Any other Roman Catholics attend church of england services. I think this is going to be long!

[Morosky]

I have always been a Roman Catholic and it means an awful lot to me, but as with many Catholics it is a strained relationship.

I conider myself a feminist so have issues with a patriarchal church, I am also divorced and living with my new partner so have not been able to take communion for a long time. I teach RS and Philosophy and often feel myself thinking I don't agree with this when I am teaching about my faith.

But despite all of that I am a Catholic and have always been a very active one, if someone who wants change. But many of my views are liberal anglican views and I read a lot of the present archishop of canterbury's writings and agree with them.

I recently moved away and started attending a new catholic church and have never been happy there. There is not a local Catholic primary school and I miss that community.

We have moved again further out into the sticks and a ten minute drive from the local Catholic church. I have been invited to go the local C of E church, I popped in today and i felt so at home. I did not feel judged and loved the family atmosphere there. Where we live now is quite remote and we have no friends, by joining the local Cof E church we would be part of a community. So we decided today to start going to the local CofE services, but I feel as if a part of me has died, I cried on the way home. Dp is not religious particularly - but is a baptised Cof E so did not get why I was upset.

Dp is pleased about this development as we are hoping to get married and he would like a church wedding, I could not have that without a painful annulment in the Catholic church but could within the CofE.

I feel so guilty, you should not change your religion to make friends. But part of me says I have been unhappy in my faith for a long time and moving has just made me think about things rather than just doing as I have always done.

Finally dd should be making her first holy communion this year, if we stop going to the Catholic church she wont be able to do this. This is such an important day in a young girl's life, I feel as if I am depriving her and cutting her off from her heritage. So should I alternate between the 2 churches?

Oh and this really is finally, I come from a very strict Irish Catholic family and they will be very dissapointed. It will be a scandal, my grandfather would turn in his grave.

I was thinking of emailing the curate at the CofE church and asking for his advice, but dp says that is a little odd. Do you think it is.

Thanks

I am probably going to burn for this but I see nothing wrong in being at home in a church, as long as it has the same basic tenets of faith (1,2,3 and the Good Book as we term it...), regardless of the denomination into which you were baptised. I think it's okay to bring some of your traditions and feelings with you, even if the church you're currently worshipping in doesn't observe them if they're important to you, such as making the sign of the cross or inserting a Hail Mary. If you want to continue feeling Catholic and observing the RC way of doing things then do alternate, especially if it's important for your daughter.

On a side note, why will some Catholics take communion in non-RC churches? I have taken communion at Mass, but only after I was reassured that 'it's God's communion, not just the Catholics/Methodists/insert-demomination-here'.

FWIW I'd not the lapsed Catholic here, I upgraded to CofE and my DH2B is the lapsed Catholic. Happy compromise so far, but when we move we'll find a church which suits and if he feels the need to go to Mass then we'll go.

Goosey I do think you are spot on actually.

Roman Catholics can take communion in a CofE church, anyone who's been baptised can (as I said, we'll basically take anyone who comes along). Because with us it's more symbolic (cosubstantiation not transsubstantiation, though I don't know how many Anglicans actually know the difference). However you have to be RC to take communion in an RC church.
Ours is more fun 'cause we get wine in a posh golden cup. Except at the moment it's banned because of swine flu

I know they can but it seemed from further up that some don't? Or am I misinterpreting?

frakkinpannikin - I think the RC dogma might be that communion in other churches does not fulfil your sunday obligation. (Still doesn't say you can't take it)

However in some traditions there are dire bans on even entering protestant churches - in the Irish Catholic church priests would warn against this bringing great danger on your soul. I don't know how formally this was ever entered into the theology.... sounds ridiculous, but just because it is ridiculous doesn't mean it was not dogma.

It is part of the way Irish Catholicism defined itself as being absolutely in opposition to the other. I suppose. The RC church took a lot of power over daily life by controlling education, hospitals etc and part of its hold came from making consideration any other course completely terrifyingly impossible. there is a good book on this called Moral Monopoly by Tom Inglis.