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HABEMUS PAPAM!
Pope Leo XIV is an American … AND a canon lawyer. -
canonlawmadeeasy@yahoo.com
Please check the Archives first–it’s likely your question was already addressed.
Unsigned/anonymous questions are not read, much less answered (why is it necessary even to mention this?). About the author
Cathy Caridi, J.C.L., is an American canon lawyer who practices law and teaches in Rome. She founded this website to provide clear answers to canonical questions asked by ordinary Catholics, without employing all the mysterious legalese that canon lawyers know and love. In the past Cathy has published articles both in scholarly journals and on various popular Catholic websites, including Real Presence Communications and Catholic Exchange.- Now available in paperback!
Category Archives: Sacraments
Ecclesia Supplet: Making Invalid Sacraments Valid
Q: You mentioned in “Invalid Baptisms and Unaccountable Clergy” that when Father Hood [of the Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan] discovered that his own baptism was invalid and he was not a priest, that meant all the weddings, confirmations, and anointing … Continue reading
Posted in Annointing of the Sick, Baptism, Confirmation, Sacraments
Tagged canon law, Catholic, Ecclesia supplet, sacrament, valid, validity
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Invalid Baptisms and Unaccountable Clergy
Q1: We’re from Michigan, and the invalid baptism of Father Matthew Hood in the Detroit Archdiocese is all over the Catholic news … lots of people are now wondering if their children were invalidly baptized too, or even if their … Continue reading
Posted in Baptism, Clergy Issues, Sacraments
Tagged baptism, baptize, deacon, Fr. Hood, invalid, validity
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What Happens When the Clergy Refuse to Baptize, Because of the Virus?
Q1 (March 2020): We had a baby earlier this week, and a few days later the diocese announced that all baptisms are suspended indefinitely except in danger of death, due to coronavirus. I want her baptized as soon as possible … Continue reading
Posted in Baptism, Rights of the Faithful, Sacraments
Tagged baptism, baptize, canon law, Catholic, licit, valid
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Did the Spanish Flu of 1918 Create a Precedent for Closing Churches and Cancelling Masses Today?
Q: A priest in residence at my parish is defending the bishop’s decision to lock all the churches indefinitely … claiming that there is canonical precedent for doing this. He says the same thing was done during the Spanish Flu … Continue reading
Posted in Clergy Issues, Holy Mass, Parish Life, Rights of the Faithful, Sacraments, The Eucharist
Tagged 1918, bishops, canon law, Catholic, churches, Mass, Spanish Flu, virus
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The Virus and the Bishops: Twisting Canon 223 to Further an Agenda
Q: We contacted our bishop in protest, because he is insisting we can only receive Communion in the hand. A canon lawyer replied on his behalf, claiming that Canon 223.2 gives the bishop power to “regulate the exercise of rights … Continue reading
Posted in Rights of the Faithful, Sacraments, The Eucharist
Tagged bishop, canon 223, canon law, Catholic, Communion in the hand, Communion on the tongue, eucharist
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