Visiting services of other religions

[neitsab]

You can do anything you want, as you have free will. The question is: can you do this with a clear conscience? You can get books on all religions if you want to compare. The only reason I would go to other church services, would be if I was not sure of my own faith.

As a tradionalist, I recommend that you find a Catholic Church and attend Tridentene Latin Mass. I beleive that once you have done this, your desire to attend other churches will go away. if you have already done this, then you better go back to the Catechism and see what you have missed about God’s true Church. This is only my opinion, I am not judging you, only God can do that.

 

[bpbasilphx]

When the late confessor Archpriest Dmitri Dudko of Russia was asked a similar question, he said that if you’re going out of indifferentism, it’s a sin. If you’re going to try to understand your neighbor, that’s something else, and it’s not sinful in itself.

 

[japhy]

How unfortunate, that we should adopt a seperatist, avoidance philosophy with regard to other religions, in order to avoid losing some of our flock.

It takes a resolute soul to avoid the temptation. I didn’t know better, and a couple of years ago, I received “communion” in two Christian ecclesial communities where I should not have. I thought I was being true to St. Paul’s teaching of “being everything to everyone”, but I was disobeying the Church (and ignoring other parts of Scripture to justify my action).

Losing a person from our flock is very serious. I pray that every Catholic who goes to a non-Catholic service for any reason whatsoever is protected by whatever graces he needs to not be deceived and seduced and leave Holy Mother Church. I pray that God need not watch one Catholic depart from the Church so that many others may join her, unless by His providence He brings that other one back home!

 

[Ad_Deum]

Outside Christ’s Church there is no salvation. If you attend a religious service out of curiousity and research, there is nothing wrong as long as you do not fall to their teachings and still observes your obligations as the Decalogued commanded us.

May the Lord bless and keep you.

Frater

 

[JuanCarlos]

How unfortunate, that we should adopt a seperatist, avoidance philosophy with regard to other religions, in order to avoid losing some of our flock.

St. John the Apostle would refuse to even bathe with heretics- what would he say if he saw us praying with them! Its not a matter of separatism, any more than commanding someone not to go in a building that’s on fire is “separatism”. Its just avoiding danger.

 

[Rawb]

A 1957 missal would not represent accurately the thinking of the Church on this matter.

The OP said:

(Obviously, I’m looking for the perspective of a more traditional Catholic.)

So I found him a traditional source, and told him what it said. If the tradition has changed since then (which it apparently has) that’s one thing, but if he chooses to abide by the traditional ruling, that’s his own business.

 

[ethelzguy]

Outside Christ’s Church there is no salvation. If you attend a religious service out of curiousity and research, there is nothing wrong as long as you do not fall to their teachings and still observes your obligations as the Decalogued commanded us.

May the Lord bless and keep you.

Frater

Weddings, funerals, or other specifc events don’t fall under either curiosity or research. I don’t see any problem with these.

Are some of us so weak in our faith that the idea of attending a service elsewhere frightens us?

 

[EphelDuath]

As a tradionalist, I recommend that you find a Catholic Church and attend Tridentene Latin Mass. I beleive that once you have done this, your desire to attend other churches will go away. if you have already done this, then you better go back to the Catechism and see what you have missed about God’s true Church. This is only my opinion, I am not judging you, only God can do that.

Sadly, there are no Tridentine Masses in my area that I know of. Though if you know of some kind of map I could check, that would be great.

But anyway, I don’t desire to attend other services because I feel like my Catholic faith is unfulfilling. Not at all. Honestly, it’s just curiosity: I want to see how other people think, hear other kinds of music, see how other traditions have developed.

 

[neitsab]

Remember that old saying “curiosity killed a cat”? Let’s not update it to “curiosity killed a Catholic”. Beware my friend the Devil works in mysterious ways, let not your curiosity be one of his tools…

 

[Cat]

How unfortunate, that we should adopt a seperatist, avoidance philosophy with regard to other religions, in order to avoid losing some of our flock.

I never said that we should adopt a separatist, avoidance philosophy.

I said, “Be careful.”

I think we all know our own weaknesses. Frankly, music would never do it for me. I could care less. But some people are very susceptible to the emotional manipulation that music produces.

And when it comes to friendly people, I don’t trust any of them. The people who threw us out of our evangelical Protestant church seemed very friendly when we first joined the church, but oh, did they change. It’s kind of like our cats–they are ready to cuddle, but if I were to die in my house, they would eat my body as soon as they got hungry.

But other people are searching for friends, and when a church welcomes them and the people reach out and call them and invite them to activities, they are drawn in. I can’t say I blame them. I think it’s easier to see Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament when we see Him in others in our church.

I don’t think we need to separate ourselves utterly, but I think we need to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.

 

[BennyBoy89]

Take it from a former protestant:

You’re not missing out on anything

I have quite a few practicing Catholic friends in college who think it would be “so interesting” to see a protestant service. There’s not much to it. You sing a bunch of trite songs with catchy tunes, everyone will be smiling and hugging, there will be free refreshments, the “minister” will get up and give an hour long sermon about the same topic he preached last week, and it will conclude with an invitation to say a magic prayer to Jesus that will keep you from ever going to hell and make all your problems go away.



