Does Catholicism say that it is ok to pray at inter-religious thanksgiving services?

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I would be very careful engaging in such events. There have been popes in recent years who have had interfaith prayer services, but as far as I know, these are always done with Catholics running the show. There are a few things to keep in mind.

  1. We must be praying to the true God. It is okay to pray with Christians, Jews, and Muslims because we all believe in the Supreme God of the Universe, YHWH. We all direct our prayers to that supreme Divine Being, even if we have slightly different ideas about His commands for how we are to live our lives, different understandings of His attributes, etc. When faiths beyond these three get involved, you have to be certain you are not praying to any false gods.

  2. We can't engage in false worship. This one is far more broad. Participation in any formal liturgical setting that is not Catholic is typically off limits. I think some theologians would make exceptions for things like Protestant weddings (when neither party is a baptized Catholic, eg in case you converted from protestantism to Catholicism and your protestant sibling is getting married that their protestant church). We cannot attend Jewish and Islamic worship, and definitely not anything pagan. This sort of thing is distinct from an interfaith meeting with the goal of petitioning the Lord for something or thanking Him for some good (eg an end to war, etc).

This article may help further your understanding on this topic

Upvote:2

It is forbidden for Catholics to engage in communicatio in sacrisβ€”joining non-Catholics in their false worship or prayer:

1917 Canon 1258 Β§1 It is not licit for the faithful by any manner to assist actively or to have a part in the sacred [rites] of non-Catholics.

cf. Dom Augustine's A Commentary on the New Code of Canon Law on '17 Can. 1258

This law is expressed in the 1983 code, in the section "Delicts against religion and the unity of the Church," as:

1983 Can. 1365 A person guilty of prohibited participation in sacred rites (communicatio in sacris) is to be punished with a just penalty.

cf. this commentary on '83 Can. 1365

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