Being Catholic in Raleigh (Wake Forest: house, catholic schools, living)

[cmow]

I am considering moving to Raleigh and have heard that it is difficult to be a practicing Catholic in the South. Was wondering if any Catholics have experienced this and what are the Catholic churches like in the Raleigh area. Are people very involved in their parishes or are there a lot of holiday practicing Catholics? Thanks for the input

[leighbhe]

Although I am not catholic, I would say that a large number of my friends are, and they are practicing catholics. There are a number of catholic schools in the triangle, and many many churches with very large congregations.

I don't think you would feel out of the ordinary here.

Leigh

[NC man]

Originally Posted by cmow

I am considering moving to Raleigh and have heard that it is difficult to be a practicing Catholic in the South. Was wondering if any Catholics have experienced this and what are the Catholic churches like in the Raleigh area. Are people very involved in their parishes or are there a lot of holiday practicing Catholics? Thanks for the input

Whom ever told you this either does not like you or is talking out the back of their neck. NC has a huge catholic population. Half my best friends are Irish catholic went to grade school together in the 70,s. My best friends mom always had the nunns over her house for dinner on fridays. NC is not some backward baptist early 1800 state, it is actually much more modern then alot of Northern states.

[rfb]

Being Catholic is not an issue in the Triangle - perhaps due to the large number of people who have moved here from other parts of the country. You won't have a problem finding a parish. You can choose between large (in the area of 14K-15K parishioners) or smaller, depending on where you live and your preference.

There are certainly those who only visit on holidays and holy days. But there are many who attend regularly. Most parishes run 5 masses, and the more popular times (e.g., 9:30 and 11:30) seem to be at or near capacity.

The Catholic churches tend to have an active social ministry program, so if you are interested in participating you will have plenty of opportunities.

[jkmeca11]

Being a Catholic here has been no issue for us do far, about 3 months. We belong to a great parish in Wake Forest. I have found that the Catholics here seem more involved than they did on LI, NY where we are from. I think this is because the Catholic Church is a place where you can go and get very familiar feelings. If you ask 100 Catholics in any Parish I would guess that 95-100 of them would be from out of town.

[findingmesomeday]

I started a thread about this a while ago and the response was overwhelmingly as you are getting now. Don't worry....Be Catholic!

[mfrank2109]

As a cradle Catholic who has lived in the South all my life, my experience has been if you live in a small rural town with few Catholics in can be a challenge - mainly due to ignorance about Catholicism. However I have lived in Raleigh for 14 years and due to the number of Northerners who have moved here, you won't have a problem. The churches are large though and there isn't one on every corner, but they all are very active and most have schools (K-8). I would recommend going to a few near where you'll be living and choose the one that you think fits your needs best.

[saturnfan]

Huh.

You should see the parking lot at St. Raphael's on Sunday.

Y'all come on down. We won't make you become Baptists unless you want to be Baptists.

[playnice]

Originally Posted by NChomesomeday

I started a thread about this a while ago and the response was overwhelmingly as you are getting now. Don't worry....Be Catholic!

LOL and there's your best answer!

[jmm25275]

I'm Catholic too and I haven't had any problems finding a Catholic church in North Raleigh. There's St. Francis of Assissi on Leesville Rd. and there's St. Raphael off of Falls of the Neuse Rd.