More sloppy agape at the Vatican

It seems that following a conversation with Pope Francis, a group of Finnish Lutherans received Communion at a Mass in St. Peter's despite their initially having declined it.

"This was not a coincidence," one of the Finns, a bishop, said afterward.

Years ago when I was in the ELCA, one of my parishioners married a Catholic girl at a Catholic nuptial mass. Although in retrospect I shouldn't have, I agreed to participate to the extent of sitting in the chancel while vested and giving a blessing to the couple.

The priest apologized for the fact that I and the groom's side of the church wouldn't be able to receive the Sacrament. I replied that when he demonstrated his integrity and that of his congregation by declining to commune those with whom he was not in confessional agreement, I felt closer to him and to Rome itself than at any other point in the service.

Not for the first time, I am disappointed in this pope's penchant for mistaking the making of nice-nice with the confession of Jesus Christ.