Catholics - are you ok with supporting non-Catholic churches?

[water]

Depending on what I am supporting, I have no problem support non-Catholic.

For instance, I am supporting this ministry - they go to non-Christians overseas such as Pakistan, Russia, Africa …etc … to talk about Jesus and Gospel. Now, who doesn’t want this to happen? Would we prefer someone to know about Jesus or to know nothing about Him?

For whichever organization I support, my Parish and the Church come first.

 

[Sr_Sally]

I do support the Salvation Army because there is no Catholic equivalent around here for my non-cash donations. Also, I will shop at their thrift store because it is a good place to find cheap but still all wood bookcases for our ever-growing collection of books. I prefer them to Goodwill mainly because their thrift shop is in better condition and the people are extremely nice.

For monetary donations, I have always been able to find a Catholic equivalent if I look–ie Red Cross vs Catholic Charities.

But yes, at Christmas time I have been known to throw change into the bucket of a Salvation Army santa. However, I also go out of my way to NOT be out shopping at Christmas time! LOL

 

[Brian_C]

The Salvation Army may not be that bad after all. Have a look at this ditty.

cuttingedge.org/news/n1527.cfm

It seems many protestants are shocked by how “In bed with Rome” the Salvation Army is…

 

[marybee]

This is a difficult subject for me, didn’t mother Teresa help build mosques and stuff?

 

[lizaanne]

You can have whatever reasons you please. I really couldn’t care less.

First of all, this response is rude at best. You asked me why, I told you. To come back and tell me that you “couldn’t care less” is really in poor taste.

The general public thinks of the Salvation Army as the freezing volunteers ringing the bell outside stores at Christmas time and as an organization that runs children’s homes for orphans and abandoned children. They don’t think of it as a church.

Then perhaps this is a teaching moment, and they need to learn that the SA is a church.

I don’t think I was being unreasonable to suggest you and others go a little further in your explanation of why you’d go out of your way to avoid helping the Salvation Army. I wasn’t questioning your reason, I was just asking for a little clarification for anyone who would be turned off by such a statement and not understand what you mean.

What is not to understand? They are a church which does not teach what the One True Faith of Christ teaches. They are heretics. If you are offended by that, I’m sorry.

Believe it or not, there are hundreds of people who browse through this website and are not Catholic. What do you think they’d think if the first thing they saw was Catholics promoting *going out of their way *to avoid helping the Salvation Army (which they see as a wonderful thing)? Goodness, it’s not much to ask for you or someone else to elaborate and explain that you’re not being malicious.

You keep saying “going out of your way” as if I cross the street when I see them and walk around with a billboard stating that they should be avoided at all costs. That is not at all true, and is a misrepresentation of my approach. If given the choice between putting money in the red kettle, or giving it to a Catholic relief agency, I’ll choose the Catholic choice every time, hands down.

<<indeed.

~Liza

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

What I will **not **do is buy from any free-market source that I find is adamantly anti-Catholic. The site posted in the “Jumpers” thread was extremely anti-Catholic! However, they were not a church-sponsored organization. They were a private business that had no bones about promoting an anti-Catholic agenda on their business web site. So, even if I liked those clothes, I wouldn’t buy them.

I do not put money in the Salvation Army kettle during Advent no matter how much my girls beg, or how loudly the bell-ringer jingles. I give the money to St. Vincent dePaul. I WILL buy something at the Salvation Army store, because it is a purchase, not a donation- but I try to find it first at St. Vincnet de Paul thrift shop, or the American Cancer thrift shop, or Goodwill, or the Navy Relief thrift shop.

I do not buy candy from the local Christian schools, because our school needs the money so much.

I won’t give anything to Calvary Temple! I don’t care if they are selling diamond-studded bathrobes for a dollar each!!!

I have a couple friends who are LDS, who sent sons on missions. I was invited to this sort of send-off ceremony at their wards. I did not contribute to the boys’ missions funds. Instead, we got them articles of clothing they needed, such as socks, stationery, good pen, and a prepaid phone card to call home (same thing I would get a young person going into the military). I mentioned that I had placed the boys’ protection on my prayer list. I didn’t mention I also prayed they converted nobody.

