Catholic or Church of England?

Question

my husband is church of england and i'm catholic and we cant agree which christening to have for our 1yr old son! my husband wants him CofE but i'm worried that if all the family is CofE then my religion will be pushed out. what can i do? and the other thing is what is actually involved in planning a christening? and what happens at a CofE christening, hows it different to a catholic?

Answer 1

this is a really difficult one, does either one of you feel really strongly about it, if the other one is not too bothered then go with the other person, my ex hubby was church of england an i am a catholic, so he didnt have a choice and as he wasnt religious he wasnt bothered anyway, go tou your local parish and speak to the priest and ask him when the next christening meeting is or just call him on the phone and ask, when you attend the meeting, he will explain things from there
good luck!!

Answer 2

I'm not sure how it differs to a catholic christening (never been to one) But, of the C of E christenings I've been too, no two have been the same. Some have a communion attached, some as part of a family service, one (military), had all the family round in a big circle. All respondents (parents and godparents) have to reject the devil, accept christ and work for the child in faith. The C of E article of faith (before the communion) actually recognises 'the holy catholic church and the commnion of saints'

However, the nicest service I went to was NOT a christening, it was a cofe Thanksgiving service for the child. It thanked God for the child, but didnt put any pressure on the parents to have the child baptised, the idea was that the child would make up their own mind about their religion, when they were old enough.

Answer 3

--Is Catholic--

You got married in the Catholic Church (or got a "Dispensation from Form" right?) Given that when you got married, the non-Catholic partner has to agree to raise the child Catholic, you already have your answer.

I want to speak of a deep reality of the situation that you are in.

When you are talking CofE, if you are talking Episcopal Church of the USA (ECUSA), you should know they are in the process of braking communion with the Anglican Communion (and the Canadian branch of the Anglican Communion might follow with). A good source of what is going on in the Anglican World is
http://titusonenine.classicalanglican.net/

When it comes to the Anglican Communion as a whole, they are moving even farther away from the Catholic Church, both in terms of doctrine and practice. You should read this address by Card. Kasper (Catholic) to the Anglican Bishops Meeting this June here
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/pr6006b.html

Much of the current problems with communion (some of which are not addressed in the above) can be seen in the works of Henry Newman an Anglican Cardinal who converted to Catholicism and became a Catholic Cardinal. I highly recommend that you read his works, most of which can be found on line for free. This will help you to understand what was going on, what is currently going on, and how we got to where we are now.

I do not know what type of Anglican your husband is. High Church Anglicanism is closer to Catholicism than Low Church or Broad Church. Regardless, raising children in two belief systems does not tend to promote more religious and more Christian individuals. Psychologically, critical thinking skills do not develop until the child is in their early teens and they do not differentiate critically between why mommy believes X and daddy believes Y. It is important to be on the same page for the psychological health of the child.

I must recommend a Catholic Baptism. I am biased because I am Catholic and I want to see Catholics be Catholic. Ontologically there is no difference between a Catholic and an Anglican Baptism. All Trinitarian baptisms do the same thing, even if the non-Catholic party doesn't understand or agree with what the Church says it does. However, because baptism is a "gateway sacrament" which opens up the other sacraments, and that the promises of baptism are fulfilled by the sacrament of Confirmation, if you want the child confirmed Catholic, you should have the child baptized Catholic. It will just make thing easier, both by getting the ball rolling for your husband, and by the extra paper work that is needed (very small) for a Catholic confirmation. If you baptise Anglican, but want the child to be confirmed in the Catholic Church, you will have a HUGE fight later on.

You should know that your child should have been baptized already (Canon Law 867 ß1). Don't worry about it, just remember next time.

I am going to say that there is always a large possibility of your religion getting pushed out. Honestly though, if yours is not pushed out, then your husband's will be. If this child is raised Anglican, then does the husband let the next child be raised Catholic? No that is silly. So the children will be raised either all Catholic or all Anglican. If you do both, the odds are that they will end up neither.

So my suggestion is that you need to reach back to the discussion that you had about children before you got married. Did you have a realistic plan, or not? If not, how can you make what is, work?

There is no easy solution for you but a long talk with your husband. I would include much reading of the Catholic faith, as well as history, focusing on what makes Anglican's Anglican and Catholic's Catholic.

God bless and remember to pray for the conversion of your husband!

To read about baptism, look at
www.scripturecatholic.com
www.catholic.com
Catholic Catechism

Answer 4

When a baby is christened it is christened into the christian faith so all christian denominations if I remember right.

Some churches of different denominations hold services in each others churches I wonder if it would be possible to ask both priests to be able to do the service. (You can ask for nothing the worst they could say would be no)

In all the christenings I have been to it has been held during the service normally after the sermon.

The first link is for the Church of England.
The second link is for the Roman Catholic church.

I have just read the second link which says the vows at in the Roman Catholic service they are identical to the ones said at my grand-daughters last month which was held in a church of England.

Hope this helps :)

Answer 5

Kind of depends, if your husband is "Low Church" CofE then its quite different than the Catholic Church, more like main stream Protestant, if he's "High Church" then it is very similar to the Catholic Church. Perhaps you could speak to a clergyman/priest about the problem. In some countries the co-operation between RCs and CofE is quite close these days, perhaps even a joint ceremony could be worked out.

Would be nice if you Christians could work out these silly little things..............

Answer 6

Hi am Glad you ask.I believe you are married in church and thus if you try to recall one of the requirements before you marry a non catholic is that the children should be brught up as catholics and therefore incase this was not clarified then know it from today This should have been one of the conditons for marriage and there is thus no debate about.I am putting it strongly But please understand I am only stating the fact.Talk to your local priest about what needs to be done pray too that your husband will accept this without any hiccups.
All The best and put your faith in God I will pray for you too.

Answer 7

Where did you get married? Here in Canada, if you get married in a Catholic church, the other partner must agree to raise the children Catholic, so they would be christened in the Catholic church. Talk to your priest.

Answer 8

I am an atheist and blame many of the world's woes such as wars, over population, terrorism, racism, famin etc on organised religion. Do the kid a favour and tell it the truth - god, santa and the easter bunny don't exist. Put people not fairy stories at the heart of your life and do some good for others rather than wasting time, effort and money being a member of a silly society where the men ware dresses and believe in patent nonsence.

Answer 9

Same Christ...

Try Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, if anything, should be interesting.

(Heinz Beans Vs Cross & Blackwell Vs M&S Beans)

Answer 10

choose a different church for the little boy