Attending Protestant "ordination" is sinful?

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I wouldn’t be happy pretending to someone having hamburger that it was filet mignon,…
The problem that I see is when both friends, the Catholic and the protestant, call it an hamburger and you are are the only one calling it filet mignon and that it is wrong to eat it because it is not filet mignon.

Should Catholics avoid having lunch with protestants because when they say grace before the meal some outsider could come out saying that they might be confused if the bread is still only bread after that?
 
The problem that I see is when both friends, the Catholic and the protestant, call it an hamburger and you are are the only one calling it filet mignon and that it is wrong to eat it because it is not filet mignon.

Should Catholics avoid having lunch with protestants because when they say grace before the meal some outsider could come out saying that they might be confused if the bread is still only bread after that?
Problem is my Protestant friend CALLS his ‘hamburger’ the exact same thing that I call my ‘filet mignon’ - ordination. In his case referring to the Protestant ceremony, in mine to te Catholic sacrament. Hence the possibility of confusion and scandal, just like the possibility of confusion and scandal when denominations all call their Lord’s Supper ‘communion’ when they may hold varying views about its meaning - and why we are not to add to it by intecommuning!

And he further expects me to treat his hamburger just like I treat my filet mignon - pay lots of money for it, eat it off my fine china with my best silver cutlery, accompany it with fine wine and praise it as gourmet food when it is no such thing.

I should ignore the very silly grace comment - grace in no way remotely resembles the consecration at Mass and there is not even the slightest possibility of anyone, Catholic or not, being confused.
 
Problem is my Protestant friend CALLS his ‘hamburger’ the exact same thing that I call my ‘filet mignon’ - ordination. In his case referring to the Protestant ceremony, in mine to te Catholic sacrament. Hence the possibility of confusion and scandal, just like the possibility of confusion and scandal when denominations all call their Lord’s Supper ‘communion’ when they may hold varying views about its meaning - and why we are not to add to it by intecommuning!

And he further expects me to treat his hamburger just like I treat my filet mignon - pay lots of money for it, eat it off my fine china with my best silver cutlery, accompany it with fine wine and praise it as gourmet food when it is no such thing.

I should ignore the very silly grace comment - grace in no way remotely resembles the consecration at Mass and there is not even the slightest possibility of anyone, Catholic or not, being confused.
I understand what you are saying but I think that you are might contradict yourself. To me making a reference to hamburger and filet mignon when talking about a protestant becoming minister is as silly as to you it is my comment about saying grace and the bread. The fundamental obligation that we have as Catholics is to understand others. St. Thomas paved the road when in his logic arguments he was showing a deep understanding of an opposing idea and debating that instead of simply saying the Church says so.
 
Catholic ordinations, as best I recall, make no mention of the Pope either, only the bishop.

I don’t mean equivalent as in ‘exactly the same’, I mean equivalent as in ‘achieving the same or similar purpose’ - ie actually making the person a priest. Not a Roman Catholic priest, but a priest.

We do, after all, recognize Orthodox ordinations as both valid and sacramental - and they certainly make no reference to the Pope either. Your attendance could very easily give the impression that you feel the Lutheran ordination IS valid and effectively makes the person a priest - even though it does not.
The Lutheran (LCMS) reference to the Pope was in the negative…I don’t remember the exact wording, but it was curious.

Again, I respectfully beg to differ. They are not ordaining priests, nor do they claim to. The notion of eccumenism would seem to suggest that these ministers and their respective flocks are, while not in communion with Rome, brothers and sisters in the faith. Their leaders should be seen as leaders in the (common) faith.

What you’re suggesting leads to the conclusion that we should not only decline to attend ordination ceremonies, but also that we should not acknowledge these ministers as ministers and leaders in their respective religious communities at all, for fear that we may be causing scandal, does it not?

Eccumenism frequently means walking a fine line, not erasing that line completely or building a wall where a line should be.
 
The Lutheran (LCMS) reference to the Pope was in the negative…I don’t remember the exact wording, but it was curious.

Again, I respectfully beg to differ. They are not ordaining priests, nor do they claim to. The notion of eccumenism would seem to suggest that these ministers and their respective flocks are, while not in communion with Rome, brothers and sisters in the faith. Their leaders should be seen as leaders in the (common) faith.

What you’re suggesting leads to the conclusion that we should not only decline to attend ordination ceremonies, but also that we should not acknowledge these ministers as ministers and leaders in their respective religious communities at all, for fear that we may be causing scandal, does it not?

