Divorce, Remarriage, and Excommunication

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Cathy Caridi

Q: My coworker is Episcopalian, but I discovered she was baptized Catholic, and her whole family left the Church when she was small. She said they became Episcopalians because her mother got divorced and then remarried outside the Church, and so she was excommunicated.

I told her that can’t be right, but she is adamant that the Catholic Church really excommunicated her mother. We heard so much about divorced and remarried Catholics during the recent Synod, but nobody indicated that they’re penalized like this… –Brad Continue reading →

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How Much Authority Does a Synod Actually Have?

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Cathy Caridi

Q: We’ve all been fixated on the Synod, but we never seem to have heard much about Synods in the Church before…. What kind of authority does a Synod actually have? And how is this one any different from Synods in the past? –Sharon

A: There’s no question that the 2015 Ordinary General Synod, which just finished, received a tremendous amount of attention from both Catholics and non-Catholics. As we well know, the event was covered by both journalists and pseudo-journalists, many of whom hoped breathlessly that the Church would finally permit divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the Eucharist (see “Divorced Catholics and the Eucharist” for a more in-depth discussion of this question), and “update” its approach to homosexuality (“Can Homosexual Men be Ordained to the Priesthood?” addresses church teaching on this issue in a particular context). Continue reading →

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Why Doesn’t the Church Publish Marriage Banns Any More?

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Cathy Caridi

Q: Why don’t parishes publish marriage banns like they used to? I remember our priest reading them from the pulpit every Sunday before the homily, years ago. Assuming that there was a good reason for publishing banns in the first place, what is the rationale for doing away with this? –Brian

A: Brian has a point! Older readers probably grew up with the routine announcement of the banns of marriage at Sunday Masses, while many younger readers may have absolutely no idea what we’re talking about. Let’s take a look at the original purpose of marriage banns, and then we’ll be able to see why current praxis in many parts of the world differs from the past. Continue reading →

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How Often Does the Pope Change Canon Law?

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Cathy Caridi

Q: You mention on your website that nobody but the Pope can change the Code of Canon Law. I’m wondering how often he really does that, if ever? Civil legislatures change laws and enact new laws every week, but I never seem to hear of canon law being changed. Or are such changes not made public? –Alyssa

A: Alyssa actually asked this question some time ago, but it’s particularly relevant now that Pope Francis has just made some changes to the legal procedure required in marriage-nullity cases. Continue reading →

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Why Are Some Suggesting That Francis’ Election Was Invalid?

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Cathy Caridi

Q1: I’ve read Vatican-commentators who claim that Pope Francis’ election may have been invalid, because he agreed to an agenda reforming the Church as the other cardinals wanted him to, and they say you can’t validly be elected Pope if you’ve cut a deal in advance of the conclave like that.  Can this be true?  They quote the law and it sounds pretty convincing….  –Marion

Q2: Is it true that according to canon law, a Jesuit cannot become Pope? –Phil Continue reading →

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