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Category Archives: Parish Life
Eastern Catholic Children Receiving Latin Catholic Sacraments
Q: The Syro-Malabar Eastern Catholic Church confers all sacraments of initiation [Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist] to infants. But many Syro-Malabar couples in the United States have their children baptized at their local Latin parishes—which would just be limited to baptism … Continue reading
Posted in Baptism, Confirmation, Parish Life, Rights of the Faithful, Sacraments, The Eucharist
Tagged baptism, canon law, Catholic, Church sui iuris, eastern Catholic, First Communion, Latin Catholic
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How Can You Obey a Law, If You Don’t Even Know It Exists?
Q: Our Archbishop issued a Decree requiring the St. Michael prayer be prayed after all scheduled Masses. For a variety of reasons, not every parish implemented the Decree and some don’t pray the prayer as directed. Now, after four years, … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues, Other Canonical Questions, Parish Life
Tagged administrative, bishop, canon law, Catholic, decree, executive
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What’s the Difference Between a Pastor, and a Parish Administrator?
Q: I read your piece about the pastor of a parish having to be a priest, not a layperson. That leads me to ask another question, what’s the difference between a pastor, and a “parish administrator”? The pastor of our … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues, Parish Life
Tagged canon law, Catholic, clergy, parish administrator, parish priest, parochial administrator, pastor
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When Can a Layperson Be a Pastor of a Parish?
Q: My sister-in-law and I were having an innocent conversation about our parishes, and ended up in a huge fight. I made some comment like, “the pastor of a parish always has to be a priest,” and she went ballistic, … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues, Parish Life
Tagged canon law, Catholic, layperson, moderator, parish, pastor
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Receiving Holy Communion Outside of Mass
Q: At my parish the priests will give people Holy Communion at any time of day, if they were unable for some reason to attend daily Mass. I always assumed this was the norm. But I was travelling this summer, … Continue reading
Posted in Parish Life, Sacraments, The Eucharist
Tagged canon law, Catholic, eucharist, holy communion, Mass
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