English Catholics!

  • Thread starter Thread starter adstrinity
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

adstrinity

Guest
Are there any of you here? I’m just wondering what the Church is like over in England. I am speaking with a 15 year old girl on a messenger service & she’s telling me that the bread is just a symbol that Christ used, she’s never been to confession, and that instead of wine, they used “grapefruit juice” (perhaps she meant grape). She’s not a practicing Catholic and she hasn’t been to church in I don’t know how long. Also, is it true they cannot refer to the Eucharist as “The Body & Blood” for fear of sounding cannibalistic? (I was most shocked to hear that there are religion classes in the public schools there.)
 
Yep, I’m still up! I’m 17, from England and I go to Mass every Sunday. We definitely believe that the bread and wine really become the body and blood of Christ. We would also never use anything but unleavened bread (we have those wafer things) and grape wine, because that is what Christ used and what He told us to do. And we do refer to the Eucharist as the Body and Blood of Christ, because, for those who believe, it is not at all cannibalistic. And we do have Religious Education in public (state) school, except my personal experience was that the school avoided teaching Christianity because we might have got confused with all the different ‘denominations’ - ‘the Christian religion has gone in so many different directions over the years’, my RE teacher told me at the beginning of the course when I asked why there would be little or no Christian content in the course. I didn’t even know about the Catholic Church being the one true church (founded by Christ) until I began looking into Catholicism myself. But anyway, back to your first point, nothing she says about the Eucharist seems to tally with my experience - although I’m not baptised or confirmed at the moment, so I’ve only ever been able to watch from my pew :(. But, however, a couple of my friends who are Catholic are kind of lax about their confessions and I do fear that they take the Eucharist in a state of Mortal Sin, as they are so reluctant to go for a full, good Confession, but I could never question them about this, because of my relative ‘newness’ to the Catholic religion.
 
You will find many, many uninformed Catholics about the Eucharist here also…the US and Canada. And many priests also!

Christ si risen…truly he is risen!
Shoshana
 
40.png
adstrinity:
she hasn’t been to church in I don’t know how long. Also, is it true they cannot refer to the Eucharist as “The Body & Blood” for fear of sounding cannibalistic? (I was most shocked to hear that there are religion classes in the public schools there.)
Click to expand...
Consider the source. Sounds a lot like what my non-Catholic English Grandmother used to tell me about the Catholic Church . . .
 
Thank you ALL for your replies (especially you, need_to_know). I just wanted confirmation or something as WHAT/HOW is the Church being run over there. I know that there USED TO BE a lot of anti-Catholic views over in England & now that it’s a socialist state, I don’t know how much of the Church’s teachings can actually get through. Also, like I said, this gal hasn’t been to church in a LONG while & she’s getting her info through the public schools.
 
England is a socialist state:rotfl:
I don’t know where you got that idea!
The Catholic church is more numerous in some areas than others, we’re fairly thin on the ground here in Suffolk compared with where I grew up in Lancashire but the Church is active and faithful all over Britain.👋
 
It’s not like that over her, no. We are however a lot more ‘liberal’ mostly than in the US; we call lay people who give out communion, Eucharistic Ministers, and we have very little confession times (20 mins a day in my diocese’s **cathedral! **
 
I think it varies around the country but Catholicism where I grew up is still the only religion (near Birmingham which is largely Islamic) practised faithfully. There are a few other (mainly Protestant) Churches which are not well attended. Here in Yorkshire there seem to be a large number of High Anglicans (Catholics without the Pope;) ) and Catholics are thinner on the ground but still believe everything necessary. Although one of the greeters at the local CC lives with his Anglican partner and they are not married. But I cannot criticise as at present I live with my Anglican boyfriend although we do not have sexual relations and I think they do. This unfortunate living arrangement is set to change shortly I hope as my poor health means I must move back to my parents home.
 
My son and daughter-in-law live in Berkshire near London and he said that one has to be careful to distingush between English Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches because they both use the name Catholic. I would guess that English Catholic is High Church or Oxford movement Anglicanism. That is only speculation on my part. Your 15 year old friend may say she is Catholic, but it is not as we see Catholic in the good old US of A.
 
I’m not from England, but my priest is! I live in Texas 🙂 I love hearing his homilies in his accent, heh.

-Michael
 
40.png
Titus:
It’s not like that over her, no. We are however a lot more ‘liberal’ mostly than in the US; we call lay people who give out communion, Eucharistic Ministers, and we have very little confession times (20 mins a day in my diocese’s **cathedral! **
Click to expand...
Titus, come over to the Dark Side* where Confessions are heard at the following times:
Saturday: 10.30am-6.30pm.
Sunday: 11.00am-1.00pm; and 4.30-7.00pm.
Monday-Friday: 11.30am-6.00pm.
Public Holidays: 11.00am-1.00pm.

