After months of speculation that the document could offer guidance to empower individual bishops to deny Communion to pro-choice politicians, the document only obliquely references Catholics in public life.
Sacraments
Posted inFaith, News
In Catholic Italy, ‘de-baptism’ is gaining popularity
Every year in Italy, more and more people choose to go through the process of de-baptism, made available by the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics, to formalize their abandonment of the Catholic Church.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Jesuit: Priests need better guidelines for hearing confession from sex abuse victims—and abusers
The Catholic Church must do a better job instructing priests on what to do if a victim recounts his or her abuse in the confessional and in the unlikely case that an abuser confesses, said Hans Zollner, S.J.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
What do Catholics mean when we say the Eucharist is ‘the true body and blood’ of Christ?
It is not sufficient for contemporary Catholics simply to repeat the formulas of the past.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Eucharistic revival or Communion war? How politics and the pandemic are framing a debate among U.S. bishops
On this deep dive episode of “Inside the Vatican,” producer Maggi Van Dorn and host Colleen Dulle dig into the history of the U.S. bishops’ engagement with political issues and give some background on today’s “Communion wars.”
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Receiving Communion is never a ‘private’ matter. The common good is at stake.
The Covid pandemic has reminded us of the importance of placing the concerns of the community before our own as individuals. So why would we view the reception of the Eucharist as a private matter?
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Denying Communion to Joe Biden won’t bring people back to Mass. The U.S. bishops likely know this.
Denying Communion to Joe Biden will not get Catholics back in the pews — or bring together a church whose members are sometimes more likely to bend the knee to an elephant or donkey than to the eucharistic Lord.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Catholics: We need to talk about our bad experiences in Confession
Gloria Purvis: You are not alone in your bad experience in confession, and you can do something to heal from that trial.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Most U.S. Catholics believe the Eucharist is just a symbol. The bishops want to change that.
The view that the Eucharist is a symbol of Jesus has alarmed many U.S. bishops because belief in the real presence of Christ in the consecrated host is a central church teaching.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Sex and Confession: 5 helpful guidelines
First: You are not required to talk about sex in the confessional.