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Category Archives: Clergy Issues
What Does it Mean to “Defrock” a Priest?
Q: What does it mean when a priest is “defrocked”? Sorry but it sounds like tearing his clothes off! –Jane A: References to priests being “defrocked” have recently turned up in numerous articles in the newspapers. Perhaps the most infamous … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues, Crimes and Sanctions
Tagged canon law, Catholic, defrock, priest
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Canon Law and Altar Girls
Q: What does canon law say about altar girls? How did we end up with altar girls after so many centuries without them? –Ginnie A: The whole issue of permitting girls to serve at the altar has become so ideologically … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues, Holy Mass, Parish Life
Tagged altar girls, canon law, Catholic, Latin
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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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