Should I go to my friend's confirmation in the Episcopal Church?

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WhiteDove,

Go to your friends Confirmation but do not do any of the following:

Partake in their communion
Genuflect (I believe a full bow to their altar would be o.k)
Give money during the collection.
Kneel (as there are no valid sacraments)
Prayer responses during their Holy Eucharist
 
I think you can most definitely go to your friend’s confirmation, in the same way as we as Catholics are not barred from attending a Jewish Bar/Bat Mitzvah or a Hindu wedding - while maintaining the integrity of our own Catholic faith and not watering it down in a relativistic manner or in a spirit of false ecumenism.

I disagree with some of the last reply to the post:
  1. I agree that you should not partake of their communion - since (and loosely quoting the USCCB policy on reception of Holy Communion) this would imply a unity that does not yet exist AND that the Episcopal church has invalid orders and therefore cannot confect the Eucharist validly.
  2. I don’t see any problem with kneeling. We as Catholics do not kneel to the Eucharistic presence alone. We kneel at prie-dieus before images of the Lord, Our Lady, the Saints and their relics. Some Anglican/Episcopalian churches and cathedrals are vastly more beautiful than sadly many Catholic churches (I am thinking places such as St. John the Divine in NYC, the National Cathedral in DC, and Westminster Abbey in London) - with many beautiful crucifixes and other images which they have maintained as a testament, at least, of their common patrimony with the Catholic Church. Kneeling is a prayerful sign of reverence to God, not just of adoration. I to this day kneel at my bedside every night to pray like my parents taught me - even though I am not kneeling in front of anything in particular, I am kneeling to the presence of the Lord which is omnipresent - even in Episcopalian churches.
  3. Why should we NOT make the sign of the cross - is it not evoking the SAME sacrifice by which our salvation is possible? Would we not invite them to make it in our church? We must maintain our belief that the Catholic Church is the one true church, but we can do this without having an exclusivist, “we’re better than you because we’re Catholic and you’re not.” This would be the worst way to evangelize, and frankly, it’s not Christian.
 
Grace & Peace!

I say go too, and not only because I’m Anglican, but because we do believe in One Lord–and to strengthen each other on the journey is important. And lately, even, I find myself more and more drawn to Rome–and much of that is due to a recent confirmation in the Episcopal Church.

It reminds me of a joke though. You may have heard it. Please bear with me. I think it’s hillarious.

Three people, a Baptist, a Catholic, and an Episcopalian find themselves in hell. Bewildered, they begin to talk to each other, asking, “how did we get here? What happened? I thought everything was going quite swimingly.” Slowly they begin to have realizations.

“I know why I’m here,” says the Baptist. “Right before the bus hit me I had a sexual thought.”

“Now that I think of it,” says the Catholic, “before I was bitten by that rabid dog, I had just come out of confession but didn’t mention this particular sin…”

There’s a silence. The Baptist and the Catholic turn to the Episcopalian. Suddenly, the Episcopalian starts bawling.

“I forgot to chill the salad forks for the Bishop’s visit!”

–Mark

Deo Gratias!
 
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EJ79:
I disagree with some of the last reply to the post:
  1. I don’t see any problem with kneeling. We as Catholics do not kneel to the Eucharistic presence alone. We kneel at prie-dieus before images of the Lord, Our Lady, the Saints and their relics.
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Sorry, I meant not to kneel during the concecration as the Anglican eucharist is not a valid Blessed Sacrament; kneeling to pray is o.k, but having said that not many Anglicans make use of the kneelers in their Church 😦
 
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Pious:
Sorry, I meant not to kneel during the concecration as the Anglican eucharist is not a valid Blessed Sacrament; kneeling to pray is o.k, but having said that not many Anglicans make use of the kneelers in their Church 😦
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You gotta be kidding! middle-to-high church Anglicans are every bit as reverent – and way moreso in most cases – than people in the average Catholic parish today. White Dove is likely to be staggered by the ceremonial.
 
If I go, I’ll participate along with the congregation, except for receiving communion. I’ll abstain from that merely out of obedience to our Pope. I think I’ll take the trip over as a teaching opportunity with my daughters on English history. I plan on taking them over there, to England. As I recall, the tour of the Tower of London was replete with King Henry VIII’s sins in full detail.
 
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mercygate:
You gotta be kidding! middle-to-high church Anglicans are every bit as reverent – and way moreso in most cases – than people in the average Catholic parish today. White Dove is likely to be staggered by the ceremonial.
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I was not refering to all Anglicans, I know the Anglo Catholics do kneel a lot, but in my experience as a former head server in the Anglican church, the only ones to kneel at the two churches that I was involved with was the Vicar, Deacon, myself and the rest of the altar servers, non of the parishioners kneeled (ever).
 
