Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. John Neumann in Reston. 20-30 min. drive from McLean.

Is St. Luke's in McLean very conservative? I'm guessing so since no one has suggested it.

Not as conservative as St. John's... but still very conservative.

I don't think St. John's is conservative at all!

Anonymous wrote:St. John Neumann in Reston. 20-30 min. drive from McLean.

Is St. Luke's in McLean very conservative? I'm guessing so since no one has suggested it.

Not as conservative as St. John's... but still very conservative.

St. John Neumann in Reston. 20-30 min. drive from McLean.

Is St. Luke's in McLean very conservative? I'm guessing so since no one has suggested it.

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you just become Protestants. That is the ultimate logic of your "I want a Catholic church that is not traditionally Catholic" desire.

Not necessarily.

An example - a very conservative Catholic church might spend lots of focus on abortion -- priests' homilies, right to life vigils, etc.
A more liberal parish is going to spend more of its time focusing on social justice issues -- outreach, missions to third world countries or poorer parts of the U.S.

Underlying faith issues may be the same, but where it chooses to harness its collective energy as a parish may vary.

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you just become Protestants. That is the ultimate logic of your "I want a Catholic church that is not traditionally Catholic" desire.

Talk about lack of logic; this makes no sense. It implies that less conservative Catholic churches are less Catholic than conservative ones. It's all under the Catholic bubble, PP, and if it's good enough for the Archdioscese of Arlington (the most conservative one in the US), and good enough for the Pope, it's legitimately Catholic.

The Church is big and in the scope of this question, tolerant of people of differing tastes.

Look for an a Episcopal church.

All the rituals, smells and bells, but none of the guilt!

Why don't you just become Protestants. That is the ultimate logic of your "I want a Catholic church that is not traditionally Catholic" desire.

Our Lady Queen of Peace in South Arlington is as liberal as you will find in the bounty.

A little farther from McLean, but Nativity in Burke is generally considered less conservative than the norm in Arlington. Very welcoming, and very involved in outreach to the poor. They raise a lot of money every year for Haiti.

I'm in Arlington so that is really my only frame of reference, I can't speak to churches in Vienna or McLean. Our Lady Queen of Peace in south Arlington and St Charles in Clarendon are both considered some of the most liberal parishes in the Arlington diocese.

St Ann and St. Agnes also are fairly friendly, middle of the road parishes. I do think the school runs more conservative, but we are very happy at St. Ann and my recently-converted DH has been comfortable there.

St. James in Falls Church, Blessed Sacrament in Alexandria, and St Thomas More Cathedral in Arlington all tend to skew more conservative in my experience.

Anonymous wrote:St. Ann's in N. Arlington is very nice and the priests feel less conservative.

I studied at St. Ann's and I didn't realize how wonderful it was until I put my children in Catholic School. Their school was so sterile and conservative. One way or the highway kind of catholic school. I took them out, but, unfortunately, we live far from St. Ann's, so they are very happy at public school. I remember it very fondly as a child!

Holy Trinity in Georgetown is full of parishioners from northern Virginia who feel their home parishes are too conservative.

St. Ann's in N. Arlington is very nice and the priests feel less conservative.

We used to commute from Falls Church (St. James was very conservative) to Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington, which was much more progressive (think sponsoring gay Aids Walk participants in the mid-1990s, which counts as "progressive" in the CC).

I can't vouch for it now, since I don't practice anymore.

Moving to DC area from out-of-state. Current parish is laid back, warm and welcoming which is important b/c spouse isn't Catholic. Can you recommend a less conservative Catholic church near McLean, VA?