The Catholic Virginian

August 14, 2006 | Volume 81, Number 21

ARTICLES

‘Double belonging’ families affirmed at Virginia Beach

By Barbara Hughes
Special to The Catholic Virginian

Married couples from Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Carolina and Virginia were affirmed for their unity as a couple at the recent conference of the American Association of Interchurch Families held at Virginia Wesleyan College in Virginia Beach.

“As the smallest expression of church, your unity as a married couple images the unity for which the Church longs,” Dr. H. Richard McCord, Jr., executive director of the Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told them at the opening session.

“The family is holy not because it is perfect, but when it recognizes God’s grace at work in it,” Dr. McCord said, speaking as both a husband and father. “Families celebrate the sacred within the ordinary and moments of God’s love shine through when we least expect it,” he added. He commended the couples for “Double Belonging,” a term which has been applied when both husband and wife are registered members in both their own denomination as well as that of their spouse.

For many this commitment means not only attending their spouse’s church, but being active participants in study groups and ministries. These couples regard their commitment to support one another as a sign of their union with Christ.

Encouraging members of the audience to share their views, Dr. McCord said they play a key role in shaping the message he would take back to the Catholic bishops. In response to Dr. McCord’s invitation, couples shared the strengths and challenges of being an interchurch couple as well as lessons that the bishops and the larger church could learn from their example and experience.

One woman referred to what she called “The Protestant Shuffle” describing how the non-Catholic member of the family had to shuffle to the end of the pew while other family members received Communion. Not being able to share Eucharist was high on the list of painful situations that interchurch couples encounter.

Another was the lack of support on the parish level for their situation and what seems to be a lack of sensitivity by the use of language that is often hurtful to persons of other faiths. “Even the term ‘non-Catholic’ implies that if you are not Catholic you don’t count,” said one person. Since 40 to 60 percent of marriages taking place in the Catholic Church are mixed marriages, couples felt the high number merited its own office within the USCCB.

On Saturday morning (July 22), Father George Kilcourse, Professor of Theology at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, reported on the meeting that took place October 11, 2005 between delegates from nine countries and the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity (PCPCU) in Rome.

During the meeting Father Kilcourse was appointed Interchurch Families’ Liaison to the PCPCU and the delegation was charged by that body to educate bishops and priests regarding the use of the Ecumenical Directory of 1993.

Father Kilcourse explained that Roman Catholic Canon Law is pastoral by nature and takes into account and provides for exceptions. “Bringing the perspective of exception regarding Eucharist means that limited ‘Eucharistic sharing’ may, under certain conditions, be offered to baptized believers of other Christian denominations when there is a bona fide need,” the priest explained. He cited situations where children have chosen to refrain from receiving First Communion because one of the parents was denied Eucharist. “That constitutes a bona fide need,” said the priest.

Another example could be during the Sacrament of Matrimony when celebrated in the context of a Mass. Referring to the 1993 Directory on Ecumenism, Father Kilcourse said, “the Vatican’s 1993 Ecumenical Directory explicitly states that the question should be raised whether Eucharist may be offered to the Christian bride or groom who is not Catholic since the couple is united sacramentally in Marriage.”

Another outgrowth of the meeting was a theological working group headed by Dr. Thomas Knieps of the American College in Louvain, Belgium, himself a Catholic in an interchurch marriage.

The purpose of the project is to further explore (1) the reality of the “domestic church” within the context of interchurch families; (2) issues of authority that divide; (3) ethical issues such as medical experimentation, and (4) the definition of marriage. The goal is to have the rough draft completed by April of 2007. The draft would then be circulated internationally for feedback and presented at an international event in 2008.

Father Kilcourse summed up his hope for interchurch families: “These couples and their children bring unique gifts to the church. As Pope Benedict XVI said recently in Poland, they are living ‘laboratories of ecumenism.’ “The U.S. Bishops are currently drafting a Pastoral Letter on Marriage. Interchurch families deserve similar affirmation and support in this important Pastoral Letter.”

Copyright © 2006 The Catholic Virginian Press.

This article is displayed on the AAIF Web site with permission of The Catholic Virginian.

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