Many years ago I was traveling in France with a relative of mine. I was driving through Burgundy when I saw a road sign pointing to Taize. We immediately made a turn in that direction.
I initially heard about this ecumenical monastic community when I was at Maryknoll. Fellow student, Fr. Felix Machado of Bombay, was the first Catholic priest accepted by the founder, Bro. Roger, into his community of Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox men willing to lead a contemplative life together.
Taize itself looks like an extensive summer camp set in the country. The church is a large plain auditorium with an icon here or there: it becomes filled with young people from all over Europe and the world who come to chant together with the monks. [We occasionally use Taize chants here, especially during Lent; Jesus, Remember Me is a favorite for many.] And at the center of Taize was a small, kindly man in white who was murdered in church as he prayed and sang, Brother Roger. His assailant, a woman from Romania, apparently did not realize what she was doing.
I bring Brother Roger up for another reason. He was present at the funeral Mass for John Paul II, presided over by then Cardinal Ratzinger. And this man soon to be Benedict XVI gave this Protestant monk Holy Communion. There is no question that Brother Roger believed that Jesus is truly present in the sacrament. The rules, however, that former Cardinal Ratzinger had promulgated would appear to prevent him from sharing Holy Communion with Brother Roger. But Cardinal Ratzinger did the pastoral thing and ignored his own rules for the sake of a great Christian and his personal friend.
In this he apparently imitated his predecessor, John Paul II, who reportedly shared Holy Communion with Anglican Prime Minister, Tony Blair, whose wife Cherrie is a Catholic. From accounts, Blair did the First Reading during a private Mass in the papal chapel and then joined his wife in receiving Communion from the Pope.
This is not an uncomplicated issue. The Church wants unity at the altar to mirror a unity of belief; there is warrant for that in St. Paul’s insistence on one faith, one baptism, etc. However, there is another, less obvious approach, which wonders if our Lord will bring about unity of belief and practice by welcoming those who are not Catholics [but who are baptized and believe in Jesus’ true presence] to the Table of the Lord. The late Fr. Henri Nouwen was a firm believer in this vision.
So, for us who care about these
matters, we are in tension. I hope it
is a creative tension with prophetic movements, like those of these two Popes,
apparently spontaneously cropping up to give us hope that one day—sooner rather
than later—our Lord’s prayer at the Last Supper may be answered, that
they may be one, Father, as you & I are one…that the world may believe that
you sent me.
* * * * *
Several months ago I received a letter from two Salvadorian Sisters, whose mission is to make us all aware of the horror of human trafficking. It is amazing to realize that in the 21st century there are still slaves, people bought and sold for sex as well as other reasons. If you would like to know more, please attend Human Trafficking; in My Neighborhood? Tuesday, September 20, at 7:00 p.m. in Holy Cross Hall, Santa Cruz.
