Catholics Are Forbidden
to Worship
With Those Who
Are Not Catholic… and This
Is Where the
Catholic Church Has Said So!
21 September 2009
Dear X,
Well, it has taken a month or more to fulfill your request, but
here it is:
The Church teachings & rules which make it clear that a
Catholic cannot participate in the prayers or religious services of
non-Catholics.
I apologize for the wait. My many family duties, work tasks,
religious obligations & limitations of strength have monopolized my time,
not to mention the effort necessary to gather the information you need,
re-examine it carefully (to make certain I have not misunderstood anything) and
write it down in a coherent fashion.
By the way, please note that I have put the teachings & rules
--- which I have quoted from authoritative Church sources --- in bold
highlight, so as to make them easily found in the following pages. All other
non-bold words are merely there to tie the quotes together, or to explain them
in some detail.
To begin with, we look at the Church’s Code of Canon Law from
1917, which is the Church Law that is still in effect since anything after Pius
XII is irrelevant, coming from those who are antipopes and thus without any
authority in the Church.
“It is unlawful for the faithful to assist in any
active manner, or to take part in the sacred services of
non-Catholics.” (1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon
1258, Paragraph 1. All emphasis or annotation added in this & other
quotes, unless noted to the contrary elsewhere.)
It is true that the 1917 Code of Canon Law contains several laws
that are foolish & hurtful. (For instance, it permits
Catholics in danger of death to confess to a schismatic priest if no Catholic
priest is available, something the Holy See never permitted prior to
1864.) Nevertheless, this Code of Canon Law is a good representation of
Catholic teachings & practices otherwise.
For instance, we find the Catholic Church solemnly legislating
during the 7th century:
“If any ecclesiastic or layman shall go into the synagogue
of the Jews or the meeting-houses of the heretics to join in prayer with them,
let them be deposed and deprived of communion. If any bishop or priest
or deacon shall join in prayer with heretics, let him be suspended
from communion.” (3rd Council of
The 3rd Council of Constantinople is, of course, an
ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church and hence supreme. And need we
point out that all priests & bishops who subscribe to the false council of
Vatican II in the 1960s violate this decree regularly? Because they will often
enter the meeting places of non-Catholics “to join in prayer with them”!
Yet we continue. The Catholic Church ruled during the 16th
century:
“And since truth cannot contradict truth, we define that
every statement contrary to the enlightened truth of the faith is totally false
and we strictly forbid teaching otherwise to be permitted. We decree that all
those who cling to erroneous statements of this kind, thus sowing heresies
which are wholly condemned, should be avoided in every way and punished
as detestable and odious heretics and infidels who are undermining the Catholic
faith.” (5th Lateran Council in AD 1513, Session 8)
Now, obviously, unless a Catholic leaves this world or becomes a
hermitic monk, then he cannot avoid “odious heretics and infidels”
completely. All the same, no Catholic needs to join in with the religious
acts of those who are outside the Catholic Church. We need not enter their
places of worship to worship with them, we need not attend their religious
services --- whether held in an official ‘church’, a private home
or a common public area --- to join in a religious ceremony with them, we need
not follow the prayers of a heretic who leads them in these prayers, and so
forth and so on. To the contrary, we are strictly forbidden to do such
things since they are hateful to God, injurious to souls and violate our
baptismal vows.
(Incidentally, the decree from the 5th Lateran Council
also refers to those who once were themselves personally Catholic, but
who left the True Faith to espouse heresy. These kinds of people, especially in
a Catholic country, are to be “avoided in every way” possible, even
in everyday life, until they come to their senses and return to the bosom
of the Catholic Church.)
These are the brass tacks. Canon 1258 is supremely authoritative,
being the mind of the Church since earliest days regarding religious
association with those who are not Catholic, and the 3rd Council of
Constantinople and the 5th Lateran Council are just as
authoritative, if not more so, having the full power of the Papacy behind them
as well.
