"Fake" Catholic Church?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Abundant
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Abundant said:
My concern is that there are probably well over 1,000 people who attend this ‘church’ every week who will later find that their children’s baptisms and other sacraments are not valid.
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Well, their baptisms would be valid. They would simply not be Catholic.
Abundant said:
Is there anything that can be done?
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No.
Abundant said:
Apparently the diocese already knows about it hence the sign hanging in the ‘real’ parish.
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Of course they know.
Abundant said:
Thoughts??
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Keep working with the good priests at Assumption parish to spread the word that this is not a Catholic church.
 
1ke said:
Well, their baptisms would be valid. They would simply not be Catholic.

No.

Of course they know.

Keep working with the good priests at Assumption parish to spread the word that this is not a Catholic church.
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Interesting…I never mentioned the church that I went to in order to get my brother’s paperwork…so how did you know it was Assumption!!! And…if you knew that much…do you know if anything else is being done?
 
Abundant said:
If they are trying to be Episocpal, they do a bad job at that too. They recite the same creed that we do with “one holy Catholic and Apostolic” said (heard it with my own ears, so I know it’s true). They use the same words during consecration. Same stand-sit-kneel…
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Yes, correct. The Episcopal Church does use the Nicene Creed, Eucharistic prayers, and stand-sit-kneel. You don’t seem to be familiar with the EC, but the things you describe are in fact EC.
Abundant said:
and then there is the whole picture of the pope thing…
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Which neither confirms nor denies what church it is or is affiliated with.
 
Well unfortunately, I do not attend Assumption nor do I know the parish priests there. I just had to stop by a few years ago to get the paperwork. I live up toward the Woodlands. However, because my in-laws (Hispanic immigrants themselves) live in this area, I am familiar with just how popular this church is in the surrounding community.

Assumption also has a Catholic school (my daughter goes to Northwoods in Spring, so I am a proponent of Catholic education), and can you imagine the impact on the area if more people knew about the school and were able to apply for financial assistance to get their kids not only into a Catholic school…but into a REAL Catholic church? The school and the parish at Assumption would be thriving.

I am not an activist, letter-writer, get up and do something kind of person in general, but this place makes me want to get out there with picket signs:mad:.
 
1ke said:
What is it you expect DiNardo to do?
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I wasn’t thinking the Cardinal…more one of the bishops just because someone on here suggested that. I don’t know what can be done, but maybe if a group of Catholics (perhaps from outside the immediate area) could do a mail campaign or a door to door type of invitation to get more Catholics to at least go to Assumption?
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Since you don’t think that will work…what do you suggest?
 
Abundant said:
I am not an activist, letter-writer, get up and do something kind of person in general, but this place makes me want to get out there with picket signs:mad:.
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I would happily go picket signing with you, let me know. That is a malicious and deceptive pea rice.
 
I don’t know what pea rice is MaryMary, but I like the way you think!! 👍
 
Abundant said:
I wasn’t thinking the Cardinal…more one of the bishops just because someone on here suggested that. I don’t know what can be done, but maybe if a group of Catholics (perhaps from outside the immediate area) could do a mail campaign or a door to door type of invitation to get more Catholics to at least go to Assumption?
🤷
Since you don’t think that will work…what do you suggest?
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I’m just saying that I **do **know the priests and I have family members who have been in Assumption parish for over 30 years, and I know that the priests and parish have done and continue to do outreach and awareness regarding this “church”.

Neither the cardinal nor an auxiliary can really “do” anything about this place.
 
Abundant said:
I don’t know what pea rice is MaryMary, but I like the way you think!! 👍
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Oh I am so sorry what I meant to say was malicious and deceptive practices, not pea rice. Ouch autocorrect is a nightmare!!! But lol yes I want to go there and stand and protest with signs “stop lying to us”
 
R_C said:
Who do you call? The bishop!! Write him a real letter, sent through the mail with a stamp, reporting what is going on, in a respectful and concise fashion but including all the information needed so that he or whoever he delegates can verify that this is true. Then call or visit the Cathedral (where the bishop has his office) and also provide the information to someone.

It does not matter whether the diocese apparently knows about this or not…the Church has her ways to avoid that her flock be deceived, and if all they were able to do was to force these people to add the word “apostolic” (which is even more deceitful), then not enough has been done. But if nobody raises his hand, how will the bishop know??
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I’m wondering what else you think the diocese could do?. They can’t hang a sign on their Church saying this is not a Catholic Church.
 
