Can a Catholic take communion at a Lutheran Church?

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mommy2aj

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I hope someone can help me.
My step dad, sister and brother are Catholic and my mom and grandma are Lutheran, as am I. Can my my step dad, sister and brother have communion at our Lutheran church when they come? I am unsure if this is against Catholic beliefs. I know the Lutheran church welcomes anyone that believes in Jesus Christ as they’re savior to the Lords Table. Anyone know what the Catholics standings are on this?
TIA
Laura
 
Catholics are not permitted to take communion at any other church besides the Catholic Church, obviously, and also the Orthodox church. Lutherans have a different understanding of the eucharist, so it would be inappropriate for a Catholic to take communion at a lutheran church. However, im sure theres no problem with them attending the lutheran service.
 
For a Catholic to participate in communion at a Luthern Church would be gravley sinful. The Catholic would be lying to himself about the true nature of Holy Communion and the Catholic faith.
 
Hi Laura

Actually you might want to check on your belief that in the Lutheran Chruch anyone who believes in Jesus as their Savior is welcome to the Lord’s Table. When I attended a Lutheran Chruch not only did you have to believe in Jesus as your Savior, but you also had to believe in the True Presence - that Jesus was truly present and it wasn’t just a “symbol” which would exclude the majority of Protestant Christians from participating. This was a Misouri Synod Lutheran Church so maybe yours is different??
God Bless you! 🙂
CM
 
People who are not a member of the LMCS are NOT WELCOME to take communion in an LMCS Lutheran Church. The ELCA, however, has open communion to all Christians professing belief in Christ and who believe and agree with them on the nature of their communion. However, a Catholic cannot say that he/she agrees with them on this. As such, it would not be right for a Catholic to take communion in any Lutheran Church. We do not have the same belief on this matter.

In brief, it would be sinful for a Catholic to take communion in the Lutheran church. Furthermore, it would be against Lutheran rules for either the LMCS or the ELCA Lutherans.

-Michael
 
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SouthCoast:
People who are not a member of the LMCS are NOT WELCOME to take communion in an LMCS Lutheran Church. The ELCA, however, has open communion to all Christians professing belief in Christ and who believe and agree with them on the nature of their communion. However, a Catholic cannot say that he/she agrees with them on this. As such, it would not be right for a Catholic to take communion in any Lutheran Church. We do not have the same belief on this matter.

In brief, it would be sinful for a Catholic to take communion in the Lutheran church. Furthermore, it would be against Lutheran rules for either the LMCS or the ELCA Lutherans.

-Michael
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Michael,
In our LMSC anyone who believed in the True Presence was invited to participate. You didn’t need to be a member. We participated for a long time before we became members - perfectly acceptable. Are you sure you aren’t thinking of the Wisconson branch of the Lutheran Church (WELLS ??) I know they have a closed table - our MSLC Pastor visited that church and could not participate.
 
Why would you want to, you are recieving blessed bread. The only other church that believes in the physical, not spiritual and/or coinsiding presence is the Eastern Orthodox, however many of them will not permit any other denomination to recieve. I would not recieve in an Eastern Orthdox church for the same reason I would not recieve in a SSPX chapel, they are not in union with the Pope.
 
Just a curious extension to the question. What do you guys think of taking bread at a fundamentalist/evangilical/non-demom/etc… church? They rarely do, and when they do they merely offer it as a symbol. If your visiting friends wouldn’t it be ok if you take it as a symbol, since it’s being presented as a symbol?

What do you think?:hmmm:
 
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Skyron:
Just a curious extension to the question. What do you guys think of taking bread at a fundamentalist/evangilical/non-demom/etc… church? They rarely do, and when they do they merely offer it as a symbol. If your visiting friends wouldn’t it be ok if you take it as a symbol, since it’s being presented as a symbol?

What do you think?:hmmm:
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I think that’s a no-no. It would look like you agree that it’s OK that they only celebrate it “symbolically” which you know is wrong. So accepting the bread they offer would be wrong.

The donuts & coffee afterwards are ok though. 😃
 
carol marie:
Michael,
In our LMSC anyone who believed in the True Presence was invited to participate. You didn’t need to be a member. We participated for a long time before we became members - perfectly acceptable. Are you sure you aren’t thinking of the Wisconson branch of the Lutheran Church (WELLS ??) I know they have a closed table - our MSLC Pastor visited that church and could not participate.
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I’ve been told explicitly by LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) members that LCMS are “closed communion”… That is, only LCMS members may partake. This excludes even ELCA Lutherans. Of course, it isn’t like they check an ID badge or something, but that’s just their feelings on it. There’s a lot of info on the topic on the LCMS website.

-Michael
 
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SouthCoast:
I’ve been told explicitly by LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) members that LCMS are “closed communion”… That is, only LCMS members may partake. This excludes even ELCA Lutherans. Of course, it isn’t like they check an ID badge or something, but that’s just their feelings on it. There’s a lot of info on the topic on the LCMS website.

-Michael
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You are right! I can’t believe it… I went to the LCMS website and there it was… CLOSED Communion! My church was obviously not following that little mandate because seriously, visitors all the time took communion - especially family members during a baptism or whatever and our Pastor always went out of his way to invite all “believers.”