However, other pronouncements of the Church bear weight, too. They
may not be supremely authoritative (say, from a council that, while legitimate,
wasn’t ecumenical) or directly pertinent (say, a law that, while true,
doesn’t mention attending the services or prayers of non-Catholics),
nonetheless, they are highly respected & at least indirectly relevant.
E.g.:
“No one shall pray in common with heretics and
schismatics… It is not permitted to heretics to enter the house of God
while they continue in heresy.” (Council of
As well:
“One must neither pray nor sing psalms with heretics,
and whosoever shall communicate with those who are cut off from the communion
of the Church, whether clergy or layman, let him be excommunicated.”
(Council of
Too:
“A person who of his own accord and knowingly helps in any
manner to propagate heresy, or who communicates in sacred rites [in divines]
with heretics in violation of the prohibition of Canon 1258, incurs
suspicion of heresy.” (1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon 2316)
In addition:
“A person who is suspected of heresy, and who after
admonition has not removed the cause for suspicion, shall be forbidden to
exercise legal ecclesiastical acts; if he is a cleric, and after repeated
admonition has not removed the cause for suspicion, he shall be suspended a
divines [from sacred rites]. If a person suspected of heresy has been
punished with the penalties here stated, and does not amend within six months
after their imposition, he shall be considered as a heretic and be liable to
the penalties of heresy.” (1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon 2315)
And:
“Mass may not be said in churches of heretics or schismatics, even though they were in the past properly
consecrated or blessed.” (1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon 823)
It is also very helpful to read knowledgeable & orthodox
commentary on these Canon Law quotes. For instance, Fr. Szal,
a Catholic theologian from the middle of the 20th century, has this
to say about Canon 1258 from the 1917 Code of Canon Law:
“Communication is forbidden in virtue of the divine
law, but the Church has more clearly defined what kind of communication is
forbidden and what type of participation can be permitted with non-Catholics.
This law of the Church which regulates religious communication with
non-Catholics is stated in canon 1258 of the Code of Canon Law. Paragraph 1
of this canon is in general a restatement, if not of the natural law itself,
then certainly of the divine positive law. It reads as follows:
“‘Canon 1258: It is unlawful for the faithful to
assist in any active manner, or to take part in the sacred services of
non-Catholics.’
“...One may not be present at non-Catholic prayers,
services or sermons either in a church or elsewhere.
“It may here again be noted that the present law of the
Church is concerned with only that type of participation which is known as communicatio in sacris, or religious
communication. The communicatio in profanes, or
civil communication, is forbidden by Canon Law only in the case of vitandi [those who once were personally Catholic but
have been excommunicated from the Church in the gravest way].
“…Schismatics as such are not vitandi…
“Active religious participation with schismatics is always
intrinsically illicit. The reasons for this absolute prohibition of canon
1258, §1, have their origin in the natural and positive divine law. These
reasons are: 1) The Church is the only de jure
existing true religious society in which it is licit to render to God the
worship that is due Him; 2) the giving of scandal through one’s
quasi-approval of a false sect must be avoided; and 3) the danger of perversion
from the true faith must remain effectively neutralized.
“… All types of active religious communication
with non-Catholics are gravely illicit. Such assistance is intrinsically and
gravely evil for a) if the worship is non-Catholic in form (as in the
Mohammedan ablutions, or in the eating of the Jewish paschal lamb), it
expresses a belief in a false creed symbolized in the ceremony, and b) if
the worship is Catholic in form but is undertaken under the auspices of a
non-Catholic body (as in the celebration of Mass by a schismatic priest),
it expresses either faith in a false religious body or rebellion against the
true Church.
“The obligation to avoid exposing oneself to the danger of
perversion and to prevent giving scandal to others proceeds from the natural
divine law. The positive divine law on the other hand forbids one to
perform such an action which would be tantamount to at least an external denial
of faith and a quasi-profession of a false sect. This prohibition is
expressed in the words of our Lord: ‘He that shall deny me before men,
I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.’ [Matthew
10:33, Luke 12:9]” (The Communication of Catholics with Schismatics
by Rev. Ignatius J. Szal, A.B., J.C.L., pages 42-8,
from the Catholic University of America Canon Law Series #264 printed by the
Catholic University of America Press in 1948)
And, if this were not enough, we have the words of the Triune
Catholic God in Sacred Scripture as given to us by the Roman Catholic Church.
