Washington DC has at least 39 Roman Catholic churches; we've decided to attend Mass at each of them over the coming 12 months. We'll also include other Roman Catholic venues, such as monasteries and convents (11 so far), and Christian churches that are in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church (just 2 that we've found so far).
Why do it, you might ask. Aren't Roman Catholics supposed to worship in their own parish? Don't we frowm upon "church shopping" - that awful practice that some of our Protestant and non-denominational friends engage in?
Well, surprisingly, the Roman Catholic church doesn't have any hard and fast rules about it. The Church is a global one, meaning that every Catholic professes the same set of beliefs and every individual church celebrates the same sacrements. So, Mass in Washington DC is the same as Mass in Wilmington, Waukegan, or Warsaw. It is the same in English, Spanish, Korean, or Tagalog (all of which you can attend in DC, by the way!) So, we're not losing out on that score. We are losing out a bit on the community element - not just celebrating Mass with the same bunch of people eacy week, but getting to know them better, forming friendships, and engaging in service together. We are prepared to make that sacrifice.
Well, why make that sacrifice? Well, Washington DC is a diverse city. It contains people from dozens of countries, ethnicities, experiences, and outlooks. We wonder to what extent the RC Church relfects that diversity. Also, despite having set practices for Mass litugries, priests are given some leeway in how they implement them. We're curious to see the diversity within liturgies as well. Finally, we're using this exercise as a way to see parts of the city that otherwise we might never see. That's about it.
Here is a link to our Google Map of Roman Catholic churches and other venues that offer Mass. We will update this as we go.