Vatican City, Oct 6, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Catholic Archbishop of London, told the synod of bishops meeting this month that, when speaking about Eucharist, they must emphasize communion as the spiritual bond that ties the Church together.
"I am convinced that a recovery of the theology and ecclesiology of koinonia, in its many dimensions, is truly a fruit of the presence of the Spirit of the Risen Christ in his Church and a theme of immense ecumenical significance," he said Tuesday, in one of the first speeches to be heard at the Synod, reported the Archbishop’s House.
He said the relationship between communion/koinonia and the Eucharist should be "a central feature" of the bishops' discussions and documents. He urged participants not to limit themselves to "a narrow discussion of practical norms or catechetical guidelines, important as these are", but to keep the larger picture in mind.
"This Synod on the Eucharist takes us to the heart of all that the Second Vatican Council sought to say about Church, the world, and the destiny of all human history in the mystery of the Blessed Trinity."