St. John of San Francisco: Regarding Communion from a Uniate Priest (1959)

Regarding the communion of Orthodox faithful by a Uniate priest, there is, of course, nothing in the ancient church rules, as Catholicism appeared much later. However, canonical rules, beginning from apostolic times, forbid prayerful communion with those of another faith, considering it a falling away from the faith; conversely, the return to the Orthodox Faith, as well as the reception into Orthodoxy of those who have held erroneous beliefs but whose fundamental dogmas remain uncorrupted and whose chrismation is accepted, is accomplished through the sacrament of Communion (95th canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council). The Orthodox Church is guided by this rule, as is the Catholic Church. Therefore, an Orthodox person who has communed in a Catholic church is considered to have fallen away from Orthodoxy and joined the Catholic faith. In some places, Catholics have widely exploited this, persuading the sick to receive communion in the Catholic manner, and then, after their death, burying them as Orthodox. In Shanghai, I twice refused to recognize such a transfer to Catholicism, as it was performed upon individuals whose will had already weakened, yet who had been Orthodox all their lives and had never intended to convert to Catholicism. The communion of Orthodox faithful by Catholics is undoubtedly a transfer into Catholicism, and anyone who gives a different explanation is either a person who does not understand this—which, of course, cannot be said of Catholic priests—or simply a cunning deceiver.

 

Source: Летопись почитания архиепископа Иоанна (Максимовича) [Chronicle of the Veneration of Archbishop John (Maximovitch)], by Bishop Sava (Saračević) of Edmonton, Platina: Brotherhood of St. Herman of Alaska, 1998, pp. 167-168.