Q: Did Pope Benedict XVI validly resign even though he did not renounce the munus? A: As many of us will recall, on February 11, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI surprised the world when, after noting his advancing age and declining health, he announced: “ … For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of…
Category: Questions of Faith
Is Communion by intinction permissible and is the devil a being?
Q: Where exactly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church does it say we can receive Communion by intinction? Our parish has started doing this recently, and people love it! But other parishes’ priests say this is not ‘legal’ according to Church doctrine. I have looked in the catechism and cannot find exactly where it…
Does watching a televised Mass provide spiritual nourishment?
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: In the past few weeks, due to extreme weather, I’ve missed Mass a couple of times. My parish has a Facebook channel, so I watched the services there instead. I wasn’t able to receive Communion. In talking to the priest, though, he said that in such situations, a person can receive…
Are demonic possessions just mental illness?
Q. In watching The Chosen, I noted a couple of demoniac episodes were included, as are in fact depicted in Scripture. No CGI effects were done to show the demons either going in or coming out of the victims, making the healed person seem to simply be someone with personality disorders. What does the Church…
Why do Orthodox churches have a valid celebration of the Eucharist?
Q: How is it possible that the Orthodox practice of the Sacrament of the Eucharist would ever be considered as the true body and blood of Christ from the Catholic perspective simply because of an understanding outside of the unbroken chain of apostolic succession? A: For context, let us review what we mean when we…
Why do we use incense at Mass?
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: Our daughter has totally given up going to church because of the relentless use of incense at each Mass. It doesn’t bother me but I do notice a lot of people in the congregation that obviously have problems with it. Since it causes breathing difficulties for many people is it…
Why does the Christmas season end with Jesus’ Baptism?
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: I always thought the end of the Christmas season came with Epiphany and the arrival of the Magi. A priest recently said the season doesn’t end until a week later with the Baptism of the Lord. What has the Baptism of the adult Jesus got to do with Bethlehem? If…
What is Church teaching on Protestant Communion and the Real Presence?
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: What is the Church currently teaching about the Real Presence in other denominations? I thought that at one time we recognised both the Lutherans and the Anglicans as having the Real Presence. Does that still hold true? Others? A: For context, let us recall that the Catholic teaching on the “real…
On women priests and repairing statues
Q: Why doesn’t the Church allow women to be priests? A: The reason why women can’t be ordained priests is because of the pattern set by Jesus himself while he walked the earth. Pope St John Paul II mentions this historical fact as the fundamental rationale for reserving the sacrament of holy orders to men…
Jesus became man so I could become God?
“For the son of God became man so that we might become God” and “… might make men gods”. I am to become GOD? That doesn’t seem right.