Sir, - I am appalled to find so many Catholic clergy ready to declare that Anglicans do not have the Eucharist. Is this now supposed to be official Catholic teaching? When I studied ecclesiology and eucharistic theology 30 years ago, I do not think my teachers (Kevin McNamara and Joseph Ratzinger) ever made this claim. At that time Paul VI was embracing the Anglican Communion as "our ever-beloved sister church" and there was some euphoria about the rapprochement between the two churches in their understanding of the Eucharist, as well as an appreciation of the rich liturgical culture of Anglicanism.
Are we to suppose that Anglicans have been merely playing at the Eucharist for four centuries? That would mean that their sincere efforts to fulfil the command of Christ ("Do this in remembrance of me") have been quite delusory. Indeed, to deny that Anglicans have the Eucharist comes close to striking a blow at the heart of the Christian faith, for it implies that Christ's words cannot be trusted. It is only a small step from denying the reality of the Anglican Eucharist to denying the reality of the Eucharist as such. We are moving into the territory of theological nihilism.
In cases where there is a defect of form in the administration of sacraments, there is the consoling idea that "the Church provides" what is lacking. I suggest that worries about the validity of Anglican sacraments could be assuaged by the analogous idea that "Christ provides". But in an island distinguished by 30 years of sectarian murder, are these the issues we should be agonising about?
What I have experienced of Anglican worship has convinced me that the Roman Church has an immense amount to learn from Anglicans about lay participation, creative liturgy, the catechesis of children, the creation of community, preaching and biblical spirituality. Paul VI understood these values, as do ecumenically alert churchmen such as Cardinals Cassidy and Kasper. Let us hope that their sane voices prevail before Catholicism paints itself further into a sectarian corner. - Yours, etc.,
Rev Joseph S. O'Leary, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, Japan.