Q: When does a priest have to preach at Mass?
My wife and I attend daily Mass at the cathedral, where there are three priests who take turns saying the Mass. One of them preaches every single day, with no exceptions. The second only preaches on Sundays, and not on other days. The third always preaches on Sundays and sometimes on other days, sometimes not.
Can you explain this discrepancy? Thank you…. –Charles Continue reading
Q: Can you please explain why in Germany they are attacking the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, claiming that he covered up child sexual abuse by priests when he was Archbishop of Munich? Can this be true? I cannot believe it is possible … as Pope he fought against pedophile priests….—Gianni Continue reading
Q: When I was a child, I learned that it would be a sacrilege to strike a Catholic priest. He is a man of God and over the centuries the Church has considered him to be sacrosanct, or so we were told.
Is this true today? I’m imagining in particular what might happen if a dad discovered that a priest had molested his child. I know we aren’t supposed to take justice into our own hands, but personally I would be sympathetic if I heard that an enraged parent had attacked a molester-priest… It sounds like a lopsided and unjust system, whereby a priest could commit a horrible crime and yet Catholics wouldn’t be allowed to touch him… –Bob Continue reading
Q: I was raised Episcopalian. My first husband was baptized Catholic, but he never practiced his faith. Our marriage was civil. We moved to Europe, and later divorced. I remarried another lapsed Catholic, civilly, then decided I wanted to become a Catholic.
The parish priest determined that my first husband 1) had been baptized Catholic, and 2) had not married in a church. Once this was established, he proceeded with my reception into the Church, with no mention of the need for annulment of my first marriage.
Subsequently, the priest procured for me and my second husband a Sanation of Marriage. We thought we were good to go.
But then I contacted a woman in the US who has worked with divorced Catholics for 20 years, because she had been recommended as someone who might be able to help with unresolved pain from my divorce. On hearing my history, she said I would need to get my first marriage annulled, that the Church recognizes as valid even a marriage done in Las Vegas by an Elvis impersonator. When I told her this had been approved by my priest in Europe, based on his investigations into the validity of our marriage, and that I had an official document from the Archbishop rendering my second marriage valid, she said there was LOTS of confusion among priests about this stuff, that he had either been uninformed or trying to do me a “favor.”
So, I agreed to refrain from relations with my current husband until the matter was resolved…. However, a visit to your website seemed to confirm what my parish priest had done.
Was my first marriage considered valid according to the Church? From this article in your blog, it would seem not.
Yet my confusion remains…. This woman appears to be a legitimate expert, yet after my research, and discovering that I already have a Sanation of Marriage, I would like a second opinion before I put all this time and effort into what may already have been accomplished. Was my parish priest just trying to paper things over and get me in the door, or did he make the right determination? –Charlotte Continue reading
Q: Sometimes people get married in the hospital, because one of the spouses is dying and they want to be married before that person dies. I’m assuming that in these unusual circumstances the Church’s strict canon laws can get relaxed. Is that accurate? I mean, they’re never going to actually live together like a married couple, so it strikes me that a lot of rules shouldn’t even apply….
Is it fair to say when one spouse is dying, a couple can sometimes marry in a Catholic ceremony even though they wouldn’t be permitted to marry if both were healthy?
I believe you have mentioned in other contexts that there were exceptions to canon law in danger of death…. –Sophie Continue reading
Canon lawyers are not responsible for the content of canon law. The Supreme Legislator is. Only Pope Francis can change the Code of Canon Law, so if you're not happy with what the law says, please take it up with him.
