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By Faith News Note;
Although they’ve been doing it nearly 40 years, Catholic priests can no longer celebrate Mass at the ecumenical Lutheran-Catholic Spirit of Grace church in Beaverton, Ore., according to a dictate just before Christmas by U.S. Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland. The archbishop sent a letter to Robyn Hartwig, Lutheran pastor of perhaps the nation’s only Lutheran-Catholic congregation, saying Catholics need to be participating in sacraments such as the Eucharist at their local Catholic parishes instead, according to the National Catholic Reporter [6]. Three previous archbishops countenanced the celebration of Mass at Spirit of Grace, which was formed in 1986 by the Lutheran Oregon Synod and the Archdiocese of Portland as a mission of the then-Franciscan St. Anthony Parish. Members of Spirit of Grace expressed heartache and devastation at the abrupt decision.