According to the media, the most important issues facing the Synod on Synodality are the possibility of married priests, women deacons and the blessing of gay couples. The first session of the synod will take place in Rome this October, with a second session in October 2024. I personally hope the synod deals with these Read more
Clericalism cuts two ways, neither of which has been good for the church. Clerics, who believe they have all the answers and the power, tell the faithful what they can and cannot do. On the other side are laity, who nod off in the pews and leave the heavy lifting to priests and religious. The Read more
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently approved drafting a document on receiving Holy Communion in the Catholic Church. It will include a section regarding standards for politicians and public figures who support laws allowing abortion, euthanasia and other “moral evils.” The proposed document has already caused controversy. The Vatican has warned against exclusively Read more
Recently, a handful of American Catholic bishops have issued statements questioning whether anyone who supports abortion rights should be receiving Communion, and journalists immediately pounced: Will President Joe Biden, they wanted to know, be denied Communion by the U.S. bishops’ conference because of his pro-choice position on abortion? Journalists, here’s your answer: This is a Read more
The Vatican has come out strongly against shared communion between Catholic and Protestant churches in Germany. The issue of Catholics and Protestants being able to receive communion in each other’s churches has long been an issue in Germany and is particularly important for the many German couples who have a partner belonging to either church. Read more
Communion services where a priest is not present must stop says US bishop Robert Vasa. These services are “not consistent with the Instructions from the Holy See,” he told Catholics in his diocese. He pointed to an Instruction from the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments issued in 2004. The Instruction says Read more
Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk of the Netherlands has written to Pope Francis criticising him for ‘creating confusion’ among the faithful and ‘endangering the unity of the church.’ Eijk was responding to Francis’s response this week to a delegation of German bishops about allowing the non-Catholic partners of Catholics to receive Communion in certain circumstances. Rather Read more
The Communion policy dividing the German bishops conference will not be resolved by the Vatican, Pope Francis says. Instead, the bishops must resolve the problem among themselves. The policy agreed to by over three quarters of the bishops will allow the non-Catholic spouses of Catholics to receive Communion in certain circumstances. The policy says one of Read more
A Vatican ruling on giving Communion to Protestants is being sought. According to draft guidelines approved by the German Bishops’ Conference in February, Protestant spouses may receive Communion after making a “serious examination of conscience”. The Bishops’ Conference says they must also affirm “the faith of the Catholic Church”, and wish to end “serious spiritual Read more
Receiving communion on the hand is part of a diabolical attack, claims Cardinal Robert Sarah. Sarah, who is the Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, wants Catholics to kneel and receive the Host on the tongue. He says this mode is “more suited to the sacrament. “Truly the war Read more