Church closest to the Catholic Church

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stuart12 said:
… a Catholic should not participate in non-Catholic worship whether it be Eastern Orthodox, Methodist or ‘‘non-denominational’’. One gives the impression that their religion is as valid as ours.
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But we’ve got a thing with the Orthodox, where, if ever we’re stuck with no Catholic church to go to, we can go to one of theirs and recieve the Blessed Sacrament, and vice versa.

Unless I’m mistaken. 'Cuz, y’know. Us and them. We’re awesome that way. 😃
 
Priests and Bishops in Eastern Othodoxy receive their authority to confect the Eucharist from Christ’s Church. Communion is just that, we are not in union with them. I hope it happens one day but it will not be anytime soon.
 
Thanks everyone that replied. But i should point some things out.

Yes (as someone else pointed out) the pentecostals dislike the Catholic Church… and my sister-in-law is no different.

and no i don’t think they’ll attend an eastern orthodox church because they don’t even want to attend a lutheran or anglican… so… that’s out of the range of possibilities.

And
My brother is still new to the whole thing like i pointed out before he wasn’t raised with any faith except faith that there is a God.
he’s still confused a bit about the trinity. But beside the really BIG mysteries of the faith, he pretty much UNDERSTANDS why Catholics do what we do and believe what we do.

And he seems like he’s leaning to the Church because i guess he’s become more comfortable with it… but not because he fully and truly knows that the Catholic Church IS the Church that Christ established.

AND THE REASON I WANTED TO FIND HIM A PROTESTANT DENOMINATION WHICH ISN’T TO FAR OFF AND DOESN’T ATTACK THE CHURCH WHILE STILL BEING PROTESTANT BECAUSE OF HIS WIFE…

THE REASON FOR ALL THIS IS BECAUSE I THINK IT’S BETTER THAT HE GO TO A CHURCH THEN NOT GO AT ALL…

AND MY PLAN IS TO IN THE END CONVERT HIM FULLY TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH… 😉

o and I kept begging them to go to mass with me until one day they did…
The good and sorta bad thing is that it was a Traditional Low Mass… it’s quiet and it takes a bit of spirituality on the side of the attendee to meditate and so on…

and the constant (2 or 3 times) ringing of my sister-in-laws phone didn’t help the situation…
 
Methodists are not all the same, but some Methodist churches might be good. There also might be some Lutherans your SIL might actually like - there are some types that are more on the evangelical side of things. And even mainstream Baptists, though they have different doctrines, might be fine. I would mostly be wary of non-denominational churches, because there is no oversight.

I tend to agree that if they go to church they are, generally speaking, better off than if they don’t. Going separately would also be a good option, but that, as I suspect you realize, is not really something you can interfere in if they think it is important.
 
Dtmccameron said:
But we’ve got a thing with the Orthodox, where, if ever we’re stuck with no Catholic church to go to, we can go to one of theirs and recieve the Blessed Sacrament, and vice versa.

Unless I’m mistaken. 'Cuz, y’know. Us and them. We’re awesome that way. 😃
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Well, under certain specific, and difficult to fulfill, circumstances, the Catholic Church will allow it. But an Orthodox person who takes a Catholic sacrament would be considered to have renounced Orthodoxy, and an Orthodox priest would not give a sacrament (except perhaps baptism) to a non-Orthodox.
 
sancte_joseph said:
Okay so I consider myself a traditional catholic (if it matters)
Anyway my brother was never brought up in any religion/faith.
He still hold the basic believes in God, and sorta Jesus christ. He has some misunderstandings about the Holy trinity… but non the less he believes in God.

And he considers me the spokesperson of the Catholic church… because THANKS BE TO GOD… when I talk to him it seem like i have the gift of preaching.

Anyway for more than a year we’ve had several “talks” where i clear up things about the faith and sometimes he asks questions, and etc.

And after that year or so HE seems like he’s leaning towards the Catholic Church, BUT his wife wants anything but the Catholic Church… She a non practicing pentecostal.

