The question of intercommunion within our churches today is a big one, an important one and a painful one. I’m old enough to remember another time – actually, to remember two other times.

First, as a boy growing up in the pre-Vatican II Church, intercommunion with other Christians, non-Romans, was a taboo. It just didn’t happen. A maverick may have ventured it, but he or she would have been called out for doing it, were it known. Then things changed. In the early years of my ministry, I worked in dioceses where intercommunion, at least for special occasions such as weddings, funerals and inter-church gatherings, was common, even encouraged. As a priest presiding at a Eucharist at these gatherings, I was allowed to positively invite non-Catholics to receive the Eucharist, as their own faith and sensitivities allowed.