do you have anything after vatican 2 that says that we can not attend protestant services?
I do not mean take communion, I know that is not allowed, but to attend and worship
Communicatio in sacris -- sharing in sacred things -- is a violation of both natural and divine positive law. It is not a human law and therefore
cannot be abjured.
Passive attendance is not a sin, but you must not regard the heretical or non-Christian place of worship as a holy place. I was watching the Discovery Channel on lunch Saturday and they mentioned that in this village in Polynesia, they still worship the ancient shark-god. If I was an ethnographer or anthopologist or even just a curious tourist, it would not be illicit for me to
watch their rites -- this is passive participation. If I were to join with them in praying to the shark god or take an active role in their ceremonies, this would be active participation and clearly sinful -- we cannot worship pagan gods, that is the first commandment.
Ex 20:3 said:
Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
1Cor 10:18- said:
Behold Israel according to the flesh: are not they, that eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the altar? What then? Do I say, that what is offered in sacrifice to idols, is any thing? Or, that the idol is any thing? But the things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. And I would not that you should be made partakers with devils. You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord, and the chalice of devils: you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
So clearly, one should not be praying to Shiva, Buddha (even though not technically a god), Zeus, Odin, Pele, etc. But we also cannot pray with Jews, Muslims, or even non-Catholic Christians.
Titus 3:10-11 said:
A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, avoid: Knowing that he, that is such an one, is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned by his own judgment.
St. Paul does not say, "Go to his place of worship and join with him." or "Let him be true to his own church." but
"admonish" and
"avoid" so as to not get pulled down with him in his sin and join him in being condemned.
Secretariat for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians said:
There is 'communicatio in sacris' (sharing in sacraments) when anyone takes part in the liturgical worship or in the sacraments of another church or ecclesiastical community.
It is not just eating their bread and drinking their grape juice which puts you in communion with heretics but participation in their worship and prayer. Superstition is defined as worship of a false god
or false worship of the True God. So even though Protestants direct their prayers and songs to Jesus and the Blessed Trinity, it is superstition and not true worship because true worship of God must be sacrificial (Summa, II-II, Q 85, A 1,4). When Protestants do not know what they are doing is wrong and that their beliefs are false and they have no reasonable way of knowing that this is so, they are in invincible ignorance and not held accountable for their sin. Quite distinctly is a person who leaves the Catholic Church for Protestantism or one who maintains Communion with the Catholic Church but actively participates in non-Catholic worship -- they may be ignorant that this is sinful, but they are culpable for their ignorance.
This applies not only to formal heretics, such as Protestants, or schismatics, such as the Eastern Orthodox but also to those
formally within the Catholic Church. If you are aware that your priest teaches heresy, you cannot attend Mass there. This is made even more dangerous in the New Roman Rite:
[quote="Sacrosanctum Concilium", 52]By means of the homily the mysteries of the faith and the guiding principles of the Christian life are expounded from the sacred text, during the course of the liturgical year;
the homily, therefore, is to be highly esteemed as part of the liturgy itself; in fact, at those Masses which are celebrated with the assistance of the people on Sundays and feasts of obligation, it should not be omitted except for a serious reason.[/quote]
And liturgically, this is implemented and you can tell because the priest does not remove any vestment. In the Old Rite, he removes his maniple which means that the homily is not part of the liturgy. Because of the humanistic, exegetical focus of the New Mass and Lectionary, the homily is "highly esteemed as part of the liturgy itself" and thus carries with it a distinct danger -- if the priest preaches heresy in his homily, the whole liturgy is corrupted. You must not only avoid formal heresies and schisms but also heretical (pseudo-)Catholic priests. For example, if a priest says he supports women's ordination or gives a heretical definition of the Eucharist, you must bring up your concern with him, if he is obstinate, go to the bishop and find another parish. You are not only not obligated to hear Mass if there is not an orthodox parish within reasonable distance, you
cannot attend a heretical or schismatic one.
Anyone who teaches that heresy doesn't matter, that a Catholic can in good conscience and without grave sin join in the prayers of heretics -- whether he be a priest, bishop, or the pope himself (or a Council of bishops) is
wrong. The Church
has no authority to "call evil good". So it does not matter what is said at or after Vatican II and false teachings which have been promulgated by some people and scandal which has been caused by the actions of the popes (yes, including our beloved Holy Father Pope Benedict), such as the religious indifferentism displayed at the infamous Assisi meeting in 1986.
The situation is a little different with the Orthodox, since they are primarily a schism and are a proper Church in the sense that they have retained valid apostolic succession and valid Sacraments. It is allowable for a Catholic to receive the Sacraments from an Orthodox priest or vice versa
in danger of death (though the Orthodox always forbid non-Orthodox from receiving the Sacraments, thus these things happen rarely) as long as certain criteria are fulfilled. Also, in danger of death, all priests have extraordinary faculties to absolve (and a strict obligation to do so). Say I got in a bad car accident in Spokane, WA and a CMRI priest came to my side, he would have the jurisdiction (
Ecclesia supplet) to hear my confession even though he would normally have no power to absolve my sins. Indeed if a Protestant minister came to my side wearing a Roman collar (as some Anglican and Lutherans do) and I thought he was a Catholic priest,
Ecclesia supplet would still apply regardless of his lay status.
It is illicit, however to actively participate in non-Catholic worship. Say your have a Presbyterian brother and you are invited to the funeral, you can go as long as certain requirements are fulfilled (e.g. little danger of scandal) but you cannot be a pallbearer as that would be active participation in a heretical rite. But to just go to a Protestant service on a normal Sunday (even if you fulfill your Mass obligation, such as by going to the Saturday vigil Mass) and worship in common with them is a mortal sin against the faith regardless of whether it seems to be more tolerated now.
2Pe 2:1-3 said:
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be among you lying teachers, who shall bring in sects of perdition, and deny the Lord who bought them: bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their riotousnesses, through whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you. Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their perdition slumbereth not.