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recommend catholic priest to talk to - or just a parish
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Anonymous
| Hi - I was raised Catholic and considered myself pretty religious. I have recently had a lot of exposure to a very right-wing conservative Catholic group, and the whole experience has turned me off to the Church in a HUGE way and just made me doubt everything I believe in. I am honestly not sure if I am even Catholic anymore. I do still believe in God but I am wondering at what point do you stop saying "I'm Catholic but I don't agree with x y z a b c etc etc" and just realize that you are a better fit with another religion. Does anyone have any recommendation of a priest to maybe talk to about this (or is that weird?) or just a liberal parish that I could try out? I am actually not liberal at all but I guess I am in my religious beliefs... |
Anonymous
| I am Catholic as well and recently went to an Episcol church (St Albans) and found them to be so refreshingly non threatening in terms of the "Catholic guilt" and hard core anti gay and anti abortion etc...just a very welcoming environment and we have been going ever since. I still consider myself Catholic for the record, not going to switch religions, that is silly. But it is all how you feel when you go. |
Anonymous
| where are you? I have several friends who love Our Lady Queen of Peace in South Arlington...very progressive Catholic church. I bet you could chat with one of the priests there for some guidance...GL! |
Anonymous
Thank you! I am actually in Crystal City so that is excellent! I will check out St. Albans too. THanks 
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Anonymous
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Your welcome and Peace
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Anonymous
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I guess my question to you is what do you want out of a church experience right now? Are you looking to go somewhere with a lot of activities and not too much dogma from the pulpit or just someplace to go to church where you won't be surrounded by those who disagree with 2nd Vatican Council "liberalism?"
Holy Trinity in Georgetown is run by the Jesuits and folks I know who go there are fairly liberal. It is an active parish, quite upper class and to my taste, somewhat cerebral. We are often at Blessed Sacrament in NW which has plenty of activities. It is white, Irish bastion with a mix of Filipino nannies. But we have found most folks to be friendly and the sermons are not very dogmatic. You can comfortably find a niche there doing a number of service activities. My favorite place is St. Dominic's in SW which is run by the Dominican priests. They are more multicultural, not a lot of activities there, but a warm place of worship. Most of my church experiences have been in NW DC and in general, I find the diocesan priests to be conservative and dogmatic. I have never stopped saying I was Catholic. I feel I am caught in a generational shift having been educated by an order of sisters who embraced the changes of the second Vatican Council and called us to be deep into our faith and not one of the 'simple faithful.' We were required to examine our beliefs and find our own inner reconciliation to the paradoxes. I am struggling now with so many male leaders in the Catholic church who seem to only want to talk about abortion, sex, and money when I am coming from a place of faithfulness, life and charity in both the temporal and spiritual. There has to be others like me out there, but these days, the hierarchy as represented in this diocese and elsewhere, seem only to emulate the most dogmatic sects of Christian theology instead of letting the Spirit be our guide. Before one felt you could disagree and still be Catholic. Now, it is very hard to find a community where dissent is at least ignored. |
Anonymous
| When we lived in Crystal City, we attended St. Charles Borromeo. They are a very active community parish. Check out their website. |
Anonymous
| For a totally different experience you might try going to S Augustine's in DC. It's the oldest Black Catholic Church in the city and their gospel choir rocks! (That's the 12:30 mass.) It's a great, welcoming mix of people and I always feel great when I leave. I've been to HolyTrinity and Blessed Sacrament, but they left me feeling blah. Can't remember the sermon 2 minutes after I've left, and it feels like I'm just fulfilling an obligation not engaging inany kind of spiritual fellowship. |
Anonymous
| OP: Welcome to the club. I personally think if God came down to earth and see what we call Religion, he would be very angry. |
Anonymous
| I had a similar experience, with Opus Dei. I found that the Jesuits were good to talk to. And ones on college campuses have heard it all. I would seek someone out at Georgetown, although I do not have a name for you. |
Anonymous
| Just curious, which group turned you off and why? |
Anonymous
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Some priests I find really easy to talk with:
Fr. Kevin O'Brien: http://campusministry.georgetown.edu/67523.html From Holy Trinity parish in Georgetown, Fr. Mark Horak, Greg Schenden and Leo Murray are all good - and each a little different. For Father Leo, he is older and I love his POV. An example, I was working with him in preparing for baptism for my daughter and I wondered if there were guidelines for "evidence" of being a good Catholic as Arlington Catholic requires for godparents. He laughed and responded - we are Jesuits! |
Anonymous
Wow! This sounds like me. Now that I am "grown up" and have kids of my own, I really see things differently. I also wonder if t the priests are in a position to understand our lives. |
Anonymous
I'm really curious too - please do tell. |
Anonymous
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OP: Opus Dei is the group.
I will check out some of the other suggestions here, though - thank you! In response to someone else's question, I am looking for a Church where it's okay, or at least accepted? for everyone to have slightly different beliefs. Most of the Catholics I know (not the Opus Dei ones, ha) DO differ in their beliefs bit by bit, but I know it's taboo. I want priests who are approachable. I also want a Church with activities and a social network. I want to be able to meet similarly like minded people. My DH and I were just talking about this last night, and I don't know if it is just our experiences, but we feel like there are so many younger married couples (like us - in our late 20s) who belong to Christian groups, who seem totally normal and reasonable people and they meet others this way. But then with the Catholic groups, the people in their 20s are NOT the same way. They are orthodox Catholic, totally obsessed, not your average people. Is this just me? Where can I find a group of young Catholics who are not wannabe cult members? I think this last one is the main thing I am looking for. |