Abundant said:
I never thought to post this question here, but I have come across an interesting situation and I don’t know if there is anything that can be done about it.

My concern is that there are probably well over 1,000 people who attend this ‘church’ every week who will later find that their children’s baptisms and other sacraments are not valid. Is there anything that can be done? If so…who do I call? Apparently the diocese already knows about it hence the sign hanging in the ‘real’ parish.

Here is the website so you can see for yourself what it looks like inside and how many people attend: saintmatthewscathedral.org/index.htm

Thoughts??
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Out of curiosity, I looked at the website.

First, the church does not look like a cathedral, it is small for a cathedral, IMHO.

Second, I looked at their Mass schedule, there are no daily masses. A real CC parish would have daily mass. For a cathedral, they do not have a Saturday Vigil mass and Sunday evening (5 pm or after) mass.

But the dead giveaway to me was this statement:

to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and to grow in their faith as mature believers

A real CC parish would not say this statement.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts.

Call you bishop right away for action, is my suggestion. And do call a station or call the catholic radio in your area to make an announcement or public service announcement.
 
Abundant said:
I wasn’t thinking the Cardinal…more one of the bishops just because someone on here suggested that. I don’t know what can be done, but maybe if a group of Catholics (perhaps from outside the immediate area) could do a mail campaign or a door to door type of invitation to get more Catholics to at least go to Assumption?
🤷
Since you don’t think that will work…what do you suggest?
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Call a catholic station in your area, and have them spread the word.

Organize other catholics and and have a full spread ad in the news paper and radio.
 
1ke said:
I’m just saying that I **do **know the priests and I have family members who have been in Assumption parish for over 30 years, and I know that the priests and parish have done and continue to do outreach and awareness regarding this “church”.

Neither the cardinal nor an auxiliary can really “do” anything about this place.
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I think the cardinal or one of the aux bishops can go on TV and say something about it.
 
pablope said:
Out of curiosity, I looked at the website.

First, the church does not look like a cathedral, it is small for a cathedral, IMHO.

Second, I looked at their Mass schedule, there are no daily masses. A real CC parish would have daily mass. For a cathedral, they do not have a Saturday Vigil mass and Sunday evening (5 pm or after) mass.

But the dead giveaway to me was this statement:

to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and to grow in their faith as mature believers

A real CC parish would not say this statement.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts.

Call you bishop right away for action, is my suggestion. And do call a station or call the catholic radio in your area to make an announcement or public service announcement.
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I agree with you, and a lot of the things on the website indicate that they are not a Catholic church, however most believers in this area are very low income and not very well educated. Those who have the Internet likely do so for their children and do not use it. A quick google of the church shows that they have a few different websites as well and other stories which are definite red flags.

A LOT of the Hispanic population in the area goes to this ‘church’ because that is where their friends and family go. They see the word “Catholic” on the outside, walk inside and everything looks, and everyone acts Catholic so they assume that it is Catholic. They move to the United States from Mexico and this is where they end up. If nothing can be done about the Church (which seems to be the case) I wish there was a way to tell the people who go there without seeming angry or turning them off of church all together.

I am Catholic, go to mass every week and I had NO idea that this was not a real Catholic church because the traditions, customs, mass, liturgy, etc. are all the same. (I saw the female cleric on the website, but I never saw one in person).

I do agree with previous posters who said that the building does not ‘look’ Catholic, but because it is a low-income area, I just assumed that the church bought the building from an older church or something and didn’t really give it that much thought.

It seems that not only does the local church know, but according to another Houstonian who posted on here, they are TRYING to do something about it already which is great. I wish I could help get the word out too.
 
If I lived in the area, I would stand out there with protest signs in Spanish (not on the property but in front of it, near the entrance where people walk or drive in to park) telling them that this parish is not in communion with the Pope and is not recognized by the diocese.
 
A sure way to tell if a parish is authentically Catholic is to go to the diocese’s website and look it up.
 
Chatter163 said:
One should immediately look at the church bulletin and website. If one does not see a clear and unequivocal statement that the church is a parish of the (arch) diocese of _____, one should immediately be suspicious and inquire before proceeding any further.
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Hmm, my parish does not have anything of this sort. I am sure there are many, many parishes that do not.

The point is not to take the parish’s word for it, but check above their heads. The place you should be looking is the diocesan website or chancery phone. Look them up - shouldn’t be hard to find, and check whether the parish in question is listed there. If it is, then nothing to fear.
 
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