Can a Catholic sing at a Protestant service?

[Califman831]

Well, let’s see…weddings, funerals, other family events, family unity, etc. I can think of lots of reasons to, occasionally and under special circumstances, attend a church other than a Catholic church as long as one goes to mass regularly.

So by your reasoning I can go out and commit adultery if I attend mass weekly, I can steal and rape as long as I attend mass weekly, and I can hold false witness as long as I attend mass weekly.

 

[Newbie2]

So by your reasoning I can go out and commit adultery if I attend mass weekly, I can steal and rape as long as I attend mass weekly, and I can hold false witness as long as I attend mass weekly.

No.

How do you equate attending a non-Catholic church service, (say, with a spouse) with rape, adultry or theft?

 

[Califman831]

No.

How do you equate attending a non-Catholic church service, (say, with a spouse) with rape, adultry or theft?

I was pointing out that even though a person can be a frequent church goer, that attendance does not allow for a free pass to sin. By attending a non-catholic service you are stating that the Catholic church is wrong for claiming to be the “True church”, the one created by Jesus himself. A Catholic attending a non-Catholic service would be taking the role of an enabler to a lie that these false groups have valid churches. Now if you accept the lie that they have a valid church, then there is no need for the members of these groups to convert to Catholicism, nor is there a reason for you to hold loyalty solely to the Catholic Church. Having reached this point you can pick and choose what you will or will not believe coming from the chair of peter. Why are you Catholic if you do not wish to act like a Catholic? “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?” Notice he said “command” not “request”.

as for funerals the lord said “let the dead bury the dead”.

 

[Califman831]

youtube.com/watch?v=zDd8bCrYgmE&feature=player_embedded#at=97

 

[Bluegoat]

I don’t see how attending a non-Catholic Church is saying the Catholic Church is not the True Church. That doesn’t follow at all.

 

[Newbie2]

I was pointing out that even though a person can be a frequent church goer, that attendance does not allow for a free pass to sin. By attending a non-catholic service you are stating that the Catholic church is wrong for claiming to be the “True church”, the one created by Jesus himself. A Catholic attending a non-Catholic service would be taking the role of an enabler to a lie that these false groups have valid churches. Now if you accept the lie that they have a valid church, then there is no need for the members of these groups to convert to Catholicism, nor is there a reason for you to hold loyalty solely to the Catholic Church. Having reached this point you can pick and choose what you will or will not believe coming from the chair of peter. Why are you Catholic if you do not wish to act like a Catholic? “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?” Notice he said “command” not “request”.

as for funerals the lord said “let the dead bury the dead”.

Here’s where you argument fails: attending does not equate with believing. Take for example SO many Catholics (creasters, C&Es, those who attend the mandatory twice a year, or so they think). Many of them do not believe in the real presence in the Eucharist. Do we condemn them because they don’t “act like a Catholic”?

You have a point when you say “if you accept the lie that they have a valid church…”. However, I think you’re assuming that if someone goes to a Protestant church for a wedding, funeral, etc. i.e. an occasional event, (and still goes to mass that weekend) that they buy into whatever theology that ecclesial body of believers holds. 'Taint necessarily so. IF they do, then you have a valid point.

I went to a wedding of a relative recently that was held outdoors. They had some sort of “rent-a-minster”, who we speculate got his MDiv online somewhere. During the ceremony, he didn’t mention…not once…God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit.

Are you accusing me of stating the Catholic Church is wrong and enabling a lie? If so, fine, but it’s most uncharitable.

 

[wisdomseeker]

Am just pointing out the downward spiral of letting Catholics do whatever they like for the sake of being ecumenical. The answer to attending any religious service other than Catholic is a flat NO

True. just ask cardinal Ratzinger.

I know that Catholics coming to protestants services make them very happy. It is a way for them to say that the CC is just one like them and there is no difference.

 

[wisdomseeker]

These are two sacraments of the Catholic Church so no I would not be attending any where else claiming to be a Church. To be a considered a holy church it must have four marks these are:

1. One
2. Holy
3. Catholic
4. Apostolic

Protestants, Jews, pagans, and non-denominational worship places do not have all four marks. Only the Catholic church qualifies and its therefore only the Catholic Church will I attend.

Amen! let them know that is not ok to be outside of the Church of God the One who built one Church. Going to something that is not ordained by God, it is against the His Will. Unless you don’t believe that the CC is the One True Church.

