A significant step towards intercommunion

As the announcement that "the major branches of Christianity in Germany and 11 other Churches and ecclesial communities will mutually recognize baptisms carried out in their denominations" is being seen on German TV tonight. One woman who was interviewed said that there was in any case no differences between the Catholic and protestant church services. A priest said that he would give the Sacraments to any protestant who believed as the Catholic Church believed. Litmus test for Catholic belief, Father? It is called CONVERSION.

While even I recognise that my twin brother who is an Anglican vicar can manage to carry out a baptism, this statement clears the way towards Catholic children being regularly permitted to be baptised and raised in protestant communities (guess what beliefs they will come out with) and protestant pastors turning up in Catholic Churches to perform baptisms. Just how welcome a Catholic priest would be performing baptisms in a northern German church does not need to be even guessed. Modern dialogue is a one way street.

Some protestant pastors will even manage to invalidate a baptism. Not easy but perfectly possible. Cardinal Lehmann will have managed to turn baptism into a Carnival.