"The Catholic point of view on this is considered backward by other Christians," he said, “and this opinion is unfortunately also shared by some Catholics."
He also recalled what he called "the painful situation of the many divorced and remarried Catholics who cannot take part in communion"--a subject which has also been breached numerous times by the Synod thus far.
In contrast, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican Secretary of State, pointed out that while "The Eucharist is always an invitation to the unity of all the disciples of Christ," and "always an agent of unity, due to the unifying grace it communicates to us," that there is "a delicate problem [in] the attitude we must show towards our separated brothers who wish to participate in the Eucharist celebrated in our Holy Church."
The Cardinal stressed that, "to favor unity with our separated brothers, we must not be divided ourselves. And a sure way to avoid division is faithfulness to the existing discipline of the Church. ... Paragraph 45 of the last Encyclical by the late Pope John Paul II 'Ecclesia de Eucharistia' recalls: 'While it is never legitimate to concelebrate in the absence of full communion, the same is not true with respect to the administration of the Eucharist under special circumstances, to individual persons belonging to Churches or ecclesial communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church."