The quote above from the eminent theologian, Fr. Szal,
ended with one such example from the lips of Jesus Christ as found in the
Gospels of Matthew & Luke:
“But he that shall deny me before men, I will also
deny him before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33 DRC)
And:
“But he that shall deny me before men, shall
be denied before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:9 DRC)
Because, of course, to appear in public with non-Catholics at their
religious ceremonies --- whether in a place of common worship or not --- is to
appear as if you approve of their false religion. For either you act as if
their false religion is true, which is a lie, or else you act as if it doesn’t
matter that their religion is false, which is also a lie. Whichever the case,
public scandal is given and Our Lord will deny us before His Father in Heaven,
causing us to be damned forever if we die in such a terrible state of mortal
sin, having gravely violated the 1st Commandment (‘no false
gods or false religions’).
Yet we may remember these words of Jesus, too:
“But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones
that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be
hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the
sea.” (Matthew 18:6 DRC)
Not to mention:
“And whosoever shall scandalize one of these little ones
that believe in me; it were better for him that a millstone were hanged
about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.” (Mark 9:41 DRC)
And also:
“It were better for him, that a
millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he
should scandalize one of these little ones.” (Luke 17:2 DRC)
For although Catholics “scandalize” non-Catholics by
seeming to condone or spiritually tolerate a false religion were they to
participate in such false religions by their presence at the religious
ceremonies or prayers of non-Catholics, they additionally --- and even far
worse --- “scandalize” fellow Catholics who may be “little
ones” in terms of their Catholic Faith. That is, who may be led astray by
bad example or made to despair due to a fellow Catholic’s apparent
apostasy from God’s One & Only Religion of Truth.
Still another quote from the Bible which is extremely pertinent is
this:
“Look to yourselves, that you lose
not the things which you have wrought: but that you may receive a full reward. Whosoever
revolteth, and continueth
not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that continueth in the doctrine, the same hath both the Father
and the Son. If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine,
receive him not into the house nor say to him, ‘God speed
you.’ For he that saith unto him, ‘God speed you,’ communicateth with his wicked works.”
(2 John 1:8-11 DRC)
Indeed, Haydock Bible commentary has this
to say about these verses:
“This admonition is in general, to forewarn the faithful
of the dangers which may arise from a familiarity with those who have
prevaricated and gone from the true faith, and with such as teach false
doctrine. But this is not forbidding a charity for all men, by which we
ought to wish and pray for the eternal salvation of every one, even of our
enemies.” (Commentary of Haydock Bible on 2
John 1:10)
And we do well to look again at Our Lord Jesus Christ’s
instructions, this time at His words regarding those who are cast out of the
Catholic Church:
“But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke
him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy
brother. And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in
the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. And if he will not
hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let
him be to thee as the heathen and publican.” (Matthew 18:15-17
DRC)
The point is, persons who are inside
the Catholic Church have nothing to do, religiously speaking, with those
who are outside the Catholic Church. This is for a very simple reason,
and it gets to the heart of everything, of this whole subject. For while
authoritative Church pronouncements, decrees, law & Sacred Scripture itself
are very necessary & helpful, it really doesn’t take too much brain
to understand certain very simple & easy spiritual principles.
To wit, if the Roman Catholic Church is Jesus Christ’s One
& Only Body and there is no Salvation outside the Roman Catholic Religion,
then only those who are inside Jesus’ Catholic Body can be
pleasing to God and God wants those who are His --- Roman Catholics --- to have
absolutely nothing in a religious way to do with those who are not
His, who are not Roman Catholic.