So I stand corrected.
Thanks,
CM
 
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mommy2aj:
I hope someone can help me.
My step dad, sister and brother are Catholic and my mom and grandma are Lutheran, as am I. Can my my step dad, sister and brother have communion at our Lutheran church when they come? I am unsure if this is against Catholic beliefs. I know the Lutheran church welcomes anyone that believes in Jesus Christ as they’re savior to the Lords Table. Anyone know what the Catholics standings are on this?
TIA
Laura
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It’s not permitted, [canon law 844].
  1. The Catholic would be admitting to a union that doesn’t exist
  2. The Catholic would be accepting of a practice that is not a valid sacrament
  3. The Catholic would be worshiping something as God, that isn’t God, which is a serious sin.
Catholics know that at mass, the consecrated host and wine are no longer bread and wine after the consecration, but the body and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ sacramentally present. This is not so in Protestant churches, because they haven’t retained valid holy orders.
 
I don´t see any difference in Communion in a Catholic church or a Lutheran church. Both believes in the real precence of Christ in the bread and the wine unlike many Protestant churches.

The Lutheran church was Catholic until it turned Lutheran and nothing has changed since then in the Lutherans way of understanding the Communion. Has something changed in the Catholic church in the way the Communion is understood after the reformation?

It also would be easier to understand if the requirements for receiving Communion in the Catholic church would be reserved only for members in the Catholic church but it allows members of the Orthodox church to receive Communion in the Catholic church but not Lutherans? This is the thing that is most difficult for me to understand I think. (The same thing vice versa about Cahtolics allowed to receive Communion in the Orthodox church but not in a Lutheran church).

Who changed their view on the Communion? As far as I know there has been no alterations in the Lutheran Church of Sweden since the reformation regarding the true presence of Christ in the the bread and the wine so the Catholic church must then have changed their view upon the Communion after the reformation???

Hadoque
 
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Hadoque:
I don´t see any difference in Communion in a Catholic church or a Lutheran church.
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Do the words “transubstantiation” and “consubstantiation” mean anything to you?
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Hadoque:
Both believes in the real precence of Christ in the bread and the wine
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No. That’s the Lutheran belief. The Catholic belief is not the Jesus is in the bread and wine (“consubstantiation”), but that the former bread and wine is now Jesus (“transubstantiation”).
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Hadoque:
Who changed their view on the Communion?
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Luther did.
 
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Hadoque:
I don´t see any difference in Communion in a Catholic church or a Lutheran church. Both believes in the real precence of Christ in the bread and the wine unlike many Protestant churches.

The Lutheran church was Catholic until it turned Lutheran and nothing has changed since then in the Lutherans way of understanding the Communion. Has something changed in the Catholic church in the way the Communion is understood after the reformation?

It also would be easier to understand if the requirements for receiving Communion in the Catholic church would be reserved only for members in the Catholic church but it allows members of the Orthodox church to receive Communion in the Catholic church but not Lutherans? This is the thing that is most difficult for me to understand I think. (The same thing vice versa about Cahtolics allowed to receive Communion in the Orthodox church but not in a Lutheran church).

Who changed their view on the Communion? As far as I know there has been no alterations in the Lutheran Church of Sweden since the reformation regarding the true presence of Christ in the the bread and the wine so the Catholic church must then have changed their view upon the Communion after the reformation???

Hadoque
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Hey, Part of the problem with the Lutherans versus say the Orthodox and Catholicism is that you can trace an unbroken line of ordination through the bishops. The Lutheran Church when it broke away lost the line of ordination. Without Holy Orders, the Eucharist cannot be Consecrated and Transubstantiation cannot take place. And no the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Churches have not changed their view and that is why the two share the Sacrament of the Eucharist along with the Holy Orders necessary.

On Transsubstatiation versus consubstatiation, the difference lies in does the bread and wine truly change into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ or whether He is only symbollically present.

Out of curiousity, when was the Lutheran Church of Sweden founded as I am not familiar with that branch of Lutherans??? (Because Luther orignally spread his ideas through what is now roughly Germany). Thanks and God Bless.
 
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Hadoque:
I don´t see any difference in Communion in a Catholic church or a Lutheran church. Both believes in the real precence of Christ in the bread and the wine unlike many Protestant churches.

The Lutheran church was Catholic until it turned Lutheran and nothing has changed since then in the Lutherans way of understanding the Communion. Has something changed in the Catholic church in the way the Communion is understood after the reformation?
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Catholic beliefs haven’t changed. Lutherans’ beliefs on the Eucharist come from Martin Luther.

However, the bottom line as to why Catholics cannot take communion in a Lutheran church is that Lutherans do NOT have valid Holy Orders. Thus, they are unable to consecrate the bread & wine into the Body & Blood.

The reason that Orthodox are allowed to take communion in the Catholic Church is that the Orthodox retain valid Holy Orders. They retained valid Apostolic Succession, as has the Catholic Church. Lutherans and Anglicans do not have valid apostolic succession, thus their Holy Orders are not valid and their Eucharist is not valid.

The solution? Reconcile with the Church established by Christ! The Catholic Church!

-Michael
 
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