Catholic World News
June 30, 2017
Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm is not ready to advocate the sharing of Communion between Catholics and Lutherans.
The new Swedish cardinal—the first-ever member of the College of Cardinals from the predominantly Lutheran country—spoke about the differences between Catholic and Lutheran understandings of the Eucharist in an interview with John Allen of Crux. He observed that “in the Lutheran Church, there are different visions on the Eucharist. Some members are very close to us,... while others have a very different outlook.”
Cardinal Arborelius said:
Many in the Lutheran Church now say, “We have come to an agreement, now we must celebrate the Eucharist together.” Whereas we have to say “No, we haven’t come so far in our mutual dialogue,” and, of course, this will create a kind of frustration among many of the Lutherans that we cannot possibly celebrate together.