According to US bishops
Bishops reaffirm rules about communion
Included in the list of practices contrary to Catholic church teaching are
I’m curious to find out how many US Catholic SDMB members intent to follow these directives.
Remember, this is a poll in IMHO, not GD or the Pit! While a little discussion about why or why not one will comply is good, but I hope we can avoid excessive debate and rancor.
I believe that this has always been the teaching of the Church. You are not supposed to take Communion if you are in a state of mortal sin, and most of the sins listed qualify. The proper thing to do is to go to confession before going to mass, to be sure that you are in a state of grace.
I also believe that if people followed the directive that they shouldn’t take communion if they aren’t in a state of grace, then the line for communion would be pretty sparse.
I have doctrinal differences with the church, but I continue to take communion. If all the people who had a doctrinal difference with the church abstained from taking communion, how short those lines would be. To give just one notable example, about half of all Catholic couples of child-bearing age use artifical birth control of some kind.
I am no longer a practicing Catholic, although I do still occasionally attend Mass with my mom or my mother-in-law. I do not take Communion and have not done so since I stopped believing in Church doctrine, as I feel that would be a dishonest act. Even though Church doctrine holds no real meaning for me anymore, I’ll still abide by the Church’s wishes about who gets to take Communion and who doesn’t. (Although this is not a big deal for me as I no longer attach value to taking Communion, either.)
As another data point, after my mom was remarried but before her annullment to her previous marriage went through (a time that lasted around 5-6 years or so) she did not take Communion as she considered herself to be existing in a state of sin.
I’m with Sarahfeena- this has always been Church teaching. If I were to seriously disagree with important doctrinal matters, I would not take the Eucharist, any more than I would if I was in a state of mortal sin.
Lissla (not yet Catholic) [SUB]Sarahfeena, we may be able to enter the Church before Easter- we were talking to our RCIA leader about it yesterday. He suggested between Christmas and Ash Wednesday.[/SUB]
If by any chance I find myself at mass with my mom, I take communion to make her happy. I’m pretty sure athiesm is one of those states wherein communion should not be taken.
I take it, even though I don’t consider myseslf to be exactly in a state of grace. For purely selfish reasons - it’s oddly comforting. And like people have already mentioned, there are precious few Catholics who are in a perfect state of grace.
I should have stated that I agree with Lissla, that if I seriously disagreed with the Church on doctrinal matters, I would not take communion…I would probably leave the Church altogether. I do disagree on small matters, and to me, this is like a venial sin…it’s not good, but it’s human nature, and not something you have to forego communion over.
That is awesome, Lissla! You will love your first Easter as a Catholic! I highly recommend going to all the Holy Week services…I don’t go every year, but when I have a chance to make all of them, it makes Easter so much more meaningful (you don’t have to attend all of them, as in Holy Days of Obligation, but I think it’s very spiritually healthy to do so!)
I’m with **Sarahfeena ** and Lissla. I wouldn’t take communion in such circumstances.
I’m in the same place as MsWhatsit. I know the Catholic church does not accept my second marriage, and it would be dishonest of me to pretend everything’s okay.
There are other Christian churches that have specific guidelines about who can receive Communion. When I attend one of those churches, I follow their rules, too.
I really think that this is the mindset of an overwhelming majority of Catholics, myself included.
No, I wouldn’t take communion and echoing sentiments of other dopers this is not new. The American bishops are simply more forcefully asserting a very old doctrine.
If I had a major doctrinal disagreement with the Church, like on the matter of abortion for example, I honestly can’t imagine that I’d remain in the Church. I’ve certainly been in a state of mortal sin before, for example through my 20s and late teens and very early 30s. But now I go to confession before I take communion and generally I no longer do the things that I did as a younger man (use contraceptives, have extramarital sex, etc.) I’ve made mistakes in my past and have received absolution (penance) and genuinely try not to sin. I still do, as all Catholics do, although I think I rarely commit mortal sin these days.
Admittedly it is easier especially once you get to an age where you do not need contraceptives (because your wife is no longer young enough or able to conceive for other reasons.) But being a Catholic is not supposed to be easy.
Sure, I do it all the time. I might do it again tomorrow; I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to get up for church or not.
It’s been a long time since I got dragged to a mass, but I used to take communion to make the draggers happy, despite my state of total moral decay and nihilism. That, and I would continue chewing until I got back to my pew, so I could mumble, softly, “Mmmmm…Jeeeesussss”, which would make my brother lose his composure and covulse in an effort to stifle laughter. I’ll go to greath lengths to embarass my brother, including taking the risk of The Smiting.
The answer from the majority of Catholics (in the US) is clearly Yes, they feel they can take communion even if they disagree with some Church doctrines.
After all, most Catholic couples use birth control, despite church authorities prohibiting it. Most catholic young people, and gay catholics, have sex outside marriage, despite church prohibitions. I’ve even seen studies showing that catholic girls have more abortions than other religions, and the church authorities are certainly anti-abortion. When I was in parochial school, the weekly bulletin noted if the movies shown at the one movie theater in town were on the Church prohibited list (it only seemed to increase ticket sales). Do any catholics pay any attention to the prohibited movies list anymore, of the Index of Prohibited Books? Do most catholics even know they exist?
It’s quite clear that the majority feel they are ‘good catholics’, despite ignoring some of the rules promulgated by church authorities.
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was abolished in 1966, so, no it does not exist.
To a point I was willing to, but the Church’s behaviour with regard to political issues here in Canada led me to conclude it would be hypocritical for me to do so. Disagreement is one thing, but at this point my stance is one of opposition.
Thanks for the responses thus far.
I find it interesting that the answer of the majority of US catholics is that they would take communion despite significant disagreements with the church’s teaching, while the majority of the SDMB posters (thus far anyway) is that they would not.
Are there any studies indicating whether or not all those prohibited birth-control practicing (and other, ‘problematic’ viewpoint-believing) catholics are taking communion?
I have to admit I don’t like that “or to doubt” bit. (To be fair, in the context of the sentence it is to “knowingly and obstinately” doubt, not just any old regular doubt.) So if a Catholic religiously followed all the rules, but seriously doubted some of them, they shouldn’t take Communion either?
I think that’s one of the places there is a lot of ambiguity…I’ll bet that most Catholics don’t think too much about doubting…unless they strongly disagree, they don’t really think of it as disagreement. One may also agree with a doctrine or teaching in principle, but have trouble carrying it out in practice.