Can Catholics use Protestant churches?

[IlCajetan]

Since summer started, I have not had much to do and have thought about going to a church to pray. Would it be okay for me to pray in a Protestant church, or should I not treat it with the same respect as I do a Catholic Church? On top of that, could I attend mass at one, taken that I also attend mass at a Catholic Church on the same Sunday?

 

[dscath]

Yes to first, yes to the 2nd, but might be unwise

 

[IlCajetan]

Just as a disclaimer, I would not be going to Protestant mass every Sunday on top of Catholic mass. My Protestant friend invited me to go to her church so I was just wondering if it would be okay as a one-time thing

 

[Dolphin]

I took piano lessons for 13 years and my concerts for 10 of those years were at a Baptist church

 

[Andrew26]

I would not attend for two reasons. First because a Protestant “mass” is invalid. Secondly Some Protestant teaching is false a if one is weak in their faith they may be drawn into hersey.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Would it be okay for me to pray in a Protestant church,

You can go in to pray, but remember that the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament is not there.

or should I not treat it with the same respect as I do a Catholic Church?

If you go in there, you should treat it with respect because you are a guest there.

On top of that, could I attend mass at one, taken that I also attend mass at a Catholic Church on the same Sunday?

Not sure why you would want to attend Protestant services (most of them don’t call it “Mass”) if you’re also going to Catholic ones. You should really ask yourself why you want to do this.

If you’re doing it once in a while to be neighborly or to accompany a Protestant family member, it might be okay as long as you don’t receive their Communion and don’t pray any prayers that go against Catholic teaching.

But if you’re just bored and curious, you may be putting your Catholic faith at risk.
Remember that many Protestants will start trying to convert you or involve you more in their church if they see you there more than once in a while.

It’s not really a great idea for Catholics to spend a lot of time at non-Catholic churches. It used to actually be forbidden by the Church unless you got your priest’s permission, usually to attend something like a funeral.

 

[Weave]

I would never genuflect or bow in a Protestant church. Pretty sure some of the 30,000 Protestant denominations wouldn’t care because they don’t believe in Real Presence.

As far as I’m concerned it would be more prudent to find a Catholic Church to pray in.

As for Mass, you’re only going to find that in a Roman Catholic Church, even the Eastern Churches refer to their liturgy and just that, Divine Liturgy.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

As for Mass, you’re only going to find that in a Roman Catholic Church, even the Eastern Churches refer to their liturgy and just that, Divine Liturgy.

Mass and Divine Liturgy are one and the same thing. The rituals and spirituality are just different.

Except for some Anglicans and possibly very “high church” Lutherans, Protestants do not call their worship service “Mass”. In most of these churches, the worship service (loosely equivalent to our Liturgy of the Word) and the communion service or “Lord’s Supper” are two separate things. Both may take place during the same service, but not all Protestant worship services have both scripture cum preaching and the Lord’s Supper. More commonly it is just scripture, hymns, communal prayer, and preaching.

 

[phil19034]

Since summer started, I have not had much to do and have thought about going to a church to pray. Would it be okay for me to pray in a Protestant church, or should I not treat it with the same respect as I do a Catholic Church? On top of that, could I attend mass at one, taken that I also attend mass at a Catholic Church on the same Sunday?

1. praying in a Protestant Church is not different than praying in a nice park. The Physical Presence of Christ is not there. Just The Holy Spirit, as He (The Holy Spirit) is everywhere. However, only in a Catholic Church (plus the Orthodox Churches) is Jesus truly, physically present. If I were you, I would either go to a Catholic Church to pray, set up a little pray corner in my house, or find a nice tree to pray under instead of going to a Protestant church.
2. if you want to attend once in a while, that’s fine, ESP if your friend is willing to go the a Catholic Mass with you too. But if your friend isn’t willing to attend Mass with you in return, then don’t go. Some Protestants are often encouraged to invite Catholics to Church with them in an effort to draw them out of the Church.

 

[lilypadrees]

You could go to the Vigil Mass on Saturday which would fulfill your Sunday obligation and would leave you free to accept your Protestant friend ‘s invitation to visit his/her church that Sunday.

