Case V: Is Participation in Sacred Rites Unlawful?

Case.—Early one Sunday morning in summer time the pastor of a church at a sea resort was memorizing a sermon for the parish Mass when a Protestant minister called and asked for the loan of a Bible, saying he had only arrived the evening before, had mislaid his copy and did not know where else he might procure one for his morning service. After some hesitation our pastor gave this minister a Bible, but hardly had the latter disappeared when the pastor became uneasy. Communicatio in sacris cum acatholicis, cooperatio ad peccatum, and other chapters of Church law and moral theology darted through his head. Gradually he became easier in his conscience, as there could be no question of a sin, because he had acted bona fide, Holy Writ was the source of faith for Protestant and Catholic alike, etc.

Question.—Quid ad casum?

Solution.—Our pastor’s uneasiness, even apart from the fact that he had acted completely cum bona fide, was utterly uncalled for. But have we not here a striking example of communicatio in sacris cum acatholicis activa? We answer: Granted! But such active communicatio is not always a sin! It is only forbidden where it means an appreciation or recognition of a non-Catholic worship (cf. Aichner-Friedl, Compendium juris ecclesiastici 9, p. 156) or where scandal or even apostasy might be feared.

Nothing of all this is present in our case. The fact that a Catholic priest lends a Bible to a Protestant for the purpose of holding Divine worship, is no appreciation or recognition of that worship. Nor was there any scandal or apostasy, or a subversio in fide et moribus.