Communion in non-catholic churches

[kgerber20]

I was raised Lutheran but I’m currently in RCIA to become Catholic. I have been taking communion in protestant churches my whole life and was confirmed protestant. Is it ok for a Catholic (or soon-to be) catholic to take communion in protestant churches???

 

[LilyM]

I was raised Lutheran but I’m currently in RCIA to become Catholic. I have been taking communion in protestant churches my whole life and was confirmed protestant. Is it ok for a Catholic (or soon-to be) catholic to take communion in protestant churches???

No - for Catholics communion is about far more than belief in the Real Presence.

It is a statement of belonging or membership - in this case belonging to and agreeing with tye tenets of whichever denomination one communes in.

Further, it is a symbol of the most complete unity - a unity which (sadly) does not presently exist in reality between Catholics and Lutherans, much as good folks on all sides are working and praying for it.

 

[hn160]

I was raised Lutheran but I’m currently in RCIA to become Catholic. I have been taking communion in protestant churches my whole life and was confirmed protestant. Is it ok for a Catholic (or soon-to be) catholic to take communion in protestant churches???

You claim that you were raised Lutheran, it must have been in a liberal branch. You would not be able to take communion in a LC-MS or a WELS church if you were not a member of those Churches. LC-MS members are not allowed to commune in WELS churches and vice-versa because of doctrinal differences. Certainaly as a Catholic, you would not be allowed in either of those two Churches, you could in the ELCA.

 

[mab23]

No you are not to take communion at other churches under Catholic teaching. its not consecrated correctly nor given by a properly ordained priest.

I know it doesn’t seem bad but its making light of the Eucharist in participating in it.

hope this helps

 

[fbl9]

I was raised Lutheran but I’m currently in RCIA to become Catholic. I have been taking communion in protestant churches my whole life and was confirmed protestant. Is it ok for a Catholic (or soon-to be) catholic to take communion in protestant churches???

If one who professes to be Catholic then no, they can not recieve in other churches.
You, as an inquirer into the faith, are not bound by this.
Since you do sound committed i would advise against recieving in protestant churches.
The unity expressed in recieving communion goes past being worldwide, it is heavenly wide.

 

[The_Reginator]

If one who professes to be Catholic then no, they can not recieve in other churches.
You, as an inquirer into the faith, are not bound by this.
Since you do sound committed i would advise against recieving in protestant churches.
The unity expressed in recieving communion goes past being worldwide, it is heavenly wide.

It’s late, so to be brief:

1. There is no such thing as Holy Communion in protestant communities. Some, such as ‘high church’ Anglicans do believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but they do not have apostolic succession to guarantee that their priests are really priests and they words of consecration are incorrect. (The Holy Ghost has given the Catholic Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church, the correct form.)
2. Holy Communion means just that: in the act of receiving with others you are proclaiming that you are in communion, and therefore agreement, with all that is taught by that community. Since protestant communities teach things opposed to the truths passed down through the Catholic Church there is no way that we can be in agreement. To receive a protestant version of communion shows that you do not really believe the teachings of the Church established by Jesus Christ.

(Eh? I was going to be brief. Sheesh. Don’t get me going …)*

 

[PaulfromIowa]

No, Catholic and Lutheran churches are not in communion and do not share the same belief in Communion. Therefore, a Catholic should not take a Lutheran communion and vice versa.

Catholics believe in Transubstantiation, i.e., that the bread and wine become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, and believe that a validly ordained priest in apostolic succession is required to confect Holy Communion.

usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/resources-for-the-eucharist/the-real-presence-of-jesus-christ-in-the-sacrament-of-the-eucharist-basic-questions-and-answers.cfm

 

[kgerber20]

You claim that you were raised Lutheran, it must have been in a liberal branch. You would not be able to take communion in a LC-MS or a WELS church if you were not a member of those Churches. LC-MS members are not allowed to commune in WELS churches and vice-versa because of doctrinal differences. Certainaly as a Catholic, you would not be allowed in either of those two Churches, you could in the ELCA.

Yep ELCA-very liberal branch.

related question-why do some churches let anyone take communion? (before RCIA I never questioned this, but now it doesn’t seem to make sense because they have different beliefs…)

 

[hn160]

Yep ELCA-very liberal branch.

related question-why do some churches let anyone take communion? (before RCIA I never questioned this, but now it doesn’t seem to make sense because they have different beliefs…)

You are right on!

 

[The_Reginator]

related question-why do some churches let anyone take communion? (before RCIA I never questioned this, but now it doesn’t seem to make sense because they have different beliefs…)

For most, almost all, protestants there is no *big *difference in their minds between the different denominations. After all, their communion is just a symbol in their minds. I do not even know why they use the word “communion”.

I go through that question now and again with my mother.
She is now 86, was brought up as a Mennonite, and converted to Anglicanism after marriage (long after marriage).
She cannot understand why she cannot receive at the Catholic Mass held weekly at her nursing home, whereas any other denomination’s communion service invites all to receive. (She even tells me of Catholic residents receiving at these protestant services without realizing they are committing the sin of scandal.) This even hurts her … to be excluded.
Unfortunately whenever the topic comes up it doesn’t end well. She came from a long line of protestants and cannot give up her ideas of what the church is.

 

[Razanir]

Out of question, what if someone went to an Orthodox church, such as Greek Orthodox?

 

[fbl9]

Out of question, what if someone went to an Orthodox church, such as Greek Orthodox?

To my knowldge a Latin Rite Catholic can not recieve under normal circustances. Only in grave danger, i think, may a LRC recieve in these churches.
Also i think these churches may have a problem with a LCR recieving in thier churches.

 

[The_Reginator]

Out of question, what if someone went to an Orthodox church, such as Greek Orthodox?

I have read here on CAF that you would need the permission of the Greek Orthodox priest. I had thought that it was OK for Latin Rite Catholics to receive, but we do not agree on all matters, so in some cases we are not entirely in communion with them.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Out of question, what if someone went to an Orthodox church, such as Greek Orthodox?

From the Catholic POV, you can receive from the Orthodox. From the Orthodox POV, they won’t allow you to receive. But there have been Orthodox priests and even bishops who admit Catholics, but that is not the norm.