The president of the Irish Countrywomen's Association has described the Catholic bishops' document on the Eucharist as "divisive rather than inclusive."
Mrs Eva Coyle said the bishops' decision to publish the One Bread One Body document was "insensitive and not in keeping with the current mood of reconciliation in the country."
It was, she said, simply a restatement of old doctrine. "I would rather see the Catholic Church tackling the immorality of large numbers of people living in poverty in our `tiger economy'. One cannot help but think they are out of step with the reality of people's lives."
The convenor of the Methodist Church in Ireland's Faith and Order Committee, Ms Gillian Kingston, said she was "desperately disappointed" with the document, which was published on Wednesday.
Whereas she was pleased the Catholic Church would allow inter-church couples to receive Communion at their marriage she believed the situation remained very restrictive.
"It is unfortunate that his/her [the non Roman-Catholic partner] family will not be allowed [receive]," she said.
She felt that in its theology the Catholic Church was being too absolutist about Communion. It was also "very hurtful to say our people can receive Communion in a Catholic church in certain circumstances but that their people can never do so in our churches."
A Church of Ireland spokeswoman said the document was being addressed by individual bishops in their own dioceses, but the general response was one of sadness.
"More sad than angry," she said. "We do really feel that people on the ground were doing what they felt was right for them."
A spokesman for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland said the document would be considered by its inter-church relations board and no response would be forthcoming before then.
The Church of England's Council for Christian Unity has welcomed the document, noting its primary purpose was to present the teaching of the Catholic Church on the mystery of the Eucharist.
The frequency with which the document used quotations from the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission to express Catholic eucharistic faith "is striking, and offers a powerful testimony to the agreement between our churches on eucharistic doctrine," it said.
It recognised that the norms outlined in the document "have to be based on Roman Catholic canon law, which expresses a position on eucharistic sharing different from that of our own church".
Also welcoming the document, the Association of Inter Church Families expressed "some disappointment that the bishops have not specifically recognised that some families may well experience a continuing serious spiritual need to receive Communion together, but note the document is open to wide interpretation, and that pastoral practice will continue to develop."
