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Category Archives: Clergy Issues
Am I Permanently Barred from Ordination to the Priesthood?
Q: I have been discerning my vocation, trying to determine whether or not I am called to be a priest. I happened to find a commentary on canon law in my school library… it says that a person is barred … Continue reading
Posted in Canonical Issues Involving Non-Catholics, Clergy Issues, Holy Orders
Tagged canon law, Catholic, ordination, priesthood
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What Can (and Can’t) a Deacon Do?
Q: We have a permanent deacon at our parish. Some of us are wondering if the pastor sometimes allows him to do things that he’s not supposed to do… for example, occasionally the deacon preaches a homily at Sunday Mass … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues, Sacraments
Tagged canon law, Catholic, deacon, diaconate, sacraments
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Are SSPX Sacraments Valid? Part II
(Part I of this article on the SSPX was posted on August 1, 2013, and can be read here.) We’ve been looking at the sacraments administered by priests of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), an institute which, despite … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues, Confession, Marriage, Sacraments
Tagged canon law, canonical form, Catholic, sacraments, SSPX, validity
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Are SSPX Sacraments Valid? Part I
Q: What’s the canonical status of priests ordained by SSPX bishops, and what’s the canonical status of the sacraments they administer? –John A: It would have been marvelous to be able to respond to John that the priests of the … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues, Crimes and Sanctions, Sacraments
Tagged canon law, Catholic, sacraments, SSPX, validity
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Women’s Ordination and the Case of Roy Bourgeois
Q: I’m trying to figure out what is really going on in the case of Fr. Bourgeois, who was kicked out of the Maryknolls last year. The stories I read suggested that he was excommunicated and is no longer a … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues, Crimes and Sanctions
Tagged canon law, Catholic, excommunication, laicization, Maryknoll, Roy Bourgeois
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