Attending a Relative’s Protestant Ordination

Under ordinary circumstances, in which a candidate has not been a Catholic, there is not a problem with a Catholic attending a Protestant ordination, even though such ordinations are not considered valid in the eyes of the Church. In this case, though, the candidate was baptized Catholic and left the Church for another ecclesial community. The guests in question are the candidate’s parents, who have an obligation to avoid demonstrating approval for their child’s choice to abandon his Catholic Faith. Under these circumstances, I cannot recommend that these parents attend the child’s ordination as a Protestant deacon.