Dear Carmen,

Thanks for the question.

First, let me share with you a related question and reply that my colleague Eric gave:

Now to your question. You said:

• What do you think of parishioners who proclaim they are a Catholic in faith, attend Mass, partake in Holy Communion and even participate in the liturgy yet participate in other
  non-Catholic activities by being a member of an Inter-Christian Fellowship with 
  born again churches led by their respective (pastors|ministers)?
• Is this acceptable in the Catholic Church?
  

They could be truly scandalizing the Catholic faith.

• Why?

Because when Catholics celebrate the Mass and partake in the Blessed Sacrament, whether they know it or not, they are publicly saying, I believe everything the Catholic Church teaches.

Before receiving the Blessed Sacrament from the priest, our Amen means:

1. We believe we are receiving the Body, Bloody, Soul and Divinity of Christ, and
2. we believe what the Church teaches.

Because of this, we are in a Common Union with Jesus and His Teachings.

Quoting St. Irenaeus, who was an early Church Father:

So if one receives the Eucharist and the Eucharist confirms our Catholic way of thinking, when that person goes to a non-Catholic Christian fellowship, it can be very misleading to others at that fellowship, especially if they understand even a misguided concept of Catholic teachings.

• If we go for faith-sharing and discussions over similarities and dissimilarities, that's no problem, if it is clearly understood as a debate-style meeting to discuss various doctrinal issues, in charity.
• If we attend a non-Catholic Christian fellowship with the intent to be taught, instructed or lead in their version of Christianity, then it would be unacceptable.

A Christian can not be in a Common Union at a Catholic parish and at the same time go to a Protestant Prayer Service or Bible Study and also be in a Common Union. To be honest with yourself and the Lord, you have to go to the faith whose teachings you truly believe in.

I remember when I went to a Protestant Bible study. I had a good intention: to bring the fullness of the Catholic faith to non-Catholic Christians who had not heard it, but over time I found:

• most of them were fallen away Catholics who were never taught the faith correctly or
  had some bitterness against the Church, and
• after talking to a friend, he reminded me that although I may have a good intention, for a practicing Catholic to show up at a non-Catholic Christian Bible study to be taught is to say implicitly:
  
  
  "There is something your Bible Study has that is lacking in my Catholic parish."

If your friends love the Scriptures and Bible Studies, take the lead, and tell Father you would like to start a Bible Study in your local parish.

Like I've told my niece and nephews, in this secular world, if you are not a leader, by default,
you are a follower. Followers, without a solid spiritual foundation, will inevitably stray from the Church.

Just my two cents.

Hope this helps,

Mike

Hi, Carmen —

Generally, to get deeply involved with Protestants (which is what you describe), unless you are extremely well-grounded in your faith and prepared to defend it and sometimes not even then,
is extremely hazardous.

What happens is that you are immersing yourself in a culture that, at best, doesn't affirm you in your Catholicism and, at worst, sucks you, without realizing it, into Protestant ways of thinking.
It is easy to get swept up in emotions and to rationalize going deeper and deeper until next thing you know, you've swallowed hook, line, and sinker what they teach. Also remember, these people are out to get you converted to their church.

It can all happen very subtly. Even well-prepared people sometimes lose their faith or begin to doubt.

It can be very difficult. While as my colleague says the Catholic Church, in theory, fulfills all our needs, there may be needs people feel that are not readily fulfillable at their local parish
(for example, fellowship), or certain needs that are only perceived or not being sought
with the right motivations.

A big complaint is I'm not being fed. Setting aside the fact that the Catholic Church serves the all-holy Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which is:

• Manna from Heaven (John 6:31-32)
• the Bread of Angels (Psalm 78:25)
• the Cup of Salvation (Psalm 116:13)
• the Fruit of the Tree of Life (Revelation 22:14, 22:19, Proverbs 3:18)
• the Medicine of Immorality, which makes us partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)
• and fills us with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19)

and, setting aside the riches of Scripture present in the Mass, I think what people usually mean by this — and bear with me if this sounds insulting, which it isn't meant to be — is that they aren't being spoon-fed in the manner they want. I will be the first to admit that 95% of Catholic homilies are woefully inadequate but the liturgy is not a Bible study; it is a time to come together to worship, and to receive the saving Blood of Christ from his forgiving altar so that our sins may be washed away and we may receive grace — divine life — to sustain us in the Christian life.

