Church

This was the primary culture shock at first. While Protestant churches range from high church with pretty stained glass windows, all the way to low church "we play rock music and drink coffee while dancing to the beat of the drums!" and many churches fall in between. Catholic Churches have very distinct steps to follow and words to recite in a service.

Speaking from my own experience in my Protestant Church, "church" was very communal. We had no paid staff members and it would start with "breaking of the bread" which was when we had a reflective prayer service and passed around a plate of bread for each member to individually rip and little individual cups of wine and grape juice. In between services we had "coffee hour" where we all socialized, and drank coffee or tea. Afterwards the children would go to Sunday School and the adults would listen to a sermon exploring a theme in the Bible. We had new speakers every week, and nothing resembling a mass. Alas, I regret to inform you- we have no artwork in our churches! (except maybe some high churches)

Clergy

I can already hear the cries of "you anti-clerical revolutionary!!" alas, my dear reader I hope I don't sound too anti-clerical but yes, I do not think churches should have any clergy. From my background we had a group of unpaid elders carefully picked. Alas, I am no theologian but I do not believe it is right for a church to have structured leadership as it would be prone to attract usurpers.

Separation of Church and State

My dear reader, we should have no official church. Religion is a matter of your heart, it is the beliefs you hold most sacred within you that form your worldview. When leaders of old forced everybody to convert to their faith- genocide such as Saint-Bartholomew's Day and the Spanish Inquisition occurred. Power corrupts all, and religion and state should be separate or it will be easier for usurpers to seize power.

Religious Symbols

This made me feel rather like I was in another time period. Religious clothes? crucifixes? Such objects would never be spotted where I come from. Not saying it is wrong to have, but I was not aware how noticeable it is. Of course, faith is subject to freedom of expression and as an individual they have a right to do it. However, if this was a governmental space such symbols should be forbidden as a neutral government is a happy government free from factionalism of religious disputes.

We Talk Different

This is because we think different. Somebody of more theological training than myself would better explain it, but while Catholics "celebrate mass" this sounds funny to my ears, you "go to church" but you never "celebrate church." Or "the sacrements" We do not have this in Protestantism and in Catholicism "sacrements" are their religion's core beliefs. We do not have infant baptism either (except for Presbyterians) nor do we have "confirmation" or "first communion" which to my understanding are rites that Catholics take part in. We have nothing equivalent, except perhaps baptism when you are old enough to decide to be baptized. We have no saints for all men are created equal. Mary for us was a "nice girl" but still a sinner.

They do not trust "scripture alone"

The sole authority on religion is scripture! But for Catholics, they take great stock in traditions and scholars such as Aquinas. This is what gives Catholics a connection to the past Middle Ages, for somebody coming from a church where guitars are used in worship and the atmosphere was like one big family gathering this took me by surprise.

Communion

In Protestant churches we use a fresh loaf of bread and pass it around for everybody individually. Likewise, with the little cups. In Catholicism they have a clergy member hold a single cup and they have crackers instead of bread. They believe it is the literal body of Christ, where all Protestants believe it is merely a symbol. Consequently, they hold this to be the center of their service where for us it is a remembrance but all symbolism.