Law and Freedom—“Do I Have to Go to Church Today, Mom!?”

I don’t do apologetics. I can do apologetics, I have a background in theology, from seminary formation, as well as Catholic graduate education. I do catechesis, I teach and do theology, my understanding of the New Evangelization is what the … [Read more...]

Summer Reading for June 2016

David L. Schindler and Nicholas J. Healy Jr. Freedom, Truth, and Human Dignity: The Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Religious Freedom. A New Translation, Redaction History, and Interpretation of Dignitatis Humanae. Grand Rapids, MI: … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Question: I am very confused about the removal of temporal punishment due to sin in the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. Some say no, but the Pocket Catholic Catechism by John Hardon, S.J., 1989, states: “Also the guilt and temporal p … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Question: I see and read all the “opinions” on whether the SSPX Mass and administering of the sacraments is legal and licit. Good people are at variance with each other on this issue. Please, could you straighten this out from your sta … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Question: I would like to study the problem of universal ideas in Thomas Aquinas.  Can you give me some insight into understanding this problem, and some sources on how to research this problem in Catholic authors? Answer: Pope Benedict i … [Read more...]

Accusations against Priests

The Need for More Justice and Psychological Science

The evaluation process of accusations against priests in regard to determining their suitability for priestly ministry would benefit from greater justice and knowledge of psychological science. There are presently severe weaknesses in this … [Read more...]

The Holy Spirit and the Contemporary Reform of the Catholic Church

Status Quaestionis Ecclesia semper reformanda est (The Church is always to be reformed). This phrase originated in the Nadere Reformatiae of the Dutch Reform during the 1600s, and first appeared in the 1674 work, Beschouwinge van Zion … [Read more...]

Christ Is the Fulfillment of the Law

The Holy Law Is Not an End in Itself

The core teaching in Pope Francis’s homily on October 13th is summarized in the following conclusion: Do I believe in Jesus Christ, in Jesus, in what he did: He died, rose again, and the story ended there. Do I think that the journey c … [Read more...]

Streamlining Annulments

This headline greeted the announcement that Pope Francis was establishing a commission to make suggestions for altering the annulment process in the Catholic Church. The word “streamlining” is, perhaps, not the Vatican’s word, but it does ca … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Can you explain what the general rights and duties are of the state in regard to the family? What does the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) mean by their term “Creative Fidelity”? Question: Can you explain what the gen … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

January 2014

What do you say to a non-Catholic man who received questionable advice from a priest about his marriage to a Catholic woman, and now wants to become Catholic as well? How engaged should the priest be in the religious education of the p … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

What should be done if the priest runs out of hosts once communion begins? Do cough drops violate the Communion fast? Question: I recently attended Mass, and after Communion began, the priests realized there were not enough hosts. … [Read more...]

Light in the Darkness

SURPRISED BY CANON LAW: 150 Questions Catholics Ask About Canon Law. By Pete Vere and Michael Trueman (Servant Books, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202), ix + 126pp. PB $9.99.

This slender volume has earned the praise not only of such notables as Karl Keating and Father Peter Stravinskas but also of the Rev. Francis G. Morrisey, O.M.I. of the Canon Law Faculty of Ottawa’s St. Paul University. The 150 questions a … [Read more...]

Annulment procedure explained

ANNULMENTS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: STRAIGHT ANSWERS TO TOUGH QUESTIONS. By Edward N. Peters (Ascension Press, P.O. Box 1990, West Chester, Pa. 19380, 2004), 197 pp. PB $12.00.

Few aspects of Catholicism provoke as many questions as does the topic of annulments. The cynical often regard it as "Catholic divorce," available at least for the rich, but even well–meaning Catholics easily grow perplexed about just how a … [Read more...]

You can go your own way

EXCOMMUNICATION AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, Straight Answers to Tough Questions, by Edward N. Peters (Ascension Press, W5180 Jefferson Street, Necedah, WI 54646, 2006) 100 pp., PB $7.95

Excommunication is always a hot topic. It frequently arouses considerable interest as well as emotional investment when brought up. In some circles, people lament that excommunication is not utilized frequently enough, and see in it a clear … [Read more...]