 

[wisdomseeker]

I don’t see how attending a non-Catholic Church is saying the Catholic Church is not the True Church. That doesn’t follow at all.

you can do whatever you want. I wouldnt do it. I want to faiftfull to God in all things including protecting and promoting His Church and not participate in services of those who are disobedient to God. It is not ok for them to be in contempt of the Church.

Have we become so spiritually blinded that we can no longer identify the enemies? Just because someone seems to be good it doesn’t mean they cannot be an enemy. Remember the devil comes very sweet until he gets you.

 

[wisdomseeker]

They have grown in understanding.

Understanding of what? that no longer there is ONe True Church worth fighting for?

 

[Bluegoat]

True. just ask cardinal Ratzinger.

I know that Catholics coming to protestants services make them very happy. It is a way for them to say that the CC is just one like them and there is no difference.

I’m pretty sure that he has attended Protestant services.

 

[wisdomseeker]

I’m pretty sure that he has attended Protestant services.

Yeah? when?

 

[Mrs_Sally]

I believe that a Catholic should attend Sunday Masses or a Sunset Masses unless there are no catholic churches in the area and the distance is far away…Then we can visit or sing along with other Christians Church or going with friends in the Mosque or other Temples

The question wasn’t about going to a protestant service *instead *of a Catholic one. The OP clearly stated that she would also be attending Mass that weekend. Most of us are discussing the occasional attendance at a protestant/other service because of an invitation by family or friends (ie visiting or a wedding).

In the instance where there isn’t a Catholic Mass, then going to a protestant service and thinking you are getting “church” *is *wrong. In that case, it would be better to have some personal devotions (read Bible, LOTH, rosary, etc.) and not go to a church service at all.

 

[TrueLight]

Understanding of what? that no longer there is ONe True Church worth fighting for?

Maybe this quote from then Cardinal Ratzinger might help.

Thanks to the poster who posted this on another post.

“The difficulty in the way of giving an answer is a profound one. Ultimately it is due to the fact that there is no appropriate category in Catholic thought for the phenomenon of Protestantism today (one could say the same of the relationship to the separated churches of the East). It is obvious that the old category of ‘heresy’ is no longer of any value. Heresy, for Scripture and the early Church, includes the idea of a personal decision against the unity of the Church, and heresy’s characteristic is pertinacia, the obstinacy of him who persists in his own private way. This, however, cannot be regarded as an appropriate description of the spiritual situation of the Protestant Christian. In the course of a now centuries-old history, Protestantism has made an important contribution to the realization of Christian faith, fulfilling a positive function in the development of the Christian message and, above all, often giving rise to a sincere and profound faith in the individual non-Catholic Christian, whose separation from the Catholic affirmation has nothing to do with the pertinacia characteristic of heresy. Perhaps we may here invert a saying of St. Augustine’s: that an old schism becomes a heresy. The very passage of time alters the character of a division, so that an old division is something essentially different from a new one. Something that was once rightly condemned as heresy cannot later simply become true, but it can gradually develop its own positive ecclesial nature, with which the individual is presented as his church and in which he lives as a believer, not as a heretic. This organization of one group, however, ultimately has an effect on the whole. The conclusion is inescapable, then: Protestantism today is something different from heresy in the traditional sense, a phenomenon whose true theological place has not yet been determined.”

 

[Califman831]

"Is it permitted for Catholics to be present at, or to take part in, conventions, gatherings, meetings, or societies of non-Catholics which aim to associate together under a single agreement everyone who, in any way, lays claim to the name Christian? In the negative!.. It is clear, therefore, why this Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics, There is only one wav in which the unity of Christians may be fostered, and that is by furthering the return to the one true Church of Christ those who are separated from her. " (Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos).

“How does a Catholic sin against faith? A Catholic sins against Faith by Apostasy, heresy, indifferentism and by taking part in non-Catholic worship.” (Catechism of the Council of Trent, Catechism of Pope St. Pius X and The Baltimore Catechism).

“If any ecclesiastic or layman shall go into the synagogue of the Jews or to the meeting-houses of the heretics to join in prayer with them, let them be deposed and deprived of communion If any Bishops or Priest or Deacon shall join in prayer with heretics, let him be suspended from Communion” - III Council of Constantinople.

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