Paulist Center — Attraction in Boston

I attended the Paulist Center's Marriage prep retreat and it was the least welcoming, least helpful, and least Catholic program I have ever attended under the auspices of the Catholic Church. The speakers at the retreat gave generic, secular advice and avoided providing any kind of advice on Catholic living. The speakers were also dismissive of the teaching of the Church, preferring instead to tell people to do whatever made them feel good.

The Mass that we were required to attend was the worst I have ever seen, to the point where I had to consult another priest to ensure that the Priest's changes to the Mass had not rendered it invalid. Several prayers were changed to be gender-neutral, a practice condemned by the church and prohibited in the General Instruction for the Roman Missal. Many of the parishioners, including most of the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, spent much of the Mass glaring at my fiancee for veiling and at the two of us for kneeling during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which is the reverential posture prescribed by the GIRM and the traditions of the church. During the Eucharist many of those same ministers held on to the Precious Body so they could consume it simultaneously, a practice which contradicts the requirement for immediate consumption.

I cannot in good conscience recommend the Paulist Center to anyone, Catholic or non-Catholic, and I fear for the souls of the priests permitting such laxity and for the congregation...

When I used to live in Boston, I would enjoy stepping in the Paulist Center for mass and to pray. It is authentic Catholic center. I’ve read the comments below and a few of them seem to be criticizing it for tiny little things, and for its more welcoming tone, even though it’s always been welcoming.

These comments reflect a lack of understanding about the Catholic faith; Catholic from the Greek meaning universal and welcoming. These few comments also reflect an attitude that is more right wing fundamentalist than Catholic. We Catholics are supposed to transcend ideology because ideologies come and go and often are full of errors. Our Catholic faith keeps us loyal to the ancient teachings of the early church. Let’s keep each other in prayer as we find...

The Paulist Center has been my church for 15 years. I had stopped going to Mass after the revelations of the sex abuse and coverup in the Boston Archdiocese. The Paulist Center is a welcoming, vibrant community with an emphasis on social justice, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and the elevation of women's roles in the church. The Paulist Center has a Wednesday Night Supper Club for the hungry and they have not missed a Wednesday night, even during the pandemic, for about 60 years. Members of The Paulist Center began what has become the Project Bread Walk for Hunger over 50 years ago to fund the Wednesday Night Supper Club. If this community-focused faith-in-action kind of Catholicism appeals to you, give The Paulist...