My friend started calling me father should I tell him to stop?

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CoolMathGames

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Today, my friend called me Father (followed by my last name, like a priest). Should I let him continue? Does this break any rules in Catholicism because I’m not a priest? I think I should ask him to stop, but I’ll let you guys tell me if he’s allowed to do that or not first.
 
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CoolMathGames said:
ade up of immigrants and the children of immigrants from non Catholic, non Christian countries. Primarily China, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. As a result, my peers have nearly no knowledge of Catholicism. Now, my very close friend comes from a Chinese atheist family and has become quite interested in Catholicism. I’m probably the only practicing Catholic he has befriended, and one of the few he’s even met. Today, he started calling me Father (my last name). Should I let him continue? I think I should ask him to stop, but it caught me totally off guard. However, non ordained persons are called father in movies and stuff so is it that bad? I’ll just let you guys tell me if I should tell him to stop or not, I never expected to be in this dilemma.
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Not sure why this would be a dilemma.

A simple “Hey friend, I really appreciate the compliment you are meaning to give me but I find it disrespectful to priests, they spend years studying and I have not.”

If you really like it, I don’t see how it is bad. In college, we had a classmate who was a nerdy science geek who we called “Dr. Lastame” or even just “Doc” He found it funny and loved it.
 
I don’t see it as bad or good, I just think it’s sort of weird. I also think it’s probably breaking a rule of some sort because I’m not an actual priest. Is it breaking any rules?
 
“Father” is your last name isn’t it. Sometimes men and boys call each other by their last names. Do you call your friend by his last name? If not maybe you can point that out and tell him you would prefer he use your first name as well.
 
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Ok I’ll ask him why, but I still want to know if he’s breaking any rules by doing so.
 
Father isn’t my last name, he calls me father then followed by my last name like you’d do for a priest. I don’t call him by his last name, unless I’m calling him by his full name, first and last. However, I actually like being called by my last name. I’m just wondering if he’s allowed to call me father even though I’m not a priest.
 
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Sorry, misunderstood. I don’t think it’s wrong for him to call you that, just a teasing nick name. And, you won’t be impersonating a priest.

Have you ever considered the priesthood?
 
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CoolMathGames said:
I don’t see it as bad or good, I just think it’s sort of weird. I also think it’s probably breaking a rule of some sort because I’m not an actual priest. Is it breaking any rules?
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No, there is no rule regarding the use of the word “Father” or Padre or Don or whatever. I know a priest who was nicknamed “Padre” not because of his language spoken or that of his parishioners but as the story goes by some young kid who was trying to learn Italian from his grandfather thought it was hysterical to call him Padre. It stuck. Of course, in this case the man was a priest, but it dosn’t change that sometimes nicknames happen.
 
I wanted to be a priest when I was young and an altar boy but not since then.
 
It seems I was being vain, I will correct him. I didn’t realize he wasn’t supposed to do it, but he’s only called me that once. If I correct him now, I can stop any more harm for being done.
 
Given the likely language barrier, perhaps he just doesn’t know what to call a person he obviously respects and wants to be like. Give the guy a break. Just tell him you’re not a priest and he can call you by your given name.
 
He’s a fluent English speaker, born here to immigrant parents. English is his first language. One of my parents is an immigrant and not a native English speaker either, but since I’m born here I speak fluent English too. I just wanted to know if he’s allowed to call me that according to Catholic rules, but I will tell him that I’d rather he didn’t. I know it’s not his fault, his heart was in the right place. He’s a great friend.
 
Sounds good. I’m sure he just thought he was being witty.
Remind him priests go through rigorous training, and you have much respect for their office
No worries
 
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