Neo-Pagans/wiccans/witches will worship at my base chapel!

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Peace-bwu

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I am a member of the Catholic Church at an Air Force Base Chapel. The chapel is a building shared with Protestants. Jewish and Muslim worship is also held there, though not regularly for the two, because of lack of participation. It is designed so that all the “Catholic stuff” such as holy water fonts, a crucifix etc fold into the walls. They have a Blessed Sacrament Chapel in a lockable room which also has a Baptismal font. I have never witnessed any litugical abuse or felt anything was distasteful about the Mass held on base. My husband and I feel called to support the Catholic presence at our Base, and enjoy worshiping with our military community. One of the wonderful benefits is the opportunity for joint efforts between the various religions! We often work together to have fund raisers, carnivals etc.

I actually now have, what I feel, are valid concerns. I just read in the base paper that the “Neo-Pagan earth-based faith group will meet Aug 28 at 7:00 PM in chapel two”… where we go to Mass! I find this disturbing! I have no problem sharing my worship space at the base chapel with Protestants, Jews and Muslims, although I may disagree with their theology, we are at least all worshiping God, and we respect one another.

I find it disturbing and sacreligious that we will now be sharing space with pagans who will be worshiping gods and goddess and nature and whatever… I am sure that some of them are witches because I have met a few women who are in this group and practice witchcraft, they are in a coven together. I am floored. I believe in freedom of religion,even on a military base, but I feel strongly that our base chapel should be reserved for God. It would be like an Early Christian going into a Roman temple and using the altar for the Eucharist…Or going to a place of witchcraft and asking the witches and warlocks if we can join for Mass there…** I feel it lowers the status of God in the minds of the military base,For Him to be worshiped in a place were false gods and goddesses and, who knows what else, is worshiped-…**They have been meeting in another location until now and the use of the chapel is a breakthrough for them because they want the accepted status of their religion, they really don’t NEED the space, they are making a statement. They have the freedom to meet at other locations. I don’t want to leave my parish, especially at a time like this! I am venting to people who will understand my concern, but I also want some advice. I will leave my parish if I must. I would be backing out of commitments.
I posted this on “non-Catholic religions” but I think it was not the best choice because I got alot of wiccan debate, which is fine, but we already have threads for that. I am hoping to get the comments and opinions of more fellow Catholics here. Thank you.
 
Hmmm. It’s clear from your description that this is a multi-faith chapel and not a Catholic chapel per se so I think that you are out of luck and would definitely lose any battle based on the grounds of religious freedom, particularly since this is govt. property that you are talking about.

Some battles are worth fighting, but to my mind this is not one of them. If this were strictly Christian worship space, you might have a leg to stand on, but since it isn’t your suggested analogies don’t cut it at all.

Before you decide to cut and run, you might want to weight what is most important to you? The building or the community that you gather with inside the building.
 
If it were truly a Catholic chapel it would have to be reconsecrated. Not sure if you’re in that position though…it probably wasn’t totally consecrated to begin with. You might ask your priest.
–Ann
 
I am not foolish enough to think I have a leg to stand on to fight this, so that is not an option. It isn’t just about the building, I believe the forces this group works with are real and they are not coming from God, especially if witch craft will be practiced. My question is whether this will be disrespectful to God… especially if the Catholci/protestant clergy support it, and if I should remain a part of that. I got a few good posts from fellow Catholics on “non-Catholic religions” if anyone wants to take a look there…it quickly mutated into a Wiccan/Catholic debat, though and it was suggested I move it here.

I am not sure whether the building itself has been consecrated.
 
I guess my own decision would stem from the fact that I think Wicca is little more than fabricated silliness, but if you do feel strongly that their practices are witchcraft then it probably would be best if you not only left, but took as much of the Catholic congregation with you as possible and get your pastor on board with you.
 
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jennstall your suggested analogies don’t cut it at all.
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What do you mean by my suggested analogies?
Before you decide to cut and run, you might want to weight what is most important to you? The building or the community that you gather with inside the building.
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I guess I believe it is a little more complicated than this. It isn’t just about the building, it’s about the potential for evil, the acceptance of the people in charge, (especially the clergy) and whether it would be pleasing to God. If it would not be pleasing to God, do I want to be a part of that? Frankly I could care less about the building, as far as structure, I have actually argued on this site against worrying so much about “the building.” I feel this goes beyond a building, I am talking about the spirit world, I really dont’ know if I want gods and goddesses worshiped and witchcraft performed in the same space where I worship in the Mass.
 
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jennstall:
I guess my own decision would stem from the fact that I think Wicca is little more than fabricated silliness, but if you do feel strongly that their practices are witchcraft then it probably would be best if you not only left, but took as much of the Catholic congregation with you as possible and get your pastor on board with you.
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I agree that it may be fabricated silliness, but at some point it goes beyond that and people tend to become involved in the occult. I honestly believe there is potential for evil, and it is presented in sheeps’ clothing… “wicca is good, only good energy… not all wiccans are witches, and then they are only good witches etc.”
 
