Being able to share communion with Christians from different denominations is great desire of many, no more so than with interchurch families.

It was suggested in the 1993 Ecumenical Directory that the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conferences of England and Wales, Ireland and Scotland should produce guidelines for individual circumstances. They responded by publishing 'One Bread, One Body'. The 1993 Directory had restated the norms for Christians from other churches receiving communion in the Roman Catholic Church as: -
1) a grave and pressing need and
2) a spontaneous request for the sacrament and
3) no access to a minister of their own communion and
4) a faith in the sacraments in harmony with the Roman Catholic Church.

One Bread, One Body sets out the following norms:
"Admission to Holy Communion…..may be given to baptised Christians of other faith communities if there is a danger of death, or if there is some other grave and pressing need. This may at times include those who ask to receive them on a unique occasion for joy or for sorrow in the life of a family or an individual.

It is for the diocesan bishop or his delegate to judge the gravity of the need and the exceptional nature of the situation."

May my husband/wife/parent/child ever receive communion with me?

(A leaflet available published by the National Board of Catholic Women, and also available from AIF).

The leaflet has this to say about the need for some of us to regularly receive communion together. 'Interchurch Families by their nature do not belong to the same Church, but have achieved a spiritual unity by sharing the sacraments of Baptism and Marriage. The inability to share communion together regularly feels divisive and does nothing to foster Christian harmony within their home. Their desire to receive communion together often constitutes a serious spiritual need.'

What does this mean for us?

The first approach needs to be to the local Roman Catholic Priest explaining when you would like to receive communion with your spouse etc., and he should ask his bishop or the person delegated within the diocese to make the decision. Hopefully the answer will be yes!