Can someone be a Catholic and not go to Mass on Sunday?

The problem with the term Catholic is that many people limit it to Roman Catholicism and hence miss out its richness. Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists and many Eastern Orthodox Churches are part of the Catholic tradition. Again, these Churches are not only in Europe. Many experts now believe that European Christians are in the minority compared to those say in India, Africa and Latin America. This makes the case study of a European context very misleading. Anglicans believe that you are still Catholic if you attend Holy Communion services at least three times during the year especially at Easter, Pentecost and Christmas

yes i am catholic and no i dont go to church on a regular bases. my reasons is for different reasons. one i cant sit for along time. but it does say in roman 99 thy dont have to atten church to pray, belive in God. he understand why

I must admit that I have not been to Sunday mass regularly as is expected of every catholic. But I am made to believe that we can pray at home instead if we have missed our Sunday mass. I think the devil is too powerful to tempt me not to go to mass and deliberately put off my alarm on Sundays as I often oversleep on Sundays thus missing mass.

I am not going to try to answer this question but state my opinion. I feel that you can serve God no matter where you are in the church, home, car or anyplace. God is always by your side. So to each, his own thoughts on that matter.

I used to be a practising Catholic myself but then I suddenly gave up on the idea of attending church on a regular basis. I'm pretty content with my decision to do this, everyone should have an individual choice as regards how they want to handle this. I don't believe in the church anymore but this is my personal choice. Andrew

My husband and I are both Catholics. I have not attended mass on Sundays for years and I don’t consider myself a person of no faith, quite the opposite in fact. I have no problem with not attending mass whereas my husband has the problem of doing the same but feeling awfully guilty about it. I don’t think going to church is my way, I still pray in my own space and time.

FAith is all in the heart.. It does not mean that one does not go to masses on sunday means that they are not faithful or did not fulfil their duty to the religion.. haha =D WHat happens when one is taking a holiday in some countries, which does not welcome catholics?? And they cant be attending masses, so is that part of them, not doing their supposed duty?? haha =D

I am not a Catholic! There lot of Catholic who does not attend mass every sunday. According to an interview i have done, they only attend mass on the day of their birthday or new year. Is this the doctrine of the catholic? i think those who are not attending masses are not pure catholics they are just semi catholic

Like Christians who do not attend church and are Christians in name only, Catholics who don't ever attend services, are Catholics in name only, unless there is a good reason. Notice I said reason, not excuse.

Can you be a vegetarian and eat meat? Can you be a police officer, and never ware a uniform, or a badge, or go to a police station? Can you be an Atheist and pray? Can you be Asian, and have no Asian linage? Can you be a football player, and never play with a football? Actions determine what you really are. Not words. People can claim (say) anything they want. But who you really are is determined more by what you do. You can't say "I'm a Jazz Musician" and never play any jazz, or go to a Jazz music club. To me, claiming to be Catholic, yet refusing to ever go to Mass, is a bunch of faking and hypocrisy. Just admit you are no longer Catholic, instead of lying about it.

90%????? Am i reading right? I read a couple of days ago a phrase that i really like. Catholicism is not a free buffet, you cant pick what you want and leave something out(sounds a bit ugly coming from me, dont remember who said it). Being a catholic require us to obey our Holy Church. You are or you are not, there are no gray zone in catholicism. Im catholic and i do go to mass every sunday.

of course, one can be a catholic and not go to sunday mass regularly. i know many catholics who don't practice the sunday obligation and compensate it with other acts, like charity and other forms of kindness. and, of course, i hear that they pray and make intonations, not necessarily in church. they keep and maintain a secret garden....

Im a catholic and I dont go to mass every sunday. Just because you dont go to mass it doesnt mean that you dont believe in God or that you have lost your faith.

I am catholic and I go to the church almost every Sunday. I may missed the sunday mass but that would be very seldom. I dont feel that this is an obligation by catholic to do. What we are being thought is that we need to thank Lord for all the blessings we received and by going to the church and celebration the Holy Mass would be one way to say thank you. If a catholic would not go to the Church every Sunday, I guess that does not make them as less Catholic. Even if they did not practice it, what matters is what they believe and faith with the God.

