Q&A Home > C > Holy Communion > Orthodox and Catholic

Shall I allow my daughter to partake of the Holy Communion at her Catholic school? What is Your Grace’s opinion on this issue?

Most parents who have children in Catholic schools face the same problem. Young children want to copy their friends at school and partake of the communion there. You can tell her that she is more fortunate than these other kids since she receives both the Body and the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ at her own church. Even though your daughter is young, you have to start from now to talk to her about the differences in faith between the two churches. In the religion class, she will be taught the Catholic dogmas, rejected by our Coptic Orthodox Church, such as the Immaculate Conception, the Purgatory, the infallibility of the Pope, etc. Prepare yourself for when she asks you why the liturgy at her school is only one hour while at her church it is three hours?

The important thing for her is not to give in to peer pressure she faces at school.  Train her to hold on to our beliefs.