Why Does the Vatican Arrest Leakers, But Not Pedophile Priests?

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Cathy Caridi

Q: I read an article online, saying the Vatican just arrested five people for leaking and publishing confidential Vatican documents. Lots of anti-Catholic comments were posted under the article, asking why the Pope arrests leakers but not pedophile priests? I wanted to defend the Church but I didn’t know what to say. Can you explain how the law works, so I can better respond next time? –Colleen

A: Colleen is certainly right about anti-Catholic bigotry! As the late great Bishop Fulton Sheen once said, “There are not more than 100 people in the world who truly hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they perceive to be the Catholic Church.” The Catholic-bashers whom Colleen describes apparently think that there’s a legal parallel between priests accused of pedophilia in various countries around the world, and Vatican employees who share sensitive government documents with the press. They think that if the Vatican arrests leakers, it should arrest child-molesting priests too. But is there any way to compare the two? Let’s take a look. Continue reading →

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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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