Eccumenism frequently means walking a fine line, not erasing that line completely or building a wall where a line should be.
I think that like everybody else she is trying to balance things and her level of comfort is different from the one that you or I could have. However, she seems to agree with most of us that the bottom line is proper understanding in order to make a moral decision. The problem in threads like this is that we give opinions based on our levels of comfort which in turn is based on our understanding but the answers could differ because of two points. The first being that we all understand the same thing and that we have different levels of comfort and the second being that we do not understand the same thing. If this were a different environment then probably we would only share the deep details of our understanding; however, it is an internet forum with short posts and that is when the problems come up. For example I would participate to the installation of a baptist minister, male or female, but not to the installation of an episcopalian minister.
 
The difference is that I basically SHOW that I don’t view Church X’s Last Supper as being equivalent of Catholic communion by the very fact of my being seen by the whole congregation of Church X to not partake.

There is no action or inaction that I can do at an ordination - short of something extremely rude and disruptive - that makes the point in the same way as my not receiving Communion, is there?

That’s the difference.
That is a non sequitur. If the only reason you go to a meeting where you refuse the “Last Supper” is because you want to “SHOW” that you don’t view them as equivalent why go there at all?
I don’t have to SHOW everyone that I believe something is a sin by throwing it at their faces… I show it to God by not doing it. Your argument follows the path of simply "SHOW"ing others something, when in the end it won’t be others who judge you… it will be God.
True that some people can think that you are condoning it by being present, but those are the same kind of people that thought that Jesus shouldn’t have dinner with sinners.
Do you see the paralel?
 
I think that like everybody else LilyM is trying to balance things and her level of comfort is different from the one that you or I could have. However, she seems to agree with most of us that the bottom line is proper understanding in order to make a moral decision. The problem in threads like this is that we give opinions based on our levels of comfort which in turn is based on our understanding but the answers could differ because of two points. The first being that we all understand the same thing and that we have different levels of comfort and the second being that we do not understand the same thing. If this were a different environment then probably we would only share the deep details of our understanding; however, it is an internet forum with short posts and that is when the problems come up. For example I would participate to the installation of a baptist minister, male or female, but not to the installation of an episcopalian minister.
 
That is a non sequitur. If the only reason you go to a meeting where you refuse the “Last Supper” is because you want to “SHOW” that you don’t view them as equivalent why go there at all?
I don’t have to SHOW everyone that I believe something is a sin by throwing it at their faces… I show it to God by not doing it. Your argument follows the path of simply "SHOW"ing others something, when in the end it won’t be others who judge you… it will be God. **
True that some people can think that you are condoning it by being present, but those are the same kind of people that thought that Jesus shouldn’t have dinner with sinners.
Do you see the paralel?**
Love this point. So true.
 
Suffice it to say there are different opinions being expressed based on reflection and Church teaching, so I would say to the OP - who has either gone or not by now - inform and follow your conscience.

From my own background - I worked in prison ministry as the Catholic Chaplain with a Salvation Army Chaplain as my associate. It took many months to overcome his distrust of Catholics (as he told me later) and I had to put up with his snide remarks and comments for quite a while before he came around.

He came to trust me because I did not react or respond in kind. I stayed calm and took him as he was - as I took the inmates and guards too - because I knew that by being confrontational with him we would both lose. He later apologized to me for his behaviour and said that he realized how badly he was behaving. I was then able to talk to him more rationally about the faith and what we actually believe.

Sometimes being confrontational does not advance the Kingdom.

Sometimes it does.

And we have to decide for ourselves in prayer which is right.

So my wife and I have refused an invite to a same sex “wedding” but I would say yes to an invite to a mainline protestant ordination.

If I was a priest I would ask my bishop.

If I was a bishop then it would be a different issue.
 
Suffice it to say there are different opinions being expressed based on reflection and Church teaching, so I would say to the OP - who has either gone or not by now - inform and follow your conscience.

From my own background - I worked in prison ministry as the Catholic Chaplain with a Salvation Army Chaplain as my associate. It took many months to overcome his distrust of Catholics (as he told me later) and I had to put up with his snide remarks and comments for quite a while before he came around.

He came to trust me because I did not react or respond in kind. I stayed calm and took him as he was - as I took the inmates and guards too - because I knew that by being confrontational with him we would both lose. He later apologized to me for his behaviour and said that he realized how badly he was behaving. I was then able to talk to him more rationally about the faith and what we actually believe.

Sometimes being confrontational does not advance the Kingdom.

Sometimes it does.

And we have to decide for ourselves in prayer which is right.

So my wife and I have refused an invite to a same sex “wedding” but I would say yes to an invite to a mainline protestant ordination.

