Last night at my 2nd RCIA class the two priest from my parish showed up at the end. When one of them greeted me he extended his hand and and leaned in as in a hugging gesture but put his cheek out towards me, I wasnt sure what to do so I kissed his cheek?? Is this wrong? He didnt act surprised or taken aback, but Im still concerned.
I love our Priests and being a huggy person I see nothing wrong with showing my love with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Look at how Our Holy Father kisses everyone. It is a sign of affection.
Given the flap over sexual abuse I’m surprised and delighted that your priest still initiates this. As a United Methodist pastor we were taught never to initiate such action for fear of being seen as abusing our “power” with women.
We are to greet our brothers with a holy kiss. I don’t know if that includes men greeting women but I like the greeting. It is quite customary for Eastern Catholic and Orthodox to offer such greetings. Not all do, but many.
For me - sometimes the sweetest thing is a big ol’ squeeze from your priest. Hugging and a kiss on the cheek is not sinful or wrong when expressing friendship and Christ’s love. The world would be a better place if we could embrace more and fight less. Pretty hard to hate a person you just gave a hug to.
In the Orthodox tradition we always kissed the priests hand. If we had just received the Sacrament we touched his hand to our foreheads.
When I first returned to the Catholic Church, I continued the practice. Our parish priest would begin to shake my hand then pull it back once he knew what I was up to.
In the Orthodox Church a priest doesn’t shake your hands. You hold out your hands and he gives you a blessing. Then he puts his hand into yours and you kiss his hand. It is a nice tradition that I wish we did in the West.
Yeah, you’re fine as far as I can see. One of the individuals mentioned greeting one another with a holy kiss and that is correct (found in Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12 and 1 Thessalonians 5:26).
However, not too long ago, I attended a service at a Brazilian Christian service *(*Congregação Cristã do Brasil) and what they do is separate the congregation whereby men are on one side and women are on the other. Furthermore, the “holy kiss” is usually delivered from brother-to-brother and sister-to-sister to avoid even the slight possibility that kissing members of the opposite sex may elicit a less than holy mindset.
I think it is done that way to avoid situations such as what you faced (the awkwardness, wondering if it’s okay, etc). I would imagine that it really boils down to how you feel about it. If you view it as innocuous, I think you’d be okay to kiss on the cheek or hug. If you feel uncomfortable about it (for whatever reason), a hearty handshake and nice smile will do quite nicely.
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