Now as far as going to Jewish temple is concerned, you’re simply getting in touch with your roots. The Mass began as the synagogue liturgy with the Eucharist tacked on.

 

[BennyBoy89]

I never said that we should adopt a separatist, avoidance philosophy.

I said, “Be careful.”

I think we all know our own weaknesses. Frankly, music would never do it for me. I could care less. But some people are very susceptible to the emotional manipulation that music produces.

And when it comes to friendly people, I don’t trust any of them. The people who threw us out of our evangelical Protestant church seemed very friendly when we first joined the church, but oh, did they change. It’s kind of like our cats–they are ready to cuddle, but if I were to die in my house, they would eat my body as soon as they got hungry.

But other people are searching for friends, and when a church welcomes them and the people reach out and call them and invite them to activities, they are drawn in. I can’t say I blame them. I think it’s easier to see Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament when we see Him in others in our church.

I don’t think we need to separate ourselves utterly, but I think we need to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.

Well said.

 

[A.Pelliccio]

Personal thing, I never supplement a service instead of my own. I will only step foot in Orthodox Churches or Churches that were once consecrated to the Catholic faith, those currently occupied by protestants.

 

[EphelDuath]

I have quite a few practicing Catholic friends in college who think it would be “so interesting” to see a protestant service. There’s not much to it. You sing a bunch of trite songs with catchy tunes, everyone will be smiling and hugging, there will be free refreshments, the “minister” will get up and give an hour long sermon about the same topic he preached last week, and it will conclude with an invitation to say a magic prayer to Jesus that will keep you from ever going to hell and make all your problems go away.

If it’s so terrible, I’ll chuckle as I’m walking out and then say a Hail Mary for the unfortunate Christians to belong to a poor parish.

 

[BennyBoy89]

If it’s so terrible, I’ll chuckle as I’m walking out and then say a Hail Mary for the unfortunate Christians to belong to a poor parish.

There are many more humorous things out there that don’t involve any danger to souls.

 

[Genesis12345]

You can attend any church out of curiosity, but that does not fulfill you obligation. As for leaving a donation, it is up to you. They have to pay their bills, too.

But to say that the Catholic Church is anti-Catholic, is completely wrong because it was founded by Christ and it is the true church.

If you want to change denominations, that is entirely up to you, but I would pray about it first.

As I said, you must attend your own church for the Sunday obligation, and if you attend another denomination and they have Communion, DO NOT participate in it because it is NOT the true Body and Blood of Christ. True, they might believe it, but as a Catholic, I am sure you do not believe it because they are not in full communion with Rome.

" Thus says the Lord God: I myself will look after and tend my sheep." Ezekiel 34:11

 

[Dauphin]

My traditional examination of conscience lists attending non-Catholic places of worship as a sin.

 

[Dauphin]

How unfortunate, that we should adopt a seperatist, avoidance philosophy with regard to other religions, in order to avoid losing some of our flock.

Sounds like somebody needs to read the Bible. Among other things, instructions are offered on how to excommunicate a person so they don’t mislead the faithful, and admonitions are given to turn heretics away at the door.

Bad God! How dare you adopt a separatist, avoidance philosophy!

 

[udoc89]

You can do anything you want, as you have free will. The question is: can you do this with a clear conscience? You can get books on all religions if you want to compare. The only reason I would go to other church services, would be if I was not sure of my own faith.

As a tradionalist, I recommend that you find a Catholic Church and attend Tridentene Latin Mass. I beleive that once you have done this, your desire to attend other churches will go away. if you have already done this, then you better go back to the Catechism and see what you have missed about God’s true Church. This is only my opinion, I am not judging you, only God can do that.

I am quite sure of my Catholic faith having converted eleven years ago; however, most members of my family are still Protestant. My reasons for attending an occasional Baptism, confirmation, or wedding for my many nieces or nephews have nothing to do with a lukewarm attitude toward the Church. Obviously, I do not participate in their communion services, and I never miss Mass at my own church. I have discussed this (beforehand) with my priest. He assured me that I was doing nothing sinful.

 

[palmas85]

I am a devout Catholic, but I find religion itself to be a very fascinating subject. Is it wrong to attend services in Protestant churches, or Buddhist temples, or other religious services purely out of interest provided that I do not leave any donations?

What if said religion is also strongly anti-Catholic? Is even attending the service then doing a dishonor to the faith?

(Obviously, I’m looking for the perspective of a more traditional Catholic.)

I would say if you attend in a pragmatic and scholarly manner without actively participating it’s OK. Hey I can see it would interesting to see how others desperately try to obtain and duplicate what we already have.

As far as donations go, :bigyikes: :bigyikes: :bigyikes:

Why would you even think of such a thing?

But, if you as many do, go ahead and join in, because as many say. we all worship the same God anyway, then I think that you are headed down the wrong path, and should be very very careful.

If the religion is strongly anti-Catholic, I wouldn’t consider it a religion at all and stay as far away as possible.