If I was a priest I would ask my bishop.

If I was a bishop then it would be a different issue.
👍👍 Both Triumphguy and I disagree with if one should go. I think absence speaks the best here, he thinks it is better to go.
However this post is spot on and exactly how we should discern not just this issue but many issues.
 
Suffice it to say there are different opinions being expressed based on reflection and Church teaching, so I would say to the OP - who has either gone or not by now - inform and follow your conscience.

From my own background - I worked in prison ministry as the Catholic Chaplain with a Salvation Army Chaplain as my associate. It took many months to overcome his distrust of Catholics (as he told me later) and I had to put up with his snide remarks and comments for quite a while before he came around.

He came to trust me because I did not react or respond in kind. I stayed calm and took him as he was - as I took the inmates and guards too - because I knew that by being confrontational with him we would both lose. He later apologized to me for his behaviour and said that he realized how badly he was behaving. I was then able to talk to him more rationally about the faith and what we actually believe.

Sometimes being confrontational does not advance the Kingdom.

Sometimes it does.

And we have to decide for ourselves in prayer which is right.

So my wife and I have refused an invite to a same sex “wedding” but I would say yes to an invite to a mainline protestant ordination.

If I was a priest I would ask my bishop.

If I was a bishop then it would be a different issue.
It is interesting to me the idea that a Bishop should not go and a priest probably should not go. If we are all priest prophet and king I wonder why we should hold out Bishops to higher social standards than us. Assuming a Bishop should not go because he represents the Church, should we not all represent the Church, should we not all be charged with socially speaking for the Church in a good way? Remember, Pelosi is regarded by many in the mainstream media as a Catholic, perhaps we should all aspire to be known as such in a good way, not in the Pelosi way. People such as Pelosi would be looked at as tollerant and nice for attending any sort of “ordination” “homosexual marriage” and the lot. Obama invoked Christianity as a reason FOR gay marriage. Isn’t it time for the Triumphguys and Moore11s to also be known for our faith?
 
But I don;t speak FOR the Church, I may live and die for the Church but I have no official voice or teaching. I am not a symbol of THE Church. I am not a direct successor to the Apostles. My very action/presence does not say THE CHURCH believes this or that.

For a bishop it is very different. He is ontologically different from me.
 
But I don;t speak FOR the Church, I may live and die for the Church but I have no official voice or teaching. I am not a symbol of THE Church. I am not a direct successor to the Apostles. My very action/presence does not say THE CHURCH believes this or that.

For a bishop it is very different. He is ontologically different from me.
I don’t agree that you don’t speak FOR the Church. by your baptism you do. You are to proclaim the Gospel. You are morally charged with this task. Every Cathoic is.
To the secular world, you may be the only voice they hear from the Church as a Catholic Bishop probably would not be invited to this event anyway.

I guess I just see it as people would look at it.
What speaks the Truth the best. So and so is at the ordination AND they are Catholic: or so and so isn’t here BECAUSE they are Catholic.
I want to be known because of my faith not in spite of my faith. It is what defines me more than any other thing in the world and if people truly know me then they will know the Church, they will know Christ, and I could not go to an ordination set in opposition to the priesthood Jesus himself founded 2000 years ago. I want people to know the Fullness of Truth, not the truth mixed with some lies.

You know who else mixes truth with lies?:eek:
Just kidding, I dont mean to insinuate that a protestant Church is the devils Church, but fractioning of God’s true Church has to make the devil smile which is why I could not as a Catholic attend something that I felt added to that division.
Ecumenism is not about understanding and compromise but rather bringing people to the Truth. And that lies only in one place.

These are reasons I would not attend. HOWEVER HYPOCRITE ALERT!

I do advise and encourage those who do not know Jesus and are seeking him to go to ANY Church they can. Hoping someday they will come to Truth. Try telling a single mother, addicted to drugs and looking for Jesus to attend RCIA for a year instead of getting herself to any form of the Gospel as fast as she can.
I know how that could be used against my argument but hopefully you can see the difference between the two situations.
 
That is a non sequitur. If the only reason you go to a meeting where you refuse the “Last Supper” is because you want to “SHOW” that you don’t view them as equivalent why go there at all?
I don’t have to SHOW everyone that I believe something is a sin by throwing it at their faces… I show it to God by not doing it. Your argument follows the path of simply "SHOW"ing others something, when in the end it won’t be others who judge you… it will be God.
Good heavens, of course I’m not the sort of person whose only reason for attending would be to make a point of refusing. You are well and truly reading too much into
my comments if you see anything that I have said that could possibly indicate such an attitude on my part. I was merely indicating that attendance at a communion service would not be wrongly construed as full agreement if I don’t receive, whereas mere attendance at an ordination, like mere attendance at a wedding, easily can and often will be construed as full approval or agreement.
True that some people can think that you are condoning it by being present, but those are the same kind of people that thought that Jesus shouldn’t have dinner with sinners.
Do you see the paralel?
There is no parallel. I do not see them as sinners for starters.

