Mexican bishop faces backlash for con-celebrating Eucharist with Anglican female cleric

A retired Mexican bishop has provoked widespread controversy after he celebrated the Eucharist with an Anglican female minister at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

On the 26 August, Bishop Emeritus Raúl Vera López of Saltillo presided at Mass in the basilica with Rev Emilie Teresa Smith, a Canadian Anglican minister, standing beside him as a concelebrant. During the liturgy, Ms Smith, wearing a stole (a liturgical vestment), joined in parts of the Eucharistic Prayer, whispered words of consecration, raised her hand in blessing and elevated the chalice containing the Precious Blood of Christ.

The Mass was recorded and published on the bishop’s own Facebook page, where it quickly gained attention. In a post accompanying the video, the bishop invited viewers to “reflect together” on the Gospel of the day, quoting the words of Christ in St Matthew’s Gospel condemning hypocrisy and spiritual blindness.

He described Ms Smith as one “who walks among us picking up the word of many people around finding solutions to the climate crisis we live in".

The event caused shock among Catholics both in Mexico and internationally, with many describing the event as sacrilegious. Critics of the bishop's actions said that the presence of a female Anglican minister at the altar during the Eucharist is a clear violation of Catholic teaching on both the ordained priesthood and intercommunion with non-Catholics.

The bishop emeritus attempted to defend his actions with a second Facebook post: he recounted how, after Mass on the following day, he had been questioned by journalists about whether canonical sanctions might follow. Bishop Vera explained that Ms Smith was a fellow co-chair of the international solidarity network SICSAL, who was passing through Coahuila on route to the COP 30 environmental summit and had accepted his invitation to take part in the Mass at the basilica.

He dismissed accusations of sacrilege, heresy and indiscipline as “common sense” misunderstandings, noting that Ms Smith had long been active in human rights and pastoral work, with experience as a parish minister and theologian.

“Not only does she work with the poor, she has a parish, has a theological background, she is a writer, she is ready to participate in a meeting of the United Nations and with God’s people around the defence of our Mother Earth,” he wrote. He also praised her homily as “excellent”.

“We are no longer in witch hunts and bonfire times,” the bishop also said in his Facebook post. “The word of our sister Emilie gives us light, life and guidance as Laudato Si’ asks for all the people of this planet.”

Defenders of the bishops actions' argue that the issue shouldn't be about ecumenism but rather should focus on the solidarity, inclusion and fraternity that, they claim, was achieved during the Mass.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life” and is inseparably linked to the sacramental priesthood, hence only a validly ordained Catholic priest can act in persona Christi to consecrate the bread and wine.

As a result, the ordination of women is considered invalid by the Church, a teaching reaffirmed by Pope St John Paul II in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis in 1994, which stated definitively that the Church “has no authority whatsoever” to confer priestly ordination on women.

Moreover, the Church forbids concelebration of the Eucharist with ministers, female or male, of ecclesial communities not in full communion withRome. The Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, issued by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, makes clear that Catholic clergy may not concelebrate with non-Catholic ministers, precisely because Eucharistic communion is a visible sign of full doctrinal and hierarchical unity which does not yet exist with Anglicans.

Exceptions for shared prayer are strictly limited to certain circumstances of spiritual need and never extend to shared Eucharistic Liturgy.

The Vatican has not yet issued an official response to the incident, but for many the scenes at the altar in the basilica have raised profound concerns of doctrine which could re-ignite debates on the Liturgy of the Mass.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world, consistently drawing millions of visitors annually.

‍Photo: A Catholic pilgrim carrying an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in front of the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Mexico, 10 December 2024. (Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images.)

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