar began its economic decline because of a consilium underlying a negative decision of the Reichskammergericht. The Festschrift has one major flaw: the complete lack of any kind of index. The only guide available to a reader is the titles of the contributions . Nevertheless, the book represents a major contribution to scholarship utriusque iuris and medieval civilization. Uta-Renate Blumenthal Professor emerita Department of History The Catholic University of America Washington D.C. EUCHARISTIE ET ŒCUMÉNISME by Georges-Henri Ruyssen, SJ. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 2008. Ruyssen, a Belgian professor of Eastern Canon Law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, has taken on one of the more vexing ecumenical questions that Christians have faced in recent decades: to what extent is it possible, in view of the progress of the theological dialogues, for the faithful of different denominations to share the Eucharist? The author begins his exhaustive study of this issue with an overview of the terminology related to communicatio in sacris and an analysis of the three fundamental points of view, including the “closed communion” typical of the Orthodox, “open communion” characteristic of most Protestant communities, and the Catholic position which falls some490 the jurist book reviews 491 where in between. Catholic teaching on this point struggles to hold in tension two basic affirmations. On one hand, since the mystery of the Eucharist is indissolubly linked with the mystery of the Church, and is the most perfect expression of unity in faith, sacraments and church governance , reception is normally limited to Catholics (significatio unitatis). On the other hand, given the need that many other baptized Christians have for the spiritual nourishment of the Eucharist and the real but imperfect communion that exists with them, there are occasions when they may partake of the sacrament as a means of grace (gratia procuranda). This is possible with the Orthodox because they constitute churches with valid sacraments with which we share a high degree of communion. In the case of a Christian belonging to an eccesial community issuing from the Reformation, his or her occasional access to the Eucharist is more restricted and based on personal need as a baptized Christian. Ruyssen insists that these two principles are not contradictory but stand in a “dialectic relationship. “ Precisely how this dialectic relationship plays out is the focus of the rest of the present study. In his second chapter Ruyssen analyzes in detail the universal teaching and legislation on this question, beginning with the Second Vatican Council and continuing with the 1967 Ecumenical Directory, subsequent documents of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity (SPCU), the two new codes of canon law (1983 and 1990), and finally the 1993 Ecumenical Directory. The author analyzes the authority of each of these texts, and points out some significant inconsistencies among them. In the third chapter, the author examines the norms on communicatio in sacris produced at the level of national conferences of bishops and local dioceses since the council. While these are intended to apply the universal norms to local situations, Ruyssen points out that while most of them remain within the universal parameters, others appear to have exceeded them. The book ends with a relatively brief concluding chapter, a schematic overview of the post-conciliar documents of the SPCU, and a very rich bibliography. Ruyssen focuses on some problematic questions. Among these is the position of western...