When the Church is closed

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When all the Catholic Churches are closed for Sunday mass is it ok to go to the Eastern Orthodox for the Divine Liturgy?
 
The Catholic Church says you may do this when Catholic Mass is not available.

However, the EO church likely won’t let you receive Holy Communion.
 
I have a follow-up Bear: if they by chance allowed it, would that be okay for Catholics to receive communion there, or would that be a sin?
 
poche said:
When all the Catholic Churches are closed for Sunday mass is it ok to go to the Eastern Orthodox for the Divine Liturgy?
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I assume that you’re referring to closures due to COVID-19.

Isn’t it probable that the Eastern Orthodox churches will also be closed?
 
Our Catholic church has eliminated all masses but one can go into the church at certain times on Saturday and Sunday, and our priest gives a brief reflection on the readings minus the Eucharist.

I am part of our RCIA team, and we’re still meeting with them, although widely space-- 6’+.
 
The Catholic Church would allow you to receive Holy Communion there if there was no Catholic church available. Orthodox have valid apostolic succession and valid sacraments. However, as I said, the Orthodox priest probably wouldn’t give Holy Communion to a non-Orthodox, and that includes Catholics.
 
I’ve been to an orthodox liturgy and there were so many people the priests or ministers of the Eucharist would not have stopped anyone from receiving because it’s not like they know who is Catholic or Orthodox because of the amount of people and possibility people are visiting from other places
 
That’s nice if they were inclusive. I would imagine that it depends somewhat on the size of the church. Many of the Orthodox churches near me are fairly small communities and the priest tends to know everyone who attends. If someone new shows up he would likely question them to find out their background and whether they are Orthodox or something else.
 
If all Catholic churches are closed in your area, it is for a good reason - to stop the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing. As such, you should not negate what is being done in the Catholic churches by going to an Orthodox church instead. Furthermore, the White House and our national public health officials have stated that there should be no gatherings of over 10 people throughout the entire country for the next 15 days or so. Therefore, please just stay home, watch Mass on TV/the internet, make a Spiritual Communion, and send in your weekly donation online.
 
To the best of my knowledge, the local Eastern Catholic church near me, is currently open (Melkite), If your Bishop has dispensed you from your obligation to go to Mass, it’s completely up to you whether or not you go.
 
I have seen evidence that they are acting independently of some governments. Fro example, in Slovakia they are fighting with the government because they want to remain open while the government is saying that they should remain closed.
 
At least I would be present at the Divine Liturgy, which is the Holy Sacrifice.
 
Of course, a Catholic should respect the laws of particular Orthodox Churches and not just approach the Chalice because they could get away with it.
poche said:
When all the Catholic Churches are closed for Sunday mass is it ok to go to the Eastern Orthodox for the Divine Liturgy?
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It’s ok anytime actually. A Catholic would need to fulfill their a Sunday “obligation” but in this case, since Catholic Churches are closed, no need to worry about that.

ZP
 
Try an online mass. Some are quite nice, and no worries of exposing elderly to virus.
 
Where I live the Orthodox communities are small and the priests know everybody.
 
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