 

[Polak]

Just as a disclaimer, I would not be going to Protestant mass every Sunday on top of Catholic mass. My Protestant friend invited me to go to her church so I was just wondering if it would be okay as a one-time thing

Sure you can pray, but as @TisBearself said, you won’t find the blessed sacrament there. It would be, as @phil19034 said, like praying in a nice park.

As for the Protestant service, if you are going out of respect just because your friend has invited to, I don’t see why not. Just remember, it isn’t considered a valid mass if you are Catholic. You should probably treat it more as a curious observer.

 

[Ignatiusl]

Certainly going there to pray is fine as so is attending services. What we shouldn’t do is participate in any of their “communion” services and we obviously still obligated to attend mass on Sunday.

 

[annad347]

The Physical Presence of Christ is not there.

God is present everywhere. Jesus was God’s physical presence while He was on earth.

Say what you want about a Proyestant church, they have no authority, no sacraments, no saints, no “real” Ecuahrist, they have no Apostles (???).

But you can not say when they praise and glorify God or when they pray and worship Him that God is not present.

 

[Weave]

And he is more present in the Eucharist because it contains the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord. That cannot be found everywhere. There are certain levels of God’s presence.

Yes, He is present when I pray, but He is more present when I receive the Eucharist, and he is even more present in the Beatific Vision. If His presence was the same everywhere we would all be in Heaven right now contemplating Him face to face. But we aren’t. Which leads to the understanding that while God is present everywhere there are levels of that presence.

 

[PeterT]

Speaking in practicalities, COVID-19 is still with us this summer everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, so if you are going attend a church on Sunday, I’ll would recommend that you limit yourself by only attending a Catholic Mass and limiting your risk of exposure to the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Hopefully — God willing — COVID-19 will be less of an issue by next summer and you’ll be able to attend multiple church services on a Sunday (if you wish) without greatly increasing your chances of getting infected.

But for this summer if you want to attend a church service, I would limited it myself to only a Catholic Mass. That would be the prudent thing to do.

 

[LilyM]

IlCajetan:

Since summer started, I have not had much to do and have thought about going to a church to pray. Would it be okay for me to pray in a Protestant church, or should I not treat it with the same respect as I do a Catholic Church? On top of that, could I attend mass at one, taken that I also attend mass at a Catholic Church on the same Sunday?

Why bother? There’s nothing more sacred in a protestant “church” than in the parking lot of the old dilapidated strip mall in the run down part of town.

“Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am.in their midst”. So.what would Our Lord make of dozens or.hundreds gathered in His name?

No, a Protestant service is not the same thing as Catholic Mass, and He is not present in the same way. But I highly doubt He would view any sincere worship of Him (even if mistken) as meaningless or worthless, and not.give some.special grace to the participants.

 

[Tommy999]

“Can Catholics use Protestant churches?”…

I realize this is probably not what you meant, but I know of a Catholic church in the city where I live that was constructed and used as a Protestant church for a number of years and was then bought by the Catholic diocese and modified to be a Catholic parish. From photos, its architecture is a little more austere than most, but I assume it gets the job done for the Catholic community that calls it home.

 

[Montrose]

Since summer started, I have not had much to do and have thought about going to a church to pray. Would it be okay for me to pray in a Protestant church, or should I not treat it with the same respect as I do a Catholic Church? On top of that, could I attend mass at one, taken that I also attend mass at a Catholic Church on the same Sunday?

Catholics may attend a protestant Church for baptisms, weddings and funerals. They should not attend for the purpose of worship nor should they participate in Communion.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Tommy, the church you mention ceased to be a Protestant church when the Catholics bought it and consecrated it for Catholic use. It is now a Catholic church.

Likewise if the Catholics wished to sell a church building to Protestants, which does happen sometimes, the Catholics deconsecrate it before the Protestants take possession of it, and when the Protestants start using it then it becomes a Protestant church.

 

[Weave]

I was using it as an exaggeration. I honestly do not know how many sects of Protestants there are but as a Catholic any amount of denominations are too many.