Why doesn't the Church allow non-Orthodox Christians to receive Communion? (Apr. '01)
To really, really understand why this is so, it will be necessary for us to understand a bit of ecclesiology and sacramental theology. Now, don't be put off or frightened by those words. All that "ecclesiology" means is "what the Church understands herself to be" or, to put it in the simplest of terms, "how the Church defines herself." And all that "sacramental theology" means is "what the Church understands the sacraments to be."
First to that bit of ecclesiology: the Church is defined as the Body of Christ. We find this definition in the Holy Bible, notably in several of St. Paul's epistles where he wrote: "We, being many, are one body in Christ" (Romans 12: 5); "As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ" (I Corinthians 12: 12); "Ye are the body of Christ" (I Corinthians 12: 27); "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4: 4-5); "Christ is the head of the Church, and he is the saviour of the body" (Ephesians 5:23b); "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Ephesians 5:30); "Christ is the head of the body, which is the Church" (Colossians 1:18); and "Christ's body, which is the Church" (Colossians 1: 24b). And in describing that Body of Christ -- which is the Church -- we say that it is "one, holy, catholic and apostolic." In other words, since there is only one Christ, and since He can only have one Body, there can only be one Church -- which is the Holy Orthodox Church.
Secondly, we believe that the sacrament of holy Communion is truly the body and blood of Christ -- not mere symbols, but really, really His body and blood. This was first taught to us by Our Lord Himself who, giving it to His holy disciples and apostles, said, "Take, eat; this is my body ... Drink ye all of it; this is my blood" (Matthew 26: 26-28; see also Mark 14: 22-24, and John 22: 19-20). That the disciples believed and taught this is attested in several of the epistles of the Holy Apostle Paul (see especially I Corinthians 10: 16-17 and 11: 23-30).
Now knowing these two important doctrines of the Church -- that she is the one Body of Christ and that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ -- it only makes sense that those who are members of His Body (the Church) can be nourished by His Body and Blood (the Eucharist). The ability to participate in the sacrament of holy Communion is a sign of our unity -- our oneness of faith and life in the one Lord Jesus Christ. St. John of Damascus wrote, "The mystery of the Eucharist is called 'participation' for by it we participate in Christ's divinity. It is also called 'Communion' which it indeed is, for through it we are brought into fellowship with Christ ... we are also, through it, in fellowship and unity with one another ... We should, therefore, be on our guard not to accept participation from heretics or give it to them ... lest we become sharers in their false faith. But if there is true union with Christ and with one another, then we indeed willingly unite with those with whom we participate." A modern Saint of our Church, Archimandrite Justin Popovich of Serbia, said it very simply, "The Church is the Body of Christ; the Eucharist is the Body of Christ. This is a fundamental identity: the Church in the Eucharist and the Eucharist in the Church."
