If there are no Catholic Churches, where does one go?

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I have started a poll here. If one is in an area where there are no Latin or Eastern Rite Catholic Churches obedient to the Pope, which Church would he go to on Sunday? The options that are available are SSPV (Sedevacantist), Polish National Catholic Church (not in union with Rome), and Orthodox Church.
 
lak611 said:
I have started a poll here. If one is in an area where there are no Latin or Eastern Rite Catholic Churches obedient to the Pope, which Church would he go to on Sunday? The options that are available are SSPV (Sedevacantist), Polish National Catholic Church (not in union with Rome), and Orthodox Church.
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I don’t think you would be obliged to go to any of them…you could prayerfully wait for a Catholic mass to come back to the area (I’d move if I could)…but I believe you could lawfully receive the Eucharist if the churches had a valid priest and a valid mass (I think the SSPV and Orthodox both have these, not sure about the Polish National group) - but you might want to wear earplugs during the sermon.

Peace in Christ,

DustinsDad
 
No one would be required to attend any of them, of course.

All, from my understanding have valid sacraments.

I would suspect that ordinary English speaking Catholics would be most comfortable in the PNCC church, those who attend the Tridentine masses in the SSPV chapel and eastern rite Catholics in the Orthodox church.
 
hi lak611 i would say the orthodox (eastern) i am not exactly sure but that would be my choice.
 
None of the above. If there is no Mass, then there is no Mass obligation. I would stay home, read my Missal, and listen to EWTN.
 
I believe all three would be considered Catholic rites. However, does a place exist where these three would be one’s only choices?
 
ProVobis said:
I believe all three would be considered Catholic rites. However, does a place exist where these three would be one’s only choices?
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If it did it would have to be in an old mining town in Pennsylvania, which was settled by both Polish and Rusyn or Ukrainian Orthodox immigrants, and also had an appropriate facility for the SSPV chapel to move in.

Although I couldn’t see such a town not having a Catholic church as well. Its certainly a unique situation if it does exist.
 
ProVobis said:
I believe all three would be considered Catholic rites. However, does a place exist where these three would be one’s only choices?
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It is a hypothetical question. I am not aware of any such place, but I wanted to see what people would say. I already know that Canon Law says that there would be no Mass obligation if such a case existed, but all three Churches I listed have valid Sacraments.
 
lak611 said:
I have started a poll here. If one is in an area where there are no Latin or Eastern Rite Catholic Churches obedient to the Pope, which Church would he go to on Sunday? The options that are available are SSPV (Sedevacantist), Polish National Catholic Church (not in union with Rome), and Orthodox Church.
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I didn’t vote because you forgot to include “to a realtor.” 😉 I’d relocate. God bless.
 
Orthadox is the same faith only they mention different “pope” during the prayer intentions. If you don’t have a catholic church to go to then you can go there.
 
That question is a ssuming we would go to any of the 3 . . .

might be an improper question 🤷
 
It is clear that the SSPV, just like the Orthodox are in schism, but both have valid orders (I do believe however some have questioned this as I think they’re Thuc-line, which some sedes and others have questioned), and hence have valid Masses (or Divine Liturgies in the case of the Eastern Orthodox). Since this is the case, I would go to the SSPV Mass, as I am a Catholic of the Latin Rite, not the Eastern Rite, and that I prefer the TLM over a Divine Liturgy. Because the SSPV doesn’t require that their members believe in sedevacantism (just like the CMRI), I would just ignore any sedevacantist talk during the sermon (if in fact that is talked about during the sermon) and focus on the Mass. I would however not go to any of the classes offered by them. I know why I don’t believe in sedevacantism, but others might not, and I wouldn’t want anyone being influenced by sedevacantist falsities.

As I stated earlier, I do believe some have questioned the validity of the ordinations of some of the SSPV priests (obviously not the ones ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre but the others). I would research this further, and if in fact they are valid I would go to the SSPV Mass. If I believed they’re not valid, I would probably go to the Orthodox Divine Liturgy.
 
lak611 said:
I already know that Canon Law says that there would be no Mass obligation if such a case existed, but all three Churches I listed have valid Sacraments.
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Excuse me for going wildly off topic for a moment, but does that mean that if I go on a two week cruise and the ship is at sea on Sunday there is no sin for missing Mass?

How about if I have to move to a small town in the distant reaches of Alaska for my job where there is no Catholic Church? Would that mean that until I go on vacation in Anchorage I would not be obligated to attend Mass? I think I would have to go to the local Orthodox Church simply because I could not bear to be away from the sacraments for so long.

How about if the closest Catholic Church was 150 miles away? Or 100? Or 50? At what point would the Canon Law kick into effect?

I’m not being sarcastic, truly I’m not. This is just the first time I ever considered not having a Roman Catholic Church available (usually a choice of four or five Churchs each with a choice of four or five Masses) for weekly attendance, and the thought boggles my mind.
 
Marsha_Adams said:
Excuse me for going wildly off topic for a moment, but does that mean that if I go on a two week cruise and the ship is at sea on Sunday there is no sin for missing Mass?
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In the unlikely event that there were no Mass on board, then yes, there would be no obligation to attend Mass, since it would be physically impossible for you to get there. (Usually, provision is made for there to be a Protestant service of worship and a Catholic Mass on board ship for a cruise.)
How about if I have to move to a small town in the distant reaches of Alaska for my job where there is no Catholic Church? Would that mean that until I go on vacation in Anchorage I would not be obligated to attend Mass?
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Right. 👍
I think I would have to go to the local Orthodox Church simply because I could not bear to be away from the sacraments for so long.
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We are not permitted to receive the Sacraments in Eastern Orthodox churches.
How about if the closest Catholic Church was 150 miles away? Or 100? Or 50? At what point would the Canon Law kick into effect?
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More than one hour’s travelling time by means of whatever your normal transportation is, is the limit after which you are not expected to try to get there. (If you are in Alaska, you would normally travel by plane, so if there is a Mass within an hour’s plane ride away from you, then you go, but if not then you don’t have the obligation - of course if there is something two hours away, and the weather is good, it would be nice for you to make the attempt; if you drive, and there’s nothing within an hour’s driving distance, then you’re not obligated, and if you walk, then if there’ s nothing within an hour’s walk away, then again, you are not obligated.
 
Even though I could not receive Communion I would go to the Orthodox Church. Although I suppose the SSPV would not knowingly commune me either, since I am not a sedevacantist. I know nothing about the PNCC, although it might be nice to experience their Liturgy if it was in Polish. But I was thinking about what if I am in the place where I am now, and there are no SSPV or PNCC here. I am in walking distance of an Orthodox parish however.
 
MoreThan1Hat said:
Although I suppose the SSPV would not knowingly commune me either, since I am not a sedevacantist.
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While most of the SSPV is made up of sedevacatists, I do not believe it is required of one who goes to an SSPV parish to actually be a sedevacatist.
 
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