WELL THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART:

They are looking for a church to attend. and like i said the wife doesn’t want a catholic church and he doesn’t want such a protestant church…
but he also doesn’t want a lutheran or anglican…

THEY TALKED ABOUT ATTENDING A METHODIST CHURCH

SO MY QUESTION: WHAT PROTESTANT DENOMINATION HOLD THE SAME BELIEFS AS THE CHURCH… DOESN’T TEACH HERESY OR SO MUCH HERESY… AND DOESN’T ATTACK THE CATHOLIC CHURCH… ARE THE METHODIST OK?
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You mention the trinity and so a good place to start any discussion with him and your sister in law would be baptism. As baptism in cludes the trinity. Some old "order " Methodists believe very closely to Catholic especially baptism. And the Our Father. My husband was brought up in such an order and it is amazing how much we agree on. But there will always be a difference. Find what you can agree on and work from there. Maybe she is wanting to get her feet wet. But is afraid of what she doesn’t understand. They are individuals but also a unit. Pray a lot sounds like you are a good mentor.
 
Joe_5859 said:
If you’re looking for the church that is closest to the Catholic Church in terms of doctrine and practice, that would be the Eastern Orthodox churches. Even the Lutherans are far closer to the Catholic Church than the Methodists.

If they’re looking to make a compromise on this issue, I would suggest that a better compromise would be to attend both where your brother wants to go (a Catholic parish) and where his wife wants to go (whether Methodist or Pentecostal or whatever). I’ve known couples who do this. IMHO, it’s a far better course of action than picking one denomination that is “in between” where both of them would really want to go.
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I sort of agree with this too. She is probably jumping secretly up and down inside saying to herself, he is finally interested in God and wanting to attend a Church. She sounds like she would church hop anywhere. He will get lots of flack at pentecostal or anyother actually and it will get sour fast. If she is just wanting to control the issue, bad news, been there done that. Having been in pentecostal I was glad to get out and get back to my roots so this may help her if she has some roots to get back to. I don’t hate pentecostals but they proselyte the worst and most. There are many ex-C’s in the Luthern. As you can tell by my tone, I hope he takes his time a year is a short time span and I have know of people waiting 20 years.
 
He might try a church that is part of the TAC, the Traditional Anglican Communion. Technically, they are protestant, but they have as a group, 400,000 strong, petitioned Rome to be recognized as part of the Roman Catholic Church. All of their bishops have signed a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church stating that they believe everything that is in it is true. If they went to a TAC Church, at least he could hope that one day his wife would become a Catholic when and if the TAC is accepted by the Holy Father.

He, of course, since he already knows the Catholic Church to be the one true Church founded by Jesus Christ on the Rock of Peter, has no choice but to become a Catholic . . . or face the very unpleasant consequences which the Lord Himself makes clear in the New Testament. He could attend a TAC mass with his wife, but he must also attend Roman Catholic Mass every Sunday at the very least. 👍
 
Bluegoat said:
I tend to agree that if they go to church they are, generally speaking, better off than if they don’t. Going separately would also be a good option, but that, as I suspect you realize, is not really something you can interfere in if they think it is important.
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You’re not better off if you know the Catholic Church is the True Church and you’re going to another church just to please your wife. This guy would be worshipping his wife and not God. He is putting her before God, so I don’t see how he would be any better off.
 
Lee_M said:
You’re not better off if you know the Catholic Church is the True Church and you’re going to another church just to please your wife. This guy would be worshipping his wife and not God. He is putting her before God, so I don’t see how he would be any better off.
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First of all, it doesn’t sound like he is committed to Catholicism, really.
Secondly, being a Christian is a lot better than being a Nothing, even the Church agrees with that.
Thirdly, making some kind of a commitment to God is almost always a positive thing.
Fourthly, devoting weekly time to prayer will be an opportunity for the holy spirit to work on him.
Fifthly, it will develop a habit of attending.
Sixthly, even St Paul tells us that having a spouse can mean sacrifices in our religious life. Marriage is an objective good. He might not be approaching it the best way, but the fact that he recognizes it’s importance is significant. And it may actually be a big issue in his married life; a split over religion might be a huge problem if it happened, we really can’t know that.
 
lee m said:
you’re not better off if you know the catholic church is the true church and you’re going to another church just to please your wife. This guy would be worshipping his wife and not god. He is putting her before god, so i don’t see how he would be any better off.
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my brother does not know that the catholic church is the true church i said that in my 2nd post
 
Hesychios said:
This is exactly why Orthodox are not allowed to receive communion in the Latin Catholic church.
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Really? I could swear I recall some old Fr. Ambrose posts in which he said the EO policy towards Catholics was rather different than that of the Catholic Church toward the EO.

I always thought that the Catholic position was that EO shouldn’t receive communion at our liturgies because to do so would imply a full union that does not in fact yet exist. Nevertheless, the Catholic policy holds that an EO can be given the sacraments in an emergency if no EO priest is available.

