Q: I was raised Catholic and confirmed in the Church. I attend Mass regularly, pray the rosary, go to confession, etc. However, I started working at a United Church of Christ as a part-time youth coordinator. Is it wrong to be a coordinator for a different denomination in Christianity even though I am devout Catholic? If there were youth coordinator opportunities available in my parish, I would grab that opportunity with no hesitation. I just really enjoy helping youth to build and grow in their relationship with God and Jesus. – Michael 

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC A: It’s great that you want to help young people grow in their relationship with Our Lord. Since I don’t know all the factors involved here, you can take the following with a grain of salt. You might ask yourself whether you can really witness your faith in this post. Does this denomination give you permission to share your Catholic views with the youngsters? For instance, what if the young people ask about the Bread of Life discourse in John 6:22-71? Could you explain about the Eucharist? Or would you be pressured to keep silent about your Catholic beliefs? And what if the students ask about transgenderism? or divorce? or same-sex “marriage”? or the papacy? What do you say in those cases? What are you allowed to say? Another point to consider is whether working at this denomination scandalizes others who know you to be Catholic. Will they think you are a relativist on religion — that you think one religion is as good as another? (By the way, whereas the United Church of Church is a denomination, the Catholic Church is not — it is simply the Church.) Another factor to consider is whether for this denomination is distracting you from finding a way to get involved somehow in Catholic activities. And could your work in the UCC affect your prospects for a Catholic position later? That is, would a parish frown on your having worked in a Protestant ministry? Some of these things are worth considering. Count on my prayers.