Question about visiting another church

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George_C

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Just for my edification: if I were to visit another church, would I be required to prove before Mass that I am eligible to receive the Eucharist, or would the priest just take my word when I come up to him?

It was something I thought about on a delivery.
 
George_C said:
Just for my edification: if I were to visit another church, would I be required to prove before Mass that I am eligible to receive the Eucharist, or would the priest just take my word when I come up to him?

It was something I thought about on a delivery.
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I don’t think that you could be refused. The assumption would be that you are in fact Catholic and eligible to receive.
 
It might be polite to let the priest know somehow, if you were planning on visiting.
 
bpbasilphx said:
It might be polite to let the priest know somehow, if you were planning on visiting.
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Maybe in the Eastern churches, but in regular old Catholic parishes, so many people come and go that it’s impossible to tell who belongs to the parish and who does not.

On any given Sunday, I could attend one of five or six parishes, and I have never spoken to the priest before Mass about receiving Holy Communion. It’s not expected. Because the Church takes the Sunday Mass obligation so seriously, it is understood that people will be in churches other than their own parish churches fairly often, because of travel, schedule changes, or even simply the desire to visit a different parish.

Betsy
 
George_C said:
Just for my edification: if I were to visit another church, would I be required to prove before Mass that I am eligible to receive the Eucharist, or would the priest just take my word when I come up to him?

It was something I thought about on a delivery.
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Another Parish? No problem. God holds us personally accountable for our unworthy reception of the Sacrament. It would be a logistical nightmare for the Priest and EMHCs to require an oath before reception. The problem is the unworthy reception of the Sacrament in our home parishes.
 
George_C said:
Just for my edification: if I were to visit another church, would I be required to prove before Mass that I am eligible to receive the Eucharist, or would the priest just take my word when I come up to him?

It was something I thought about on a delivery.
Click to expand...
bpbasilphx said:
It might be polite to let the priest know somehow, if you were planning on visiting.
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This MIGHT be appropriate as a courtesy in a small parish where “everybody” knows “everybody” but not under normal circumstances.
 
bpbasilphx said:
It might be polite to let the priest know somehow, if you were planning on visiting.
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not necessary, we belong to the universal Church, if you are worthily disposed to receive, that is good in any Catholic Church.
 
palmas85 said:
I don’t think that you could be refused. The assumption would be that you are in fact Catholic and eligible to receive.
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Correct, there is no “Catholic ID” or anything. If you walk up to Communion you are given it, no questions asked. There is no way to prove a proof of membership anyways. The no questions asked policy is partly mass resources but mostly a parish hospitality matter to make everyone (including visitors) welcome to the parish.
 
George,
I read your blog and noticed that you are on the Journey to conversion. Welcome home. Yes , you are welcome to any Mass anywhere around the world. If you have not been completely “initiated” into the Church, please be patient to receive our Lord. If you have then… make sure your heart is pure and hand are clean:thumbsup:
My husband is a convert and had to wait over a year!!! He now is almost a daily communicant.

God’s peace and grace to you during this wonderful journey HOME!
Crystal H
 
I guessed so. Those are things that only an American and possibly a German might worry about. 😉

No problem in recieving the sacraments in any Catholic Church.

Just that the first time you recieve a particular usually requires (apart from cathechisis) that you register.

In other words, when you want to get married, baptize your child or have them recieve their sacrements you must be registered and it is good to do so. But that you do once when you move in to a new parish territory, unless you choose not to change parish, which should be for a sold reason (like your old one is a Gothic church and the new one is a cube)

In essesence, no need to present yourself.

I never have, and I rarely recieved communion at my parish daily since I was in constant activity so I went to the church closest to where I am at.
 
You don’t need to present credentials.

Now, not to throw a monkeywrench into the whole thing, but, the only one who would, perhaps, need to present some kind of credentials would be visiting clergy.

When my grandma died, I asked my parochial vicar if he would be so kind as to travel to Central Texas to celebrate the funeral Mass. When I was calling my grandma’s parish, the pastor informed me that he would have no problem, however, my friend had to present a letter from our bishop noting that he was in good standing and had the necessary faculties. I wrote the letter, emailed it to my friend, who, in turn, had the bishop sign it and then the office faxed it to Austin. Everything was in order.

I’m not sure, but I think this also applies to priests who are going to celebrate sacraments outside of their territorial jurisdictions. I could be wrong, but, I figured I could at least give the OP an example of when one needed to show credentials when visiting another area.
 
The process the poster above explained is entirely correct.
Only clergy must present such things, and in some cases religious.
 
Note that, in some Eastern Catholic parishes, if you are not known to the priest, and have not talked before hand, you might not be communed. A quick discussion before matins, however, is usually sufficient. Some are stricter; confession within the previous 24 hours is Ancient Tradition in the various Byzantine churches, but often not enforced.
 
benedictgal said:
You don’t need to present credentials.

Now, not to throw a monkeywrench into the whole thing, but, the only one who would, perhaps, need to present some kind of credentials would be visiting clergy.

When my grandma died, I asked my parochial vicar if he would be so kind as to travel to Central Texas to celebrate the funeral Mass. When I was calling my grandma’s parish, the pastor informed me that he would have no problem, however, my friend had to present a letter from our bishop noting that he was in good standing and had the necessary faculties. I wrote the letter, emailed it to my friend, who, in turn, had the bishop sign it and then the office faxed it to Austin. Everything was in order.

I’m not sure, but I think this also applies to priests who are going to celebrate sacraments outside of their territorial jurisdictions. I could be wrong, but, I figured I could at least give the OP an example of when one needed to show credentials when visiting another area.
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Father Ian carries a letter with him from our Bishop, whenever we travel. It allows him to be able to say Mass for us any time we want him to. 🙂
 
George_C said:
Just for my edification: if I were to visit another church, would I be required to prove before Mass that I am eligible to receive the Eucharist, or would the priest just take my word when I come up to him?

It was something I thought about on a delivery.
Click to expand...
As long as you are a Catholic in good standing with the Church, and you have received your First Holy Communion, you can receive Holy Communion at any Catholic Church that is in full communion with Rome. 🙂

If someone were to come forward and receive who is not a Catholic, nobody would know the difference - except for God, of course. 😉
 
GeorgeC… I see in your blog that you are in RCIA. If you are not Catholic yet you may not receive communion.
 
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