If I were in danger of death would I be granted the Eucharist by an EO priest or are us Catholics (big C) too much heretics for that? 😉 To commit the sin of using western theological language, do the EO consider RCC Holy Orders and Eucharist to be valid at all? Or is there no unified position?
 
Does his wife actually object to the Catholic Church?

Or to what she THINKS the Catholic Church teaches?

Remember what Abp. Fulton Sheen said about this matter.
 
bpbasilphx said:
Does his wife actually object to the Catholic Church?

Or to what she THINKS the Catholic Church teaches?

Remember what Abp. Fulton Sheen said about this matter.
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Yea she’s part of the 90 something percent of people who hate what they THINK the Church teaches…

But she’s a work in progress… that will hopefully come to the church along with my brother when the time is right…
 
I don’t know if it has been mentioned, but in my area they have RCIA inquiry classes. The class is supposed to teach people about the faith before they decide to join (or not). You could sponsor your friend and invite his wife to come along with… I think that would help dispel some of her misconceptions about Catholicism.

Some people don’t think RCIA is worth it, but I think it would better then sending these folks to a Protestant church.
 
Sancte Joseph

You know…I NEVER venture onto this particular forum…

But here goes…I think what would be important is a church that does not usually directly promote anymore anti-Catholicism since that would defeat your purpose.

You also probably want a church that seems more similiar than not. In general, many Methodist churches could even could be considered “high” Methodist. In other words, not substantially different from Anglican in many areas. Since they do not want to do Anglican or Lutheran, which would be closer; your best bet is United Methodist or possibly Disciple of Christ churches in some areas. A Southern Baptist, Pentecostal, or very evangelical church would potentially have some anti Catholic rancor.

For your reading pleasure as well. Good luck to your brother. We would of course be glad to have them 😃

vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/meth-council-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20070125_bolen-methodists_en.html

ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PCCUMECA.HTM
 
Well let’s see hmmmm what would be another criteria? Maybe kneel-ers? 😦 You don’t see these in many other churches. Other denominations don’t like to kneel much:rolleyes: and Jesus did in the garden. 👍

I did sing in an ecuminical group concert next to an ex-C now Luthern and she kept repeatedly telling me that they even had kneelers in their Church. And she listed many other things in the liturgy at her church. So I said why don’t you just come back.
But there still is a difference:) Even in the Methodist. But your info was good.

The Mennonites have petitioned the Pope also to be accepted. But then there is the matter of the long skirt and bonnet.:rolleyes:

Sorry I don’t have the letters they wrote had them but my computer crashed so many times I lost a lot of info. 🤷 I will have to look it up.
 
manualman said:
Really? I could swear I recall some old Fr. Ambrose posts in which he said the EO policy towards Catholics was rather different than that of the Catholic Church toward the EO.

I always thought that the Catholic position was that EO shouldn’t receive communion at our liturgies because to do so would imply a full union that does not in fact yet exist. Nevertheless, the Catholic policy holds that an EO can be given the sacraments in an emergency if no EO priest is available.

If I were in danger of death would I be granted the Eucharist by an EO priest or are us Catholics (big C) too much heretics for that? 😉 To commit the sin of using western theological language, do the EO consider RCC Holy Orders and Eucharist to be valid at all? Or is there no unified position?
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THe policy of the Catholic Church says that if there is no other option, and the Orthodox person believes everything the Catholic Church teaches about the Eucharist, then a Catholic priest could administer it to him. It’s a bit awkward, because then the Orthodox person would have to believe that the Catholic Eucharist is valid, which they don’t. There are other issues along the same lines with this stipulation. So they would effectively have to abandon Orthodoxy.

You would not be granted the Eucharist by an EO priest, any more than a Protestant would be by a Catholic priest, because from the OC point of view, Catholics are schismatics who have left the True Church - the first Protestants, so to speak. Catholic Holy Orders and sacraments are not valid.

But the way they see validity has some theological differences from Catholicism as well. A Catholic priest or Bishop who left the Catholic Church could still validly perform the Eucharist, and the Bishop could even ordain new priests, in the Catholic understanding. For the Orthodox, this would be impossible for a priest or Bishop who left Orthodoxy - one needs to actually be in the Church to perform the sacraments; outside of it there is no access to them.

The Orthodox don’t think Catholics are all dammed or anything - people outside of the Church still can go to heaven, much like Catholic teaching.
 
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