If you want to study God's Word, read it with the help of the writings of the fathers and the saints. There is rich, rich fare there, that goes far beyond what you get, even in Protestant churches. Basically what I'm saying is that like any adult, it's up to you to feed yourself. If you expect everything to be served to you on a silver platter each Sunday, you will be disappointed.

I am a revert. I grew up nominally Catholic, then wandered into the Evangelical world and joined an Evangelical fellowship and ended up all but renouncing my Catholicism. Through the witness of some wonderful Catholics, I discovered that the Catholic Church teaches what the Early Church taught, and what the Protestants were teaching was a modern invention. So I've been through all those frustrations of not being fed and so forth, but in my journey, I learned that the Catholic Church has great riches, they are just hidden and take some work to find.

The Evangelicals and the Non-denominational folks and the so-called Bible churches are really good at spoon feeding milk to large numbers of believers but not so good at giving them real meat (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:1-2). The Catholic Church had all the good solid food, the delicious dishes suitable to every taste, the refined, epicurean food, but was abysmal, in practice, at nursing the infants. Once I got the milk and was weaned, I could appreciate the riches of the Catholic faith. Nevertheless, a lot of people don't move beyond that, and I think a lot of bible-believing churches fall into this category.

If you have them in your area, I recommend looking for a group of charismatic Catholics.
They often have prayer meetings. Their style is similar to the churches you speak of but they remain faithful to Catholicism.

Eric

Dear Carmen —

What you do depends on how good a relationship you have with the priest and whether he respects your opinion. Initially, you should start with keeping the issue and parties involved in your daily prayers. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide what you say and do and to guard you from saying or doing something you shouldn't do.

If he respects your opinion and you have a good relationship with him, he may not be aware of the hypocritical nature of his parishioners or, sadly, he may have a false sense of ecumenism.

The gold standard for true faith sharing is an Encyclical published by Pope St. John Paul II:

• Ut Unum Sint (That they may be one - On Commitment to Ecumenism) May 25, 1995
  [Vatican][EWTN]

This was a great read for me. It distinguishes between false faith sharing and true faith sharing. Our pastors and priests can be very busy at times; maybe you can drop a copy off, anonymously, in his mail box. Just print out the above document, staple the pages, put it in an envelope, and ask the secretary to drop it in Father's mail box.

If you don't have a good relationship with your priest(s) and have burnt the bridge between you,
the best thing to do is try to make him aware of the situation and your spiritual desire to have a parish of practicing Catholics. Try to touch base with him when you know he has some free time.

In my opinion, one of the most important things the documents of Vatican II emphasized, was the importance, for the laity, of making their spiritual needs known to their pastors and priests.

If he isn't interested in what you have to say, that's not your problem. You've done your job and the best you can do is, again, pray for the situation and people involve.

Ask Our Blessed Mother to help out too.

Hope this helps,

Mike

Hi, Carmen —

I'm not aware of the nuances (or fine details) of your situation, but when it comes to ecumenism,
I would echo what Cardinal Law said on an EWTN T.V. show I saw:

The most ecumenical thing a Catholic can do, is be unmistakably Catholic.

Ut Unum Sint [Vatican][EWTN] stresses the importance of honest dialogue with our separated brethren.

Agreeing to agree where we can, but agreeing to disagree, while still being friends.

When one attends an inter-Christian fellowship one can easily give the impression that we all believe the same thing, when we don't.

It appears your new priest has an incorrect view of the term ecumenism. This sends an incorrect signal to non-Catholic Christians.

You said:

• Is there such a thing as ecumenism inside and within the Catholic Church?

No. Ideally, although this is sadly not true everywhere, all Catholics who belong to the Catholic Church believe the same teachings the Catholic Church professes. There would be no reason to dialogue with another Catholic seeing all Catholics believe the same set of teachings.

I don't mean to discourage Catholics meeting on a regular basis to discuss the faith; I strongly recommend it. It's a great way to confirm what we believe as Catholics and dispel teachings we don't believe in.

Ecumenism is sharing the fullness of the Christian faith with other non-Catholics, that either know something or nothing about Christianity.

You said:
Please provide us with advise.

As far as advice goes, I would go back to what I said in my previous reply.

Make your spiritual needs know to the new priest; if it does not appear to be listening, I would consider contacting the bishop, but not before first dealing with the local priest.

• The first thing the bishop will ask you, is have you talked to the priests I have delegated to be my helpers?
  

If you don't do this first, it will make a bad impression on the bishop.

Sorry that's the best I can do advice-wise.

Mike