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Category Archives: Clergy Issues
Can a Priest Administer the Sacrament of Confirmation?
Q: A friend’s husband is going to become a Catholic this year at the Easter Vigil. He wasn’t raised in any faith at all. My friend says that the pastor will administer three sacraments all at the Vigil Mass: baptism, … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues, Confirmation
Tagged canon law, Catholic, confirmation, priest
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Can a Bishop Forbid a Priest to Say Mass?
Q: Some women in our diocese have started a prayer-group, and somehow they got on the wrong side of the bishop, who has told them privately to tone it down. Among other things, they wanted a priest who’s not from … Continue reading
Bishops, Archbishops, and Cardinals
Q: What’s the difference between a bishop and an archbishop? And why are some archbishops addressed as “Cardinal” but others aren’t? –Jackie A: On the surface, it certainly can seem that members of the Catholic hierarchy fill identical roles but … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues
Tagged archbishop, bishop, canon law, cardinal, Catholic
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Can a Priest Ever Return to the Lay State?
Q: I thought once a man was ordained a priest, he is always a priest. So how is it that some priests get permission to leave the priesthood and get married? Sometimes you hear about somebody being a “former priest,” … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues
Tagged canon law, Catholic, clergy, laicization, priest
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Clergy and Summer Vacation
Q: Our pastor seems to go on vacation constantly. This year, he already spent one week at a retreat house, left on numerous short trips to see his relatives, and now he’s going away for two weeks to Florida—and it’s … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues
Tagged canon law, Catholic, priest, vacation
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