Non-Catholic Communion?

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Eucharist is preferable. (Why not take the Body when it is available?) And I understand that only through the actions of a Priest is the bread made Host…

Why are we not allowed to take communion at a protestant church?

If we know it is not the blessed body, can we take the bread for what it is, bread, symbolic of the blessed body?

If you are unable to receive consecrated body and blood, wouldn’t symbolic communion (like that of a protestant church) be better than nothing at all?

Thank you for your replies,
🙂 Lilder
 
well-wouldn’t it kind of be like saying that by receiving the bread and wine of the protestant church: that you believe and agree with everything the protestant church is and teaches, just like catholics saying “amen. this is the body and blood of christ and i believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church and what it teaches”? in which case you and I probably most likely do not.

just my opnion-what does everyone think?
 
Communion is also what it’s name implies. A union of members of the Mystical Body of Christ by the Sacramental action of consumming the Body of Christ. By receiving bread at a Protestant community you would at one level be saying that we are in union with each other, WE are NOT. The action would also imply that we are united Spiritually by eating common bread, we are NOT. In addition the Catholic Church does not allow “open Communion” because receiving Communion does not effect the union if it does not already exist.
 
I agree with Br. Rich in that a Catholic who receives communion at a non-Catholic church is essentially lying.
 
I posted this to another CA thread a few years back, but I’ve update it a bit:

Cavier can only be obtained from Caspian Sea sturgeon. Sometimes, other fish eggs are passed off as caviar, but among those who know, it’s called “fake caviar,” because there’s really no comparison.

If you were a gourmand, and someone saw you eating fake caviar, you’d be sending a message that you thought fake caviar is just as good as caviar. Some people who knew you were a gourmand might follow your lead, and also buy fake caviar instead of the real.

Although we believe that our Eucharist is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, protestants believe that our Eucharist is the same as theirs–nothing more than a symbol. (If they believed that we had the True Presence and they had a pale imitation, why would they be content with the imitation?)

By consuming their communion, you may think you’re saying that theirs is just a piece of bread, but you’re actually saying that you can’t tell the difference between their piece of bread and our piece of bread. And that implies (at least to them) that maybe there is no difference.
 
Additionally if you do receive communion at a protestant church, and receive it as you would t a Catholic Church you are guilty of the grave sin of idolatry.

That being said, Churches like the Orthodox Church do have validly consecrated Eucharist and you are able under limited and very special circumstances to receive there.
 
I once had to explain this to my mom and daughter. It was christmas eve and I was there staying with them. That evening there was to be a service at their church (american baptist). And my mom and I got to discussing going to the service and I was saying that I couldn’t take communion there. My daughter got to asking why.

So, I told her what’s already been said here. That for me to take communion at their church, or they at mine, it would be the same as agreeing with what that church taught about it. And since we **DON’T **agree, we should’t do it.
 
I’m not trying to stir the pot, but aren’t Catholics not even supposed to attend services of other (non Catholic) faiths? That’s the way I was told by a priest before my first Communinion anyway.
 
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Voice_Of_Reason:
I’m not trying to stir the pot, but aren’t Catholics not even supposed to attend services of other (non Catholic) faiths? That’s the way I was told by a priest before my first Communinion anyway.
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It used to be a bit more strict. I remember belonging to a Scout Troop that was sponsored by a Lutheran church. My parents had to get permission for me to attend (with them) the Sunday service for an awards presentation. In the documents of Vatican II it says that a Catholic can with good reason attend a Protestant service. They cannot however take part in any liturgical function in the service. Especially they cannot act as Godparents or Sponsors. It should also not be a regular practice. But no specific permission is required any longer. I have attended Bible studies at Methodist, Lutheran, and Baptist churches. They were open to my opinion and the Catholic view and interpretation of the Scriptures. It was a frendly exchange and I have been invited to attend their services, but have in most cases declined.
 
David Mills (once Episcopalian, now Catholic) wrote something on this subject back when he was still Episcopalian that I find very wise.

But even so, we must take seriously our relations within the Episcopal Church. To remain while waiting discernment should not mean maintaining existing relations without change. Being in communion means something, and Fr. Kimel is right that we must break communion (financial and eucharistic) with those who have explicitly and knowingly set themselves against the Gospel — the full Gospel, including its moral teaching — as the Church has received it.

This is not to say they are wicked, damned, or even (necessarily) wrong. It is only to say that we disagree too fundamentally to share the common meal at the Lord’s Table. If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and other Episcopalians believe that He was a very good man who attained “god-consciousness,” to share together in His Body and Blood makes no sense at all — or rather it means we celebrate only our being fellow members of an earthly institution with lax requirements for membership. It is then a company dinner, not the Heavenly Banquet. This is surely wrong.

If this is true for members of the same Church (with widely divergent views) how much more must it be true for members of divided Churches?
 
I would add that it is not a good idea for another reason. Jesus commanded, “Take, eat. This is my body.” Matt. 26:26. He did not say, “This is a symbol of my body.” In other words, Jesus did not want his followers to merely eat bread in his name. If we eat unconsecrated bread at a Protestant service, we are not fulfilling his command, even if we understand that we are not consuming the Body of Christ, and have no intent to simulate a Catholic communion.
Code: 
 Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation, "when they commemorate the Lord's death and resurrection in the Holy Supper . . . profess that it sigifies life in communion with Christ and await his coming in glory." CCC 1400. Neverthless, Holy Communion signifies much more for us. If we receive the fullness of Christ in the Eucharist, why would we ever settle for anything less?
-Illini
 
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