Leaving a Novice in Limbo

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Cathy Caridi

Q: Hello, I am a novice in [a religious institute in Rome]….  I have been a novice for ten years, and keep waiting for the novice master to decide that I can take my vows, but the time always gets extended.  I love this institute and want to become a member, but how long must I wait?  I don’t want to leave…. What can I do? –Renato Continue reading →

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Receiving Holy Communion Outside of Mass

Posted on September 8, 2022 by Cathy Caridi

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, and arrived in another city in the afternoon, after all the daily Masses had been celebrated.  I went to the parish office of the closest church and asked to receive the Eucharist.  A priest of the parish told me that “if you want to receive Communion, you have to attend Mass.”  He refused to give me Communion.

The practices at these two parishes are contradictory, so I assume they can’t both be right….  Which one is following canon law?  –Rebecca Continue reading →

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If My Marriage is Annulled, Why Aren’t the Children Illegitimate?

Posted on June 16, 2022 by Cathy Caridi

Q: I read “Marriage and Annulment,” in which you state that “children who are born of a valid or of a putative marriage are legitimate,” and that “a putative marriage is one into which at least one of the spouses entered in good faith.”  Could you please explain this further?  I’m in the midst of an ongoing discussion-dispute with a friend who left the Church because her husband got an annulment.  She insists it means the Church is saying her children are illegitimate, and she refuses to accept this.  I don’t know how to respond to this argument and could use some pointers… –Gabe Continue reading →

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Canon Law and Making Private Vows

Posted on June 2, 2022 by Cathy Caridi

Q1: I was hoping you could answer a burning question of mine regarding vows and promises.

Background info: I’m a young guy with OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder], I have a nasty habit of doing things I think are good and then I get intense anxiety afterward, with this in mind there’s (sic) several vows which I’ve been told are not indeed vows because they haven’t been made under the witness of a priest, but Canons 1191-1204 seem to show that any promise to God if it’s intended as a vow, becomes a vow only a bishop can dispense.

The actual question: Can a layperson make a vow without the witness of anyone else, and if so, can only the bishop or vicar dispense of it? –Daniel

Q2: I am a reader of your website, and have a quick canon law question I was hoping you could answer since it’s been a cause of scruples for me.

Canon Law 1197 gives the person who made a private vow the ability to commute it to a “better or equal good”, and mentions that those who have the power to dispense private vows per Canon 1196 (i.e., a pastor) can commute the vow into a “lesser good.”

Can a pastor validly commute a private vow to an equal or greater good, or can he ONLY commute it to a lesser good? –Geovanny Continue reading →

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Does an Excommunicated Priest Administer Valid Sacraments? (Part II)

Posted on May 12, 2022 by Cathy Caridi

(Part I of this article was posted on April 28, 2022, and can be read here.)

We have been discussing a scenario described to us by John, who wanted to know if his confirmation was administered invalidly.  John was concerned about this because he concluded that before his confirmation, his parish priest had been excommunicated latae sententiae, on the grounds of schism. Continue reading →

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