Finding a “good” Catholic Church while traveling

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sarahraegraham

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Does anyone know of a resource to help people locate an “orthodox” church with sound teaching and worship when you’re traveling and unfamiliar with the area?

I’m specifically looking in Minneapolis now (any recommendations welcomed!) but also wondering if anyone has seen a resource for this at large.
 
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This requires some work, but if you’re looking for a church with a more traditional style, look for churches that advertise a lot of confession times. In my experience, churches that prominently list opportunities for confession on their websites tend to be more traditional.
 
Use mass times.org to connect you to specific parish websites. You can often read their bulletin and get a feel for the parish, as well as see their schedule for mass and confession.
 
If you have an iPhone try Mass Times.
For Android Mass Times for Travel.
Both allow you to check out bulletins.

Patrick
AMDG
 
My kids want me to choose based on the availability of donuts after Mass. The last time we did that, we discovered a beautiful, devout parish, and they were also very welcoming at the after-Mass donut social.
 
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I use Google.
Occasionally the diocese has a website with details on. Websites for individual churches (at least in this area of the world) tend to be horribly out of date.
 
My personal method: Anytime I have a chance to be in His Presence and receive Him, I’m elated and thankful. Any other detail can be endured for a singular visit on travel…
 
I just look for a Mass nearby. When in a hotel,I ask at the lobby. If not, I do not know exactly how but googling…
And I’ ve always found a good Mass nearby.
 
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  1. https://masstimes.org/
  2. Google or Bing Search. Then, go to church website to confirm.
Reminder: Schedules can change for summer school break, secular holidays, church holy days of obligation, etc.
 
I second the suggestion to look for a parish with lots of confession times.

Personally I use this trick: look for a parish that offers a Latin Mass. Usually parishes that offer Latin Masses tend to be more traditional in general.

It’s not feasible to google every parish in the area (unless the place you are going doesn’t have many churches), but I would also maybe google the cathedral and/or the basilica. Sometimes these churches offer more traditional liturgies.

You could also try googling “traditional Catholic Churches in X”. Be careful not to pick a parish that’s not in communion with Rome from that search, but I’ve gotten good info that way. It does take a little time for research.
 
The problem with this question is that asking for an orthodox Catholic parish implies that the others are less than orthodox.
 
Where I live, this is an unfortunate concern.

I’m having more trouble with the responses regarding “traditional” parishes when the OP asked for tips on finding an “orthodox” one. The two adjectives are not objectively interchangeable.
 
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Depends on how you are defining “good.” I find any Catholic Church good because Jesus is present there.
Try the Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Mark, St. Agnes. All are in St. Paul. The Basilica in Minneapolis.
 
Ohhhh but there are many that aren’t. If you ever happen upon one where the homily is given by a priest who passive aggressively praises those who live in opposition to church teaching, or where a prayer of the faithful involves open prayers from the parishioners and one of them is that someone IVF treatment will go well without any follow up to advise the faithful that this is not in line with church teaching, you would tread carefully in the future as well.
 
As far as the IVF prayer, I agree that that would be very sad. That was not necessarily the priest’s fault, however, and I would not expect him to publicly correct the woman. I am afraid that many Catholics are ignorant of Church teaching on IVF. That is perhaps a sign of the lack of catechesis in the Church. Such a person should be corrected privately; and it would be a sign to screen the prayer requests.
 
sarahraegraham said:
Does anyone know of a resource to help people locate an “orthodox” church with sound teaching and worship when you’re traveling and unfamiliar with the area?

I’m specifically looking in Minneapolis now (any recommendations welcomed!) but also wondering if anyone has seen a resource for this at large.
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I’m from Minneapolis. Try Holy Family in St. Louis Park, a Western suburb of Minneapolis.
 
Yes, I agree… but the problem there is opening up the prayers. They should be written in advance. But it was also a “unique” situation for mass, so that one I could let go. It still left a bad taste in my mouth for new parishes.
 
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