By the above logic why should you not receive their communion as well then? After all, both they and you know that it’s not the same thing as Catholic Communion, right? And sure, some people might misinterpret it if you do, but then they’d be the same type who criticized Christ for eating with sinners, wouldn’t they?

Or better still, let’s use the example of a same-sex wedding happening outside the Church. Nobody presumes that it is exactly the same thing as a Catholic wedding, and a Catholic need do nothing but attend. At the same time many on this thread who would be fine with attending an ordination would be anything but fine with gracing a same-sex wedding with their presence. Some have even said as much.
 
Good heavens, of course I’m not the sort of person whose only reason for attending would be to make a point of refusing. You are well and truly reading too much into
my comments if you see anything that I have said that could possibly indicate such an attitude on my part. I was merely indicating that attendance at a communion service would not be wrongly construed as full agreement if I don’t receive, whereas mere attendance at an ordination, like mere attendance at a wedding, easily can and often will be construed as full approval or agreement.

There is no parallel. I do not see them as sinners for starters.
**
By the above logic why should you not receive their communion as well then?** After all, both they and you know that it’s not the same thing as Catholic Communion, right? And sure, some people might misinterpret it if you do, but then they’d be the same type who criticized Christ for eating with sinners, wouldn’t they?

Or better still, let’s use the example of a same-sex wedding happening outside the Church. Nobody presumes that it is exactly the same thing as a Catholic wedding, and a Catholic need do nothing but attend. At the same time many on this thread who would be fine with attending an ordination would be anything but fine with gracing a same-sex wedding with their presence. Some have even said as much.
The two are not alike:

I could attend as a witness to the sacrifice the person getting “ordained” is offering of their lives even though in a protestant Church.

I cannot take communion because that IS against Church teaching.
 
The two are not alike:

I could attend as a witness to the sacrifice the person getting “ordained” is offering of their lives even though in a protestant Church.

I cannot take communion because that IS against Church teaching.
Ah, but why is it against Church teaching my friend?
 
And why is attending an ordination of a protestant not?
you are right it is not. And as for why. Well there could be many reasons for it. It probably used to be but that isn’t important now. Are you saying that the only reason you would not Receive protestant communion is that the Church has told you not to? You dont know why? I think you do. And I think there are parallels here. BUT again, it is personal preference and opinion which we are free as Catholics to talk about. I cannot tell you your position is immoral but am only curious as to why.

We all grow in understanding and faith. And I have no idea where you are. But let me tell you a little about mine.

I was not always an informed Catholic. I am a convert and two examples of mistakes I made in my faith and would now change are as follows.
  1. A friend asked me to “marry” them so I went online and was “ordained” and did it. She was a lapsed Catholic and I got her and her husband together. I was so honored and touched by the invitation that I did it even though I was uncomfortable with it. But I was quiet when my faith should have spoken.
  2. I had my cousin (an open homosexual) and his boyfriend in my wedding party at our Church. I would not have done that either.
I am the only Catholic in my family so I guess these kind of Catholic Protestant things come up often. And I guess I probably spend more time than most, thinking about them.😃
 
I would not receive communion at a Protestant Church because we are not in communion.

But I might attend a communion service (e.g., as part of the ordination ceremony for the ordination of my hypothetical protestant friend ;))

I will probably attend a few Anglican services since my in-laws are Anglican as we celebrate certain family events. If my brother in law ever becomes an Anglican priest I’ll go to his ordination too. (He won’t - he’s a heathen!).
 
I would not receive communion at a Protestant Church because we are not in communion.

But I might attend a communion service (e.g., as part of the ordination ceremony for the ordination of my hypothetical protestant friend ;))

I will probably attend a few Anglican services since my in-laws are Anglican as we celebrate certain family events. If my brother in law ever becomes an Anglican priest I’ll go to his ordination too. (He won’t - he’s a heathen!).
Would you have come to my ordination? It was a small service next to my computer. Most touching. I probably should demand some sort of title how about Just calling me Rev. From now on.😉

Seriously and just so you know. I took care of all of this with a confessor.👍

It would have been nice to have a Catholic there though, to hit me upside the head.
 
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