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savone:
As a Protestant, I’ve been in a few situations where I could not be communed by other Protestants. I went forward, during commuion, and received a blessing. Would this be permissible for a Catholic at a Protestant worship service?
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NO!!
 
Originally Posted by savone
As a Protestant, I’ve been in a few situations where I could not be communed by other Protestants. I went forward, during commuion, and received a blessing. Would this be permissible for a Catholic at a Protestant worship service?
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YES. God bless you.
 
Someone mentioned “if your friend has never been Catholic” then go. Does it make a difference if the person had been Catholic and is now Episcopal? I have this situation with my nephew, who is my godson in the Catholic church.
 
Yes it makes a difference. If one has never been Catholic, going to a ceremony which celebrates their coming closer to God, even if in another tradition makes quite a different statement. If the person was raised in Catholicism and had exposure to the Truth, then their being confirmed in another faith is taking a formal step away from the Fullness of the Truth and is a very sad situation.

I’ve had to decline to attend my own brothers wedding because, while he was raised Catholic and his fiance’ (a great gal) is a practicing Catholic, they’ve opted for a “destination wedding” without the Church. Sometimes we have to sacrifice being at events we really want to attend to be truly loving to those for whom we care.

My brothers soul is more important to me than his happiness in my attending something which I know to be wrong in the grander scheme of things.

Upon reflection, you may find you’re in a similar situation.

CARose
 
It makes no difference if the Confirmation is taking place in the Episcopal Church. The Anglican and Episcopal Churches are also True Churches because they believe in the historic Christian doctrines. The Catholic Church is not the only True Church. If I went to an Episcopal or Anglican Church for Mass(Which is what their church services are called) I would go up to receive Holy Eucharist. As far as I am concerned the Anglican and Episcopal Churches have valid Holy Eucharist because there are Priests in the Anglican and Episcopal Churches. If I was brought up entirely prior to Vatican II I would have disregarded the rule about not going to Protestant Churches for Baptisms, Confirmations, Weddings or Funerals.
 
Louis,

You will do as you choose. But those who seek answers here, on a Catholic Forum, seek to know what the Church’s position is. What you have stated is not consistant with the teachings of the Magisterium.

If you have any interest in knowing what the Church teaches and why, I’m certain the answers are here for your finding. If you prefer to live in the pick & choose world, that is your choice. However, it doesn’t make you correct in the manner you are following Christ.

God Bless, and I’ll keep you in my prayers,

CARose
 
You should go, just don’t take communion. It’s not the Body and Blood.
 
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Subrosa:
You should go, just don’t take communion. It’s not the Body and Blood.
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Since this is the Non-Catholic Religions forum, and I am non-Roman Catholic, I’m going to add that we Anglicans do believe the Holy Eucharist is the Body and Blood. I wonder actually why the original poster placed the question here in this forum if it is only the advice of fellow Roman Catholics she is seeking.
 
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TheAnglican:
Since this is the Non-Catholic Religions forum, and I am non-Roman Catholic, I’m going to add that we Anglicans do believe the Holy Eucharist is the Body and Blood. I wonder actually why the original poster placed the question here in this forum if it is only the advice of fellow Roman Catholics she is seeking.
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With respect,

A) SOME Anglicans believe in the Real Presence, many don’t. I spent 5 years as an Episcopalian. One of my women friends, I hear soon to be ordained, said,“I don’t bow to bread,” when it was pointed out that the choir was suppose to genuflect to the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle. AND many who do believe in the Real Presence believe He’s really there, but spiritually. That isn’t Catholic teaching.

B) Even if the Anglican Communion came out tomorrow and made a creedal statement that the whole of the Communion believed in the Real Presence, it wouldn’t do a lot of good, because of the very real question of the validity of Anglican orders. They might believe it, but they cannot confect it.
 
I posted this here on this ‘other religion’ board because it concerns a religion other than the Catholic one. Pretty simple, eh? 😉
 
Absolutely go. Stand when they stand; kneel when they kneel; sit when they sit.

Frankly we don’t know about the validity of the orders of any Episcopal priest. Thanks to Orthodox and/or Old Catholic co-consecrators many Anglican/Episcopal bishops have apostolic succession. Each case would have to be researched. As far as not singing along, “Bah!” When we started singing in English at Mass we sang much of their music.

Enjoy.

John
 
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CARose:
… I’ve heard that one of the best ways to bring someone all the way home to Rome is to encourage them on their own faith journey towards God…CARose
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About a little over a year ago, I had a crisis of faith and returned to the Church I was born into and grew up in. Several months ago, my partner, after seeing the spiritual journey I was on, decided to return to his church. He is SDA. I encourage and support him on his journey and I hope and pray that someday he will come to know what I know. So, please , support your friend. The Lord works in mysterious ways you know!
~ Kathy ~
 
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