Attending Non-Catholic Events

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DeniseNY

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I belong to a Catholic Facebook group and the subject of attending non-Catholic events was brought up. Someone posted the following:

*A true Catholic should completely shun all events associated with non-Catholic funerals and weddings, including the reception events afterward.

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos #9, Jan. 6, 1928: “Everyone knows that John himself, the Apostle of love, who seems to reveal in his Gospel the secrets of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and who never ceased to impress on the memories of his followers the new commandment ‘Love one another,’ altogether forbade any intercourse with those who professed a mutilated and corrupt form of Christ’s teaching: ‘If any man come to you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him: God speed you’ (II John 10).”*

Not only was this posted, but several group members agree with it. I think it’s absolutely wrong. What say you? I referred back to the following just to double check:

catholic.com/blog/michelle-arnold/to-attend-or-not-to-attend
 
Awful, yes. If Catholics never interacted with people and share love and compassion then no one would ever convert. People weren’t even Christians before Christ Himself conversed with them. I guess the Apostles wasted their time preaching to the nations? Crazy. Simply attending a funeral doesn’t betray what we believe. The corporal works of mercy don’t contain the qualifier: But only if they’re Catholic.FaceBook is a scourge on society. It gives mean people a platform. Imho.
 
Thank you. It’s one of those things where you just kind of have to ask “is it ME”? :eek:
 
pianistclare said:
Awful, yes. If Catholics never interacted with people and share love and compassion then no one would ever convert. People weren’t even Christians before Christ Himself conversed with them. I guess the Apostles wasted their time preaching to the nations? Crazy. Simply attending a funeral doesn’t betray what we believe. The corporal works of mercy don’t contain the qualifier: But only if they’re Catholic.FaceBook is a scourge on society. It gives mean people a platform. Imho.
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That is why I never go on Facebook. I don’t agree with what was posted either. We should try to set good examples of ourselves as Catholics. We run across many different kinds of people in our daily lives. They can’t all be Catholics! We want to pay our respects at funerals and witness the happy couple on their wedding day. So I don’t see a problem with those. As far as other non-Catholic events it would depend on what they were. One time I naively attended an End Times 4 evening seminar unaware it was put on by 7th Day Adventists! I was a new convert and was appalled when they began disrespecting the Pope and the Church. So I think one should use discretion.
 
7_Sorrows said:
That is why I never go on Facebook. I don’t agree with what was posted either. We should try to set good examples of ourselves as Catholics. We run across many different kinds of people in our daily lives. They can’t all be Catholics! We want to pay our respects at funerals and witness the happy couple on their wedding day. So I don’t see a problem with those. As far as other non-Catholic events it would depend on what they were. One time I naively attended an End Times 4 evening seminar unaware it was put on by 7th Day Adventists! I was a new convert and was appalled when they began disrespecting the Pope and the Church. So I think one should use discretion.
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I agree. In their world, I guess we wouldn’t be “true Catholics”. :rolleyes:
 
The Church has never forbidden attendance at non-Catholic weddings and funerals.

It is true that Pius XI was very critical of the early ecumenical movement. It is probably safe to say that Pope Francis takes a much softer view. It is a matter of prudential judgment. We can stand for the truth of the Catholic Christian faith without personal hostility to Protestants.
 
7_Sorrows said:
That is why I never go on Facebook. I don’t agree with what was posted either. We should try to set good examples of ourselves as Catholics. .
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The same stuff goes on here, and if we followed your advice, CAF would be an empty site.
 
The Ecumenical movement has come some way since 1928… although that doesn’t mean that Pius XI was completely wrong. Still, at the Second Vatican Council, the Church committed herself irrevocably to following the path of ecumenism. That said, we don’t take part in non-Catholic services as if they were the same as our own - put simply, we’re there more as spectators than active participants. Having said that, there’s plenty of examples to be seen (from the Pope down) of Catholics attending non-Catholic events on a much larger scale than a wedding or funeral. That said, in attending such events we don’t let go of any of our own faith as some sort of means of compromising, but we do enter into them in a spirit of Christian charity and fraternal love.

