Category Archives: “How To…” – Practical Notes

ASK FATHER: What’s your preferred English translation of the Bible?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: What’s your preferred English translation of the Bible? Or do you like different versions for different purposes? No one translation does it all.  Every time you translate something you lose something.   You have to make a … Read More

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Would a marriage impediment apply in this case

From a reader… QUAERITUR: I was recently in a discussion with other Catholics about the following scenario, and we weren’t able to come to an agreement, or find an answer online: would it be possible for a man and a … Read More

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ASK FATHER: Cut off from my beloved SSPX chapel, suffering.

From a reader… QUAERITUR: I recently read your “In Illo Tempore: 8th Sunday after Pentecost” commentary on One Peter Five. I ask your opinion on this, given your remarks on suffering. What would you say to someone who is suffering, … