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

[palmas85]

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.

The Orthodox faith is NOT the same as the Catholic faith at all. There are theological differences along with the issue of the Pope and his position and authority.

If there is no Roman Rite Church available and none of the 20 some odd other Churches that are in communion with Rome, I wouldn’t go at all.

Orthodox not an option as they are not in communion in Rome
Polish National Church, also not in communion with Rome
SSPV also not in communion with Rome.

Curious, why did you pick these three groups?

 

[Andreas_Hofer]

I put the Orthodox just because I suspect they are the most “honest” about their situation and have the most regularized formation and oversight of clerics. Now, granted, I find sedevacantism far more consistent than the positions of other groups in “questionable communion,” but with the Orthodox church you’re most likely to be approaching a stable, established priest, as opposed to a splinter group like the SSPV where you just don’t know what sort of quality control is going on (e.g., as someone mentioned, there’s not even certainty of the validity of all their orders). The same holds for me with the PNCC, where I know they are generally considered to have valid lines, but I don’t know enough about how grounded their priests would be.

 

[Ken_Duncan]

Hello all, this is my first post, so bear with me please. I know that what I am about to mention was not among the 3 choices(Though I did vote Orthodox). My family and I went to a Byzantine Monastary and shared in the Mass. I must admit it was absolutely beautiful. This monastray is about 2 1/2 hours away thus a considerable round trip drive. We will go back again someday, hopefully in the not too distant future.

Sincerely in Christ, with Joseph & Mary;
Ken.

 

[lak611]

Curious, why did you pick these three groups?

I picked those three Churches, because none are in communion with Rome, but all have priests with valid orders (although the validity of some of the priests’ orders may be in question), and all have valid sacraments (if the priests have valid orders). I was not going to include any Protestant groups, since they do not have valid orders or valid sacraments.

 

[Woodstock]

I have started a poll here. If one is in an area where there are no Latin or Eastern Rite Catholic Churches…

As a point of clarification, the proper terminology is the Eastern Catholic Churches. They aren’t identified by rite.

We are not permitted to receive the Sacraments in Eastern Orthodox churches.

By Catholic rules we are allowed to receive. In areas where there are no Catholic Churches, eastern or western, Orthodox priests would be more likely to allow you to commune. There are many Orthodox priests who knowingly offer the Eucharist to Catholics, especially in areas like the Middle East where Catholics cannot get to their own churches.

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.

Where did that random number come from?

 

[lak611]

As a point of clarification, the proper terminology is the Eastern Catholic Churches. They aren’t identified by rite.

Sorry about that!

By Catholic rules we are allowed to receive. In areas where there are no Catholic Churches, eastern or western, Orthodox priests would be more likely to allow you to commune. There are many Orthodox priests who knowingly offer the Eucharist to Catholics, especially in areas like the Middle East where Catholics cannot get to their own churches.

Yes, I know we are allowed to receive. By the way, I picked Orthodox Church. Most likely, the Orthodox priest would have been Orthodox his whole life, not a former Catholic priest who left the Catholic Church. Therefore, I would be farther away from recent schisms by going to the Orthodox Church rather than the SSPV or PNCC.

 

[Kielbasi]

Sorry about that!

Yes, I know we are allowed to receive. By the way, I picked Orthodox Church. Most likely, the Orthodox priest would have been Orthodox his whole life, not a former Catholic priest who left the Catholic Church. Therefore, I would be farther away from recent schisms by going to the Orthodox Church rather than the SSPV or PNCC.

Actually the PNCC is more than a hundred years old, I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to speculate that there are no remaining priests left who participated in the schism.

 

[Jofantioch]

The churches you mentioned ARE Catholic, but some are not in communion with Rome. I say, pray and allow God to whisper the answer for that specific circumstance to you. Too often, we just don’t allow quiet reflection to give Christ a chance to guide us. God is Love. Follow your heart!

 

[jmcrae]

By Catholic rules we are allowed to receive. In areas where there are no Catholic Churches, eastern or western, Orthodox priests would be more likely to allow you to commune. There are many Orthodox priests who knowingly offer the Eucharist to Catholics, especially in areas like the Middle East where Catholics cannot get to their own churches.

Aren’t they violating their own precepts by doing so, though? They don’t recognize our Sacraments as being valid at all - for example, if a Catholic were to convert to Orthodoxy, he would receive all three Sacraments of Initiation, as though he had never received them before.

Where did that random number come from?

This site, somewhere in the Ask an Apologist section - I’ll see if I can find it again.

 

[ElizabethPH]

Perhaps I might go to the Polish and the Orthodox…but only out of curiosity and it would not fulfill my obligation.

 

[Woodstock]

Aren’t they violating their own precepts by doing so, though? They don’t recognize our Sacraments as being valid at all - for example, if a Catholic were to convert to Orthodoxy, he would receive all three Sacraments of Initiation, as though he had never received them before.

They don’t all do that. Many receive Catholics through Confession and some also through Chrismation. Confirmation is a repeatable sacrament in Orthodoxy so re-Chrismating isn’t a rejection of the first.

 

[jmcrae]

They don’t all do that.

Ah - so you are telling me that they are not unified in this matter.

That’s the answer to a question that I had earlier. They were insisting that they were unified in all things, despite not sharing a common leadership.