I was raised Catholic, but I do not attend church services any day of the week. I was forced to go to church when I was a child and it was never a pleasant experience for me. So basically I grew up disliking church and I have never really attempted going to church as an adult because of it.

I am a catholic and I dont go to church on Sundays. I cant always make it do to my work schedule. I go on Saturdays at 4 p.m. I know lots of people that have been baptized, confirmed and completed CCD classes. They dont go to church. They are still catholic. If you can go you should if you want to beactive with your religion. Sometimes its impossible to attend on a regular schedule. I do the best I can. I am a proud catholic. dl

I am and I go to mass but sometimes i am absent. I am not really so religious that i have to join all the activities but i believe their is one Almighty one more powerful than human and that his name is God. So for me whatever religion one have i respect their beliefs and respect is the one word which everyone should never forget irregardless of cultures, traditions and beliefs which should be implemented and each should be aware with no discrimination for other people belief. I think it also depend on each upbringing and how they are being motivated and being influence since their childhood as they see with their parents, as examples shown by those in authority in schools or religious association. If they are not really influence by those religious rituals then it is have to do too with the modernization and with the changing opinion and beliefs of other people. In my family as what i observe we learn to go to church with parents bringing us to church, from schools religious subjects and joining other religious activities. But over all the religious impact really depend on the manner it is absorb by each person so if they really know their purpose and what religion could bring changes or guide their life. It really depend on the seriousness of their acceptance. Since, some are really active in joining religious services but hypocrites. While their are people who rarely go to church but remain respectful, kind, understanding and know to respect other people. For me that is the proper attitudes. Being all present in going to attend churches would not save any soul for the wrath of hell if one becomes hypocrites, hyper critical of other people and at the same time so brag about their being religious when in fact they have bad attitudes too. I do appreciate more those people who know to respect each their whatever religion one have and i do not like to judge their choice of religion, if ever they are becoming inactive or active they have their own reasons and definitely respect their decision on what they like to lead on their lives.

I am very proud to be a Roman Catholic person. I've been Catholic since I was baptized when I was just two months old. I went through all of the sacriments when I was a child. That said, our family doesn't attend mass on a regular basis, but that doesn't make us any less Catholic in my opinion. I share with my children the ways that we practice our faith. I share with them about God, but that doesn't mean that I am going to force them to have the exact same faith as I have. However, as of right now they are Catholic as well because they are baptized in the Catholic faith.

Hi there, what a very intelligent discussion, well uhmm.. all i can say is that, it depends on the people if they wanted to go to church or not, it doesn't matter i guess, cause no matter how busy you are and you do not have time to go to mass, what important is that, the belief of having a God and having faith that there is a God is the most important on it. There are lots of people who go to mass every Sunday but they just repeat their sins like they are doing a regular thing, there are also people who go to church every Sunday because they are used to it, but do they listen? Do they really believed in God? There are those who go to church because their friends will also be there, but if you ask them what are the teachings on the Church for that day, they cannot answer. There are also people who go to Church just to show others that they are going, but do they believe in God? Do they have that faith? I guess the very good question of this is that, do all Catholics have faith and does all of them believe in God? Or they just became a catholic because of affiliation? Today, the most important thing to remember is to believe in God no matter what. There are lots of people who are having second thoughts of is there really a God? How about you, are you one of those people who have the second thoughts? Or you have very strong faith? All of us do not know, who is God and where is God literally, but for me, no matter where he is, what he is, and whether he is there or not, I still believe that there is a good God that gave us life to experience the beauty that he created for us in this planet.

I am a proud Catholic. But sometimes I miss mass on Sundays, but I make it a point to attend mass. It's part of our religion and it's in God's commandments to "Keep holy the Sabbath Day." Just like my mom said that God is asking us to spend time with Him only once a week. But I do believe that even if it's not Sunday, we should still be spending time with Him every day, every second, every minute of our lives.