So, put simply, does this mean that it’s okay to attend a non-Catholic wedding or funeral (along with the after-match function)? Absolutely. We earnestly desire the return of our separated brothers and sisters to the one, true Church, and what better way of going about it than engaging in practical co-operation and common prayer and worship (where possible). As St JPII put it in Ut Unum Sint “all the faithful are asked by the Spirit of God to do everything possible to strengthen the bonds of communion between all Christians and to increase cooperation between Christ’s followers”.
 
Since the Church recognizes as valid the marriage of two non-Catholics, it is bizarre to propose that there would be something wrong attending such a wedding (that is, of course, e tween a man and woman).
 
DeniseNY said:
I belong to a Catholic Facebook group and the subject of attending non-Catholic events was brought up. Someone posted the following:

*A true Catholic should completely shun all events associated with non-Catholic funerals and weddings, including the reception events afterward.

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos #9, Jan. 6, 1928: “Everyone knows that John himself, the Apostle of love, who seems to reveal in his Gospel the secrets of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and who never ceased to impress on the memories of his followers the new commandment ‘Love one another,’ altogether forbade any intercourse with those who professed a mutilated and corrupt form of Christ’s teaching: ‘If any man come to you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him: God speed you’ (II John 10).”*

Not only was this posted, but several group members agree with it. I think it’s absolutely wrong. What say you? I referred back to the following just to double check:

catholic.com/blog/michelle-arnold/to-attend-or-not-to-attend
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The Church does not forbid us such to attend such events, and individual bishops or priests cannot do so either.
 
DeniseNY said:
I belong to a Catholic Facebook group and the subject of attending non-Catholic events was brought up. Someone posted the following:

*A true Catholic should completely shun all events associated with non-Catholic funerals and weddings, including the reception events afterward.

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos #9, Jan. 6, 1928: “Everyone knows that John himself, the Apostle of love, who seems to reveal in his Gospel the secrets of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and who never ceased to impress on the memories of his followers the new commandment ‘Love one another,’ altogether forbade any intercourse with those who professed a mutilated and corrupt form of Christ’s teaching: ‘If any man come to you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him: God speed you’ (II John 10).”*

Not only was this posted, but several group members agree with it. I think it’s absolutely wrong. What say you? I referred back to the following just to double check:

catholic.com/blog/michelle-arnold/to-attend-or-not-to-attend
Click to expand...
I think they all need to read this document:
vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/general-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_19930325_directory_en.html
 
In Neofight’s defense, he is never snarky. He, like myself at times, tire of the liturgy police and the scrupulous, and the people who do honestly love to pick a fight.
Perhaps he doesn’t know Bonnie as well as we do. She’s a dear, and so is he.
I’m positive he means no harm, he is a devoted Catholic, serving his parish well.

At any rate, this morning’s readings speak to this topic and make the point extremely well!
God bless everyone!
 
7_Sorrows said:
That is why I never go on Facebook. I don’t agree with what was posted either. We should try to set good examples of ourselves as Catholics. We run across many different kinds of people in our daily lives. They can’t all be Catholics! We want to pay our respects at funerals and witness the happy couple on their wedding day. So I don’t see a problem with those. As far as other non-Catholic events it would depend on what they were. One time I naively attended an End Times 4 evening seminar unaware it was put on by 7th Day Adventists! I was a new convert and was appalled when they began disrespecting the Pope and the Church. So I think one should use discretion.
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To be fair, those who try to forbid attending non-Catholic events must be cognizant of the fact that some, perhaps many, will convert into their religion. I attended a memorial service for my late niece at a Lutheran church and I can say I’ve never experienced such warmth anywhere else. But that should only help the ecumenical spirit, I would think, rather than try to convert altogether. It is possible to remain a good Catholic AND be respectful of non-Catholics.
 
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