When may an Anglican receive communion in a Roman Catholic church when travelling abroad? Is it always permissible if there is no Anglican service near by, or must there be a case of grave need (such as a stay of several months)?
Your answer: It goes without saying that those attending Roman Catholic masses ought to respect any publicly given qualification to the invitation to participate, as to take what is not offered would be quite immoral.
That said, the Canon Law may forbid the priest from offering, but does not bind the laity not to receive. In fact, many Catholics who married a second time without annulment, are guilty of participation in an abortion and the like, and who, one might think, ought not to receive follow, on the advice of their spiritual counsellors, their consciences and do.
One Canon to bear in mind is 1752 of the 1983 Code, which in a particular regulation includes this fundamental rule: “. . . and keeping in mind the salvation of souls, which in the Church must always be the supreme law”. This seems particularly pertinent in the context of a Church that sees its sacraments as the fundamental means of grace delivering salvation.
Alan Bartley
Greenford
Your question: If a visitor to a church, with a view to finding a regular place of worship, asks politely whether women sometimes officiate there, is it spiritual abuse for the cleric to berate him or her in response?
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