Most ‘open’ Catholic Church in the DMV?

[Anonymous]

Do any of these have a children’s mass?

[Anonymous]

St Camillus in Silver Spring is Franciscan. Very diverse parish, very big focus on social justice. Also very welcoming if you are new to the area.

[Anonymous]

I am not familiar with Queen of Peace--no one mentioned it to us when we moved here--but we drive from VA to Holy Trinity. I love the homilies and how they run the RE classes. They have the best children's mass I have ever attended--the only really good one! There is a constant emphasis on social service that appeals to my family. I think that they try very hard to be inclusive and, as a result, have parishioners who drive quite a ways to attend mass there.

The one downside, and it's a disappointingly big one, is related to what I just mentioned. I don't find there to be much a community feel. There probably is among families whose kids attend the school? But people who drive from different parts of DC or VA aren't likely to come in midweek for a talk or even Friday for supper. It is really too bad. The Jesuits are wonderful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trinity in Georgetown. Run by jesuits most liberal you will find. Anything in the [b]Arlington Diocese will not be liberal[/b]. It’s the most conservative in the Us.

False. The Arlington diocese extends far south and west into Virginia, i.e. into the red parts of Virginia. Individual parishes vary widely. Close in I'd agree that OLQP is the most liberal. Blessed Sacrament, and possibly St. Charles lean more conservative. Many churches are sort of middle of the road and family friendly, St. Ann comes to mind which is under the diocese but administered by an international missionary discipline.

[Anonymous]

St. Matthew Cathedral

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St Camillus in Silver Spring is Franciscan. Very diverse parish, very big focus on social justice. Also very welcoming if you are new to the area.

The Franciscans are good! Their pro-life stance is not limited to focusing only on the sin of abortion but to supporting the dignity and sanctity of life at all stages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Matthew Cathedral

+1

Lots of the members are from Dupont Circle. You may not know, but Dupont Circle has a a community of LGBTQ and a lot attend this parish.

I loved it and it's so beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not familiar with Queen of Peace--no one mentioned it to us when we moved here--but we drive from VA to Holy Trinity. I love the homilies and how they run the RE classes. They have the best children's mass I have ever attended--the only really good one! There is a constant emphasis on social service that appeals to my family. I think that they try very hard to be inclusive and, as a result, have parishioners who drive quite a ways to attend mass there.

The one downside, and it's a disappointingly big one, is related to what I just mentioned. I don't find there to be much a community feel. There probably is among families whose kids attend the school? But people who drive from different parts of DC or VA aren't likely to come in midweek for a talk or even Friday for supper. It is really too bad. The Jesuits are wonderful.

Trinity tends to attract a wealthy and white crowd of highly educated professional families, which is fine if that's what you're looking for. Queen of Peace in Arlington is a traditional black church whose congregation is now largely white but still much more diverse racially and economically than Trinity will ever be.
The church is a dump and in a not particularly nice part of town, further creating a real down to earth atmosphere. I would be very surprised to learn of any Catholic church in the inner DMV that comes close to being as "open" as Queen of Peace in every sense of the word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Matthew Cathedral

+1

Lots of the members are from Dupont Circle. You may not know, but Dupont Circle has a a community of LGBTQ and a lot attend this parish.

I loved it and it's so beautiful.

And they used to have a singles Mass followed by happy hour.

[Anonymous]

you can attend any you want, but you can't pick or choose for sacraments. We learned this the hard way when we weren't allowed to be godparents because we weren't tithing to the correct church. We also couldn't get our own babies baptized because we attended the wrong church

I will always feel Catholic in my heart, but they clearly didn't want us so we became Episcopalian

[Anonymous]

Nativity in Burke has always been pretty liberal and inclusive of all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you can attend any you want, but you can't pick or choose for sacraments. We learned this the hard way when we weren't allowed to be godparents because we weren't tithing to the correct church. We also couldn't get our own babies baptized because we attended the wrong church

I will always feel Catholic in my heart, but they clearly didn't want us so we became Episcopalian

I'm very sorry you has this experience. It's antiquated and plain wrong. This is not the same in every diocese (it depends on the leadership of the diocese) and it is not typical for the Archdiocese of Washington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you can attend any you want, but you can't pick or choose for sacraments. We learned this the hard way when we weren't allowed to be godparents because we weren't tithing to the correct church. We also couldn't get our own babies baptized because we attended the wrong church

I will always feel Catholic in my heart, but they clearly didn't want us so we became Episcopalian

As the Catholic Church becomes increasingly extreme and exclusionary I feel more and more members will be moving to the ECUSA, creating a revival of sorts, especially among younger folks and families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holy Trinity in Georgetown.

The Jesuits and sermons are great but attending mass here feels like attending mass with a bunch of people at their country club.

[Anonymous]

St. Augustine's