I was struck by something in the Pope’s letter to Patriarch Bartholomew, and I don’t know whether I should have been.  Pope Francis wrote that there is no longer “any impediment to Eucharistic communion which cannot be overcome through prayer, the purification of hearts, dialogue and the affirmation of truth.” What struck me was the use of “Eucharistic communion” rather than “full communion.”

But like I said, I’m not sure whether this actually should be striking. Full communion implies Eucharistic communion. Similarly, lack of full communion, implies lack of Eucharistic communion. There is some nuance, but as a general rule, the Catholic Church is only in “Eucharistic” communion with churches with whom it is in “full” communion. Or, put another way, it’s only in Eucharistic communion with itself.

But the reason why it seems like this statement might be striking is that it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. Full communion certainly always implies Eucharistic communion, but we could theoretically have Eucharistic communion with churches that nevertheless maintain some independence. And I wonder if the Pope’s letter is a way of saying that the Orthodox churches could maintain an independence – a greater independence than the Eastern churches within the Catholic Church – yet we could become close enough to have Eucharistic communion.

I think that’s a potentially exciting idea, but I recognize that it’s possible I’m just reading too much into the Pope’s words. It’s possible that if I were more familiar with church documents, I would know that this is unexceptional. It’s possible that something got lost when the document was translated into English. I would love to see someone with more knowledge in this area discuss this, but so far I haven’t seen anything.

Advent begins tomorrow…or, I suppose, this evening, at least so far as solemnities begin the prior evening.  (And remember that all Sundays are solemnities.)  Welcome to Year C. May you have a fruitful consideration of the Gospel of Luke.

This new liturgical year also brings us the Year of Mercy, though that does not start until December 8. I’m excited for the Year of Mercy, both because the Church has some good things planned and because it will be an opportunity to explore what God’s mercy is and how it manifests itself in the world.

On a personal note for this website, Advent means that my previously unobjectionable header might now appear to be a liturgical political statement. So I want to assure you that my blue background, which has been in place since roughly the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, has nothing to do with Advent. Advent is purple. I do not have strong opinions on whether Advent should be purple, but I emphatically accept that it is purple. Meanwhile, the blue of my header image is based on a photo which my wife took in front of the painting  Monochrome Bleu by Yves Klein at the Pompidou Center in Paris. Enjoy your purple season. I hope that you are able to experience it as a time of blessed anticipation.

Of course, when Catholics talk about ending the schism, they’re usually talking about the great schism of 1054 in which the Catholic and Orthodox churches separated. (Though that’s a simplification. There were already Orthodox churches which were not in communion with the rest of Christendom. But still, 1054 was a bad year for the church.)

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