Praying with non Catholics

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I heard a short discussion by a priest saying that we as Catholics can not pray with non Catholics. Apparently this is a church teaching (which I have never heard of). Now I understand not praying with other religions (i.e. muslims, hindu, etc.), but would this mean we can’t pray with other Christians? Has anyone else ever heard of this?
 
Like I said this is something that I have never heard before. The video/discussion was from Fr. Chad Ripperger
 
Catechism of the Catholic Church 818

All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church.
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Protestants, although Christians, are separated from us. We can’t share the sacraments. But we can certainly pray with them.
 
It was, at one time, taught by some that a Catholic ought not participate in the rites and ceremonies of non-Catholics. For e.g. St Liguori in his Theologia Moralis specified it as “sacred rites” where there it might he misunderstood that the Catholic is in communion with non-Catholics.

The conditions are not absolutes as there can be a lot of grey areas: does a Catholic, a Protestant and an Orthodox praying the Pater Noter count as a “sacred rite” with a potential confusion of communion?

In a more sectarian age, perhaps. But nowadays most (Catholic) bishops enjoin Catholics to pray with other Christians, especially where it touches on concerns that transcend differences (e.g. abortion, poverty, war, etc.).
 
What type of prayer was the priest discussing?
Was it prayer that would conform to the one God and praise and glorify Him, or was it prayer to false gods and festivals.
 
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I’m not exactly sure and that’s where my confusion arose. It was a very short video and left me with more questions than answers
 
Kyle2253 said:
I heard a short discussion by a priest saying that we as Catholics can not pray with non Catholics. Apparently this is a church teaching (which I have never heard of).
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I would assume completely false…if we can get married to each other…I believe that the Church would at least “assume” we’ll be pray together at some point…like at least at the wedding.
Kyle2253 said:
The video/discussion was from Fr. Chad Ripperger
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Oh…OK, that makes sense. He also says that parents who put their kids in daycare are committing sin, Dad should be taking on at least two jobs to prevent that, and men will never turn down sex.

IMHO, take what he says with a grain of salt.
 
Are you sure this person was a Catholic priest and not a member of some schismatic movement that claims to be Catholic? Several recent popes have prayed publicly with non-Catholic Christians. There can therefore be no truth whatsoever to what this person claims.
 
Thanks, I only just saw it was this Father Ripperger. I’ve heard of him but don’t know much about him. It sounds like he is teaching things that are not endorsed by the Church and which several popes have directly contradicted.
 
Kyle2253 said:
I’m not exactly sure and that’s where my confusion arose. It was a very short video and left me with more questions than answers
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Please rewatch it or place a link up here. The confusion might be with what kind of prayer he was speaking against 🙂

We cannot assume anything here or make judgements or comments until we really know what this was about. We might lead you astray and we might be very wrong
 
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2 mormons once prayed with me to the eternal father , whom i later discovered was not the Father in heaven but another human being that died and became a “god”. If they venerated saints , maybe i could give some mental allowance but they do not venerate the saints. So clearly they were praying to a dead member who now is deemed “god”.

Maybe the mormons are an exception but yea i pray with christians.
 
Kyle2253 said:
I heard a short discussion by a priest saying that we as Catholics can not pray with non Catholics. Apparently this is a church teaching
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It’s not a church teaching. Catholics pray with non-Catholics all the time, at public ecumenical services and also privately. I prayed with my Protestant husband from time to time.

There are of course restrictions on the type of prayers Catholics are allowed to say. It’s okay for us to pray with a group of Muslims asking God to bring peace to the world. It’s wrong for us to pray with a group of Muslims a prayer in honor of Mohammed as the prophet of God, because Catholics don’t believe Mohammed was God’s prophet.

Was there some context to what the priest was saying?
Kyle2253 said:
The video/discussion was from Fr. Chad Ripperger
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Unfortunately, Fr. Ripperger has a bad habit of presenting his own opinions and claiming they are Church teaching. He has also said, for example, that according to Church teaching, married Catholic women should not work outside the home. Obviously this is a “Church teaching” that exists only in his own mind.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
He has also said, for example, that according to Church teaching, married Catholic women should not work outside the home. Obviously this is a “Church teaching” that exists only in his own mind.
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How does he get away with it? Can’t his ecclesiastical superiors order him to stop presenting as official Church doctrine stuff that clearly just reflects his own bizarre prejudices?
 
do_justly_love_mercy said:
Thanks, I only just saw it was this Father Ripperger. I’ve heard of him but don’t know much about him. It sounds like he is teaching things that are not endorsed by the Church and which several popes have directly contradicted.
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He’s some kind of traditionalist internet celebrity priest. I’m sure he’s a smart guy, but I do think half the stuff he says is just aimed at generating clicks through online controversy.
 
I doubt that he crosses any sort of line in the sand where the Church would come down on him for misrepresenting Church teaching. The Church has left a lot of issues more or less open; for example, it hasn’t taken an official Church position on whether a married Catholic woman should work outside the home or not, it leaves it up to the individual woman, her particular situation, and her conscience. There’s probably situations where it might be sinful and other situations where it’s fine. If a priest, especially one that is FSSP and running his own order as opposed to the parish priest at some diocesan parish, wants to have a controversial opinion then he can likely do that, the same way as Fr. James Martin manages to push the envelope in the other direction. Many of Fr Ripperger’s followers agree with everything he says.

There was one situation where Fr. Ripperger and his order were asked to leave a certain diocese, but it was allegedly not because of his views and was instead because they were only there under a temporary arrangement anyway and there were issues regarding administration and other stuff.
 
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Bithynian said:
It was, at one time, taught by some that a Catholic ought not participate in the rites and ceremonies of non-Catholics
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It was not just “taught by some” but it was actually church law. Canon 1258 of the old 1917 Code of Canon Law said:
  1. It is illicit for the faithful to assist at or participate in any way in non-Catholic religious functions.
  2. For a serious reason requiring, in case of doubt, the Bishop’s approval, passive or merely material presence at non-Catholic funerals, weddings and similar occasions because of holding a civil office or as a courtesy can be tolerated, provided there is no danger of perversion or scandal. (source)
 
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Yes, in my mother’s day Catholics were not supposed to attend Protestant churches, unless you got permission from your parish priest to go to a wedding or a funeral. As noted, that was under the old code of Canon Law, and it’s now been changed.

However, even under the old code of Canon Law, one could still say private prayers with a non-Catholic as long as the prayers didn’t go against Church teachings. For example, you could pray an Our Father together. There are many stories of non-Catholics from that era who converted partly as a result of Catholics praying with them while they were sick, confused, etc.
 
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