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Peace-bwu:
It would be like an Early Christian going into a Roman temple and using the altar for the Eucharist…Or going to a place of witchcraft and asking the witches and warlocks if we can join for Mass there…** I feel it lowers the status of God in the minds of the military base,For Him to be worshiped in a place were false gods and goddesses and, who knows what else, is worshiped-…**.
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I was referring to the analogy comparing this chapel to a Roman temple in particular because a Roman temple wouldn’t be multi-faith. You already have two religious groups that do not accept Jesus Christ as God celebrating their services in this space so it’s really not the same thing and I think the pagans would easily point to this fact.

I guess the way I look at it is that the “gods and goddesses” they worship are non-existant so where is harm other than the fact that is a complete waste of their life, but if you feel that evil will be in the air, then you should definitely go.
 
Have you discussed your concerns with your chaplain?

I agree with you that pagan rituals invite and draw spiritual entities or powers that are apart from the Triune God we worship. In other words, if it isn’t from Our God, we ~ and more importantly ~ HE wouldn’t want “it” in our (His) worship space…(Remember the First Commandment.)

Problem is, it has just become “their” worship space, too, and they are entitled to it.

But yes, it sounds as though it is a profaning of the Sacred space where the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus is offered. Your chaplain should not stand for it. Neither should the Protestant chaplain. (imho) Whoever made the decision to bring the pagan rituals under the same roof as the Christian rituals obviously doesn’t understand the sense of the Sacred, and is more interested in appearing politically correct.

Now, your pastor will have the duty of exorcizing the chapel before every Catholic function held there. If he has no intention of doing so, then I would seek out a different parish.
(I once knew a priest who weekly exorcised his Church, simply because he felt that the people in the town were particularly sinful and wicked, and he desired the Sacred Worship space to be pure, holy, and undefiled.)
 
I did a little research in the Code of Canon Law, since I thought perhaps my response could give misinformation. (I based it upon personal experience, rather than Church law.)

So, here is what I’ve found in Canon Law. It is possible for a Church to lose its dedication blessing. (Again, another personal experience: a Catholic Church in our diocese was broken into, the tabernacle invaded, and Hosts strewn about by vandals. The Church was then closed from all ceremonies, Masses, funerals, baptisms, weddings, etc., until such time as the bishop could come and rededicate the structure to God.)

Continued…
 
Those are interesting, but I’m not sure they really answer the question here since we have no idea whether this chapel was dedicated. It’s a multifaith chapel so if there are any rules for holding Masses outside of an actual church or other dedicated structure, those would be the ones that would probably apply. Are there such rules?
 
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jennstall:
Those are interesting, but I’m not sure they really answer the question here since we have no idea whether this chapel was dedicated. It’s a multifaith chapel so if there are any rules for holding Masses outside of an actual church or other dedicated structure, those would be the ones that would probably apply. Are there such rules?
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The rules for “sacred places” apply. Churches are included within sacred places, but have additional requirements.

A secular use of a sacred place is fine, provided the sacred place is not turned over to secular authorities in absolute.

Allowing a coven of witches to use the site, even for purely secular purposes, would probably destroy its sacred nature. An exorcism or reblessing by the Ordinary prior to each Mass would be an inefficient solution.

You’ve got a real problem on your hands.
 
My thought, the Catholics who are there and faithful are serving as an example to the young service people who may be away from home for the first time. If a young Airman sees that the Catholics on base do not find the Mass offered worthy of attending, he may not think it is important to attend. While traveling off base may be an option for some, it may not be an option for all. I would continue to attend the Mass and support Catholicism on that base. Another suggestion, can the Chaplain/Priest hold Mass in another facility yet still on base?

My prayers are with you, and remember our God is the one true God and all other powers tremble at His Name!
 
All other powers tremble at His name, so all the more reason that that we should not share His worship space with other powers.

You may want to seek clarification on this difficult situation from:

Most Reverend Joseph W. Estabrook
Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA
P.O. Box 4469
Washington, DC 20017-0469

Perhaps he could persuade the powers that be to hold Mass or the pagan worship elsewhere.
Pax Christi. <><
 
PeaceBWU,

I have a question: is your Air Force church part of the Archdiocese of Military Services? If so, they should be handling this problem.

I agree with you that this worship space should not be used for pagan rituals. The other religions you cited all worship the same God of Abraham even though they all do not recognize Jesus. The pagans worship a false god.

Have you spoken to anyone else who goes to Mass or services there to see how they feel?

Finally, I would probably go to one of these services and quietly sprinkle a little holy water around (if I could do it without being caught) or maybe stand in the back and say the Rosary to myself. Or, even stand outside and say the Rosary.

God Bless!
 
Military “chapels” are not churches; they are simple community gathering places like gymnasiums. Their sanctity is neither more nor less than the open air. Accordingly, sharing the base or post “chapel” with loonies like Wiccans is no more fraught than sharing the planet with them.

The Military Archdiocese is constituted to take cognizance of the exigencies of military life; the rules about celebrating the mass in a consecrated building are suspended for this particular ministry…else it would be hard to deal with a battlefield!

Last, exactly which “religions” get to use official base facilities is settled by secular law, not religious law; and political correctness in the military fell off the edge of the logical world decades ago. Write your Congress"person" and skip talking to your catholic chaplain, who can do nothing.
 
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