Most towns have a Catholic church, with reasonably high atendance, although it varies with location, time of year, time of service. My parents live in a largeish seaside town in the south and the 8:00am Mass is probably 3/4 full, with the 11:00 Mass 9/10 full. I belong to a parish where most of the parishoners don’t actually live in the parish boundaries, but travel in as I do. I would say it was 3/4 full at the main Sunday Mass, but we also offer Mass in Portugese and Madarin, which are very well attended.

The Education Department of Norfolk Council issued proposed guidelines that would have seen teachers referring to the Eucharist as symbolic only, but the idea was dropped at the next council meeting.

Deborah

*Westminster Cathedral 😉
 
40.png
rosamundi:
Titus, come over to the Dark Side* where Confessions are heard at the following times:
Saturday: 10.30am-6.30pm.
Sunday: 11.00am-1.00pm; and 4.30-7.00pm.
Monday-Friday: 11.30am-6.00pm.
Public Holidays: 11.00am-1.00pm.

Most towns have a Catholic church, with reasonably high atendance, although it varies with location, time of year, time of service. My parents live in a largeish seaside town in the south and the 8:00am Mass is probably 3/4 full, with the 11:00 Mass 9/10 full. I belong to a parish where most of the parishoners don’t actually live in the parish boundaries, but travel in as I do. I would say it was 3/4 full at the main Sunday Mass, but we also offer Mass in Portugese and Madarin, which are very well attended.

The Education Department of Norfolk Council issued proposed guidelines that would have seen teachers referring to the Eucharist as symbolic only, but the idea was dropped at the next council meeting.

Deborah

*Westminster Cathedral 😉
Click to expand...
FYI for all non english catholics westminster cathedral is the capital of the catholic faith in england, and has 10 priests and five bishops! whereas Southwark Cathedral has three priests and three bishops! No wonder you have such long confession times!

EDIT: Spelling + Southwark= my cathedral
 
40.png
adstrinity:
Are there any of you here? I’m just wondering what the Church is like over in England. I am speaking with a 15 year old girl on a messenger service & she’s telling me that the bread is just a symbol that Christ used, she’s never been to confession, and that instead of wine, they used “grapefruit juice” (perhaps she meant grape). She’s not a practicing Catholic and she hasn’t been to church in I don’t know how long. Also, is it true they cannot refer to the Eucharist as “The Body & Blood” for fear of sounding cannibalistic? (I was most shocked to hear that there are religion classes in the public schools there.)
Click to expand...
Be aware that Anglicans like to call themselves Catholics, so you might want to be specific and ask if they are Latin Rite Catholics.
 
40.png
adstrinity:
Are there any of you here? I’m just wondering what the Church is like over in England. I am speaking with a 15 year old girl on a messenger service & she’s telling me that the bread is just a symbol that Christ used, she’s never been to confession, and that instead of wine, they used “grapefruit juice” (perhaps she meant grape). She’s not a practicing Catholic and she hasn’t been to church in I don’t know how long. Also, is it true they cannot refer to the Eucharist as “The Body & Blood” for fear of sounding cannibalistic? (I was most shocked to hear that there are religion classes in the public schools there.)
Click to expand...
When you click on this yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=995969

you’ll see that the teenager with whom you’re corresponding is telling the truth.

I got this website from SpiritDaily and comes from the newspaper Yorkshire Today.
 
Isn’t England Socialist?

And, I call her English, I think she was born there, but, now she lives on the Isle of Mann. I just was freaking out. (I’m pretty sure she is ROMAN Catholic). Thank you ALL for the replies!!!
 
40.png
adstrinity:
Isn’t England Socialist?

And, I call her English, I think she was born there, but, now she lives on the Isle of Mann. I just was freaking out. (I’m pretty sure she is ROMAN Catholic). Thank you ALL for the replies!!!
Click to expand...
The party currently in power (Labour) used to be a kind of Workers’ party, and I guess socialist, but not as far left as the socialist party itself - but now they don’t go for that so much anymore and people have criticised them for ‘abandoning the workers’. Certainly, though, I would say England is not a socialist state, thank goodness :D.

P.S., the Isle of Man is basically part of England, just off the west coast of northern England. Here it is on Multimap.

P.P.S., I didn’t even know there was an English Catholic church, I don’t think it’s very big over here, in whatever capacity it exists.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top