Otherwise, what’s the purpose of saying that the Roman
Catholic Church is Jesus Christ’s One & Only Body, and
what’s the reason for insisting, infallibly, that only Roman
Catholics can be saved?
To think differently makes, literally, no sense in the light
of these most holy dogmas. Which is why a pope as recently as
the 1920s stated the following:
“These pan-Christians who turn their minds to uniting the
churches seem, indeed, to pursue the noblest of ideas in promoting charity
among all Christians: nevertheless how does it happen that this charity
tends to injure faith? Everyone knows that John himself, the Apostle
of love, who seems to reveal in his Gospel the secrets of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, and who never ceased to impress on the memories of his followers the new
commandment ‘Love one another,’ altogether forbade any
intercourse with those who professed a mutilated and corrupt version of
Christ’s teaching: ‘If any man come to you and bring not
this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him: God
speed you.’[2 John 1:10] For which reason, since charity is based on a
complete and sincere faith, the disciples of Christ
must be united principally by the bond of one faith. Who then can conceive a
Christian Federation, the members of which retain each his own opinions and
private judgment, even in matters which concern the object of faith,
even though they be repugnant to the opinions of the rest? And in
what manner, We ask, can men who follow contrary opinions, belong to one
and the same Federation of the faithful?…
“So, Venerable Brethren, it is clear why this Apostolic
See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of
non-Catholics: for the union of Christians can only be
promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who
are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it. To the one
true
“Furthermore, in this one
Pius XI wrote, of course, to stop Catholics from working with
Protestant heretics or Eastern schismatics who were seeking to
‘unite’ with each other religiously, as if this ‘union’
would come about by nice feelings alone --- a supposed ‘charity’ of
all of them for one another --- and regardless of the teachings they
disagree upon, or the infallible dogmas of the Catholic Church that such
men refuse to believe.
Yet the clear point is also made:
Catholics are absolutely forbidden to have “…any
intercourse with those who professed a mutilated and corrupt version of
Christ’s teaching…” and the “…Apostolic See [a
pope in his supreme authority] has never allowed its subjects to take
part in the assemblies of non-Catholics…”
Which is why
“You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord, and the
chalice of devils: you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord,
and of the table of devils.” (1 Corinthians 10:21 DRC)
Because any adult practitioner of a false religion is serving the
Devil, being the child of this Devil. And any practice of his false religion is
a partaking “of the table of the devils.” This means the religious
ceremonies & prayers of this false religion.
And so
“Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we
stronger than he?” (1 Corinthians 10:22a-b DRC)
Whereby we remember the words of the Lord through St. Moses:
“Adore not any strange god [false god in a false
religion]. The Lord his name is Jealous, he is a jealous
God.” (Exodus 34:14 DRC)
As well:
“Because the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous
God.” (Deuteronomy 4:24 DRC)
And the Triune God of the Catholic Church via St. Zacharias says:
“I have been jealous for Sion
with a great jealousy, and with a great indignation have I been jealous
for her.” (Zacharias 8:2b-c DRC)
Our Almighty Creator said these things to members of His One True
Religion, which is what “Sion” signifies.
And He is appalled when His children soil themselves with the filth of false
religion. So while it is wrong to be at the ceremonies & prayers of a false
religion because it misleads non-Catholics & scandalizes Catholics, more
than anything by far it is gravely sinful because it betrays God
Himself. He commands all men to worship in His Religion of
Catholicism, and He is exceedingly angry when Roman Catholics violate
this most important of His commandments.
My dear X, I trust that this gives you what you were seeking. For
instance, based on what we have just studied, it is plain that a wedding led by
a man or a priest who are heretics --- and which involves ceremonies of a
religious nature or prayers unique to a false religion --- is totally
off-limits to those who are real Catholics. For though the priest or leader
might go by the name of Catholic, appearing to be Catholic in many ways, even
one basic dogma violated by them makes them rebels and not Roman
Catholics.
Very sincerely yours in the Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary,
-Paul
Doughton
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