 

[maria29]

I thought this was interesting document by our Late Pope John Paul the II…and it perfectly sums up how I feel about working and giving to Non Catholic Charities.

"With reference to the many positive elements present in the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, the Decree adds: “All of these, which come from Christ and lead back to him, belong by right to the one Church of Christ. **The separated brethren also carry out many of the sacred actions of the Christian religion. Undoubtedly, in many ways that vary according to the condition of each Church or Community, these actions can truly engender a life of grace, and can be rightly described as capable of providing access to the community of salvation”.18
**
"For this reason, the Council’s Decree on Ecumenism also emphasizes the importance of “every effort to eliminate words, judgments, and actions which do not respond to the condition of separated brethren with truth and fairness and so make mutual relations between them more difficult”.

 

[CatholicSam]

Lizaanne, I posed the question to everyone participating in the thread, not just you. Anyone is free to jump in . I think you need to take a few deep breaths, say a few Hail Marys and regain composure. Please re-read the post that seems to have gotten you in such a huff and realize I’m not questioning your reasoning. I simply thought, like you pointed out, that this could be a *wonderful teaching opportunity *for others reading this thread. I don’t understand your hostility towards the suggestion of using this as an opportunity to explain to others *why *they shouldn’t support the SA if other options are available.

By the way, where did I ever say I was offended that you don’t support the SA? Hint–I didn’t. Nor am I. I only pointed out that others who are not aware that SA is a church might be confused as to why donations to an organization that provides for the poor is to be avoided

I’ll not be checking in here any more. God bless you and give you a little more of His peace.

 

[THutch04]

I have supported non-Catholic churches on more than one occasion and I really don’t regret it. Mostly it depends on what the cause is. Personally, I don’t like to donate to Salvation Army not because they’re not a Catholic organization, but because I really don’t like the way that some have actually harassed people to try and give money (and I know this isn’t representative of all SA members). I usually end up giving money to Vincent dePaul. Most of the time the non-Catholic churches I’ve given money to are the ones that have done something to support music development (such as ecumenical choral concerts at the local Presbyterian church and my former church having choral Evensong regularly). I’m a musician, and I will generally support an organization that promotes participation in the arts (especially if it’s directed towards young people). If any of the local Catholic churches do this, I make sure that I support them as well. I always put money in the collection baskets for each church I visit as well.

 

[tamccrackine]

I won’t financially support groups that I know are not Catholic, especially missionary groups. My friend from high school and her family are about to go to Germany as missionaries for GEM (Greater European Mission) and I absolutely REFUSE to support them financially because they main goal of that group is to convert Europe to Christ, and they have highlighted a “plight” area as being Poland. Um… the majority of Poland is Catholic, what’s the real reason to go there? Over the course of the past year, she’s even gotten a tad nasty in the realm of “I see you haven’t donated to us yet.”

I have supported other church organizations if they can prove to me what the money is going towards (which isn’t hard to do). I will tend to lean more towards pro-life causes, crisis pregnancy centers that are strictly pro-life… stuff like that (and only if a Catholic resource isn’t available).

But for the most part, my money goes towards Catholic missionaries, Catholic organizations or at the very minimum, Christian organizations that are doing pro-life work.

 

[lizaanne]

I thought this was interesting document by our Late Pope John Paul the II…and it perfectly sums up how I feel about working and giving to Non Catholic Charities.

"With reference to the many positive elements present in the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, the Decree adds: "All of these, which come from Christ and lead back to him, belong by right to the one Church of Christ. The separated brethren also carry out many of the sacred actions of the Christian religion. Undoubtedly, in many ways that vary according to the condition of each Church or Community, these actions can truly engender a life of grace, and can be rightly described as capable of providing access to the community of salvation".18

"For this reason, the Council’s Decree on Ecumenism also emphasizes the importance of “every effort to eliminate words, judgments, and actions which do not respond to the condition of separated brethren with truth and fairness and so make mutual relations between them more difficult”.

And I would respond to this quote by stating that there are countless ways to participate and support these activities without giving them money which could go to promote anti-Catholic activity. We can support them with prayer, by volunteering side by side with them, by providing material support such as donated items, etc. But I still refuse to give money to an organization whose main goal is to spread heretical teaching.

~Liza