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Bishops and Batons. Today, two important developments in 20th century theology have made it possible for Catholics and Protestants to reconsider the whole argument and think of intercommunion. One is a broadened, more flexible understanding of the Eucharist among many Catholic and Protestant theologians. In 1967, an Anglican-Roman Catholic study group produced a statement indicating substantial agreement on the Eucharist. Later the same year, in an important but little-noticed move, Roman Catholics and Lutherans in the U.S. issued a scholarly, 200-page book on the Eucharist that ended with a remarkable ten-page statement of consensus. Father George H. Tavard, a French-born scholar involved in the Lutheran-Catholic talks, thinks there is already enough consensus among Lutherans and Catholics today for Lutheran orders to be recognized as valid.
The second development is in the Catholic concept of priesthood, which is growing into an idea of the ministry in which both priests and laymen play important roles. Apostolic succession is now seen by many Catholic theologians as a continuity of doctrine and Christian commitment from one generation to another within the church community —not as a sort of ecclesiastical relay race, with the baton passing from bishop to bishop and the whole team disqualified if someone drops it. Ordination by a bishop, critics note, was not always required even among Catholics. In the early Christian churches and even in medieval times, as Benedictine Theologian Kilian McDonnell points out in the current issue of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies, "orders" were sometimes conferred by another priest or even by the lay elders of the community, as they are in some Protestant churches today.
Spiritual Gift. The broadest formulation of such a community-approved ministry is one that Swiss Theologian Hans Küng, among others, defines as the "charismatic" ministry. In effect, what early Christians did in selecting one of their number to preside over the Eucharistic celebration was to recognize his qualities as a holy man. By his special spiritual gift, or charism, he was in a sense ordained by God, an "ordination" recognized in turn by his community. If Catholics are ever to find ground for reunion with Calvinistic, Baptist and Pentecostal churches, the idea of a "charismatic" ministry may be of substantial help in overcoming the still vast differences in their theologies.
For the near future, intercommunion may be most likely first between Roman Catholics and either Lutherans or Episcopalians in the U.S. That, at least, was the hint offered last month at the U.S. Catholic Bishops' meeting, where Catholic dialogues with those two churches were declared to be "moving to quite an advanced stage." Lutherans, however, have not yet established full intercommunion among their own U.S. denominations. And Episcopalians are potential participants in the proposed multichurch Protestant merger, the Church of Christ Uniting. Should the Episcopal Church join the new superchurch, the questions of Episcopal belief, the Eucharist and ministerial orders could become more complicated yet.