The profound symbolism of the sacrament of unity was thus gravely impaired.

The element of causality in the sacrament of unity is undoubtedly the primary one, from 1 Corinthians 10 onward.

Remaining arguments can be found in the Church of England's pastoral letter: The Eucharist: Sacrament of Unity.

They invited ecumenical responses to this publication and The Eucharist: Sacrament of Unity is the House of Bishops' response.

Chiefly it should be our concern to move toward the recognition of others' baptism whenever possible, lest this sacrament of unity fall victim to further diversification and individuation.

Liturgical services are not private functions, but are celebrations of the Church, which is the "sacrament of unity," namely, the holy people united and ordered under their bishops (33)

Precisely through sharing in the Eucharist, the Lord's Day also becomes the Day of the Church(22), when she can effectively exercise her role as the sacrament of unity.

More and Erasmus had looked for gradual change from within, seeing the Church as a God-given institution, the sacrament of unity in a divided world but Luther did not believe in "gradual".

He cherishes the papacy as a human focus for the church over the ages - a "sacrament of unity" he calls it - and for its success, despite everything, in maintaining Christianity's core beliefs.

Cardinal Kasper published a book entitled Sacrament of Unity: The Eucharist and the Church, in 2005, a reflection on the Eucharist partly inspired by John Paul II's encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia.

But with the council viewing the church, the People of God, first of all as "the sacrament of unity" -- and all the various sacraments as expressions of this central mystery -- profound difficulties arise with our theology of eucharistic exclusion.