Question: Should priests, organists, altar servers and sacristans be paid for participating in a funeral? — Name withheld, via e-mail Answer: It varies according to each. Priests are not “paid” for celebrating funerals. And while ...
Question: What is the difference between a monastery and a convent? — Allen Eberle, Hague, N.D. Answer: Like many words, we can denote a strict sense and a more relaxed colloquial sense. We can also ...
Question: A Jewish friend insists that, according to his religion, there is simply no afterlife. Is this true and consistent with the Old Testament? — Charley McKelvy, via email Answer: The views of the Jewish ...
Question: I am a bit confused about the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s treatment of acedia. What does the Catechism mean to teach by this sin? And how is it related to joy? — Inigo ...
Question: Why do the Catholic Church and Catholic Bibles fail to use the uppercase pronouns when referring to the persons of the Trinity? Does not the Lord’s Prayer say, “hallowed be Thy name?” — Joseph ...
Question: Did Satan know Jesus was God, or was he just tempting his human nature to fail? —Ann, city withheldAnswer: It would seem that Satan and other evil spirits did know Jesus was God, at ...
Question: I recently read the portion of the Gospel about what will happen at the end of time. It stated, “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor ...
As the controversy over President Barack Obama administration’s January directive to religious institutions to pay for employees’ contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs was heating up, Michael Gerson — a conservative columnist frequently friendly to the ...
Question: Do you think that since the Second Vatican Council there has developed confusion between the roles of laity and clergy in the Church? Some commentators seem to think so. Now we have lay ministers ...
Question: I am married to a nonpracticing Episcopalian and while we agree on most matters of faith, we disagree over purgatory. Your columns have been helpful to him. Can you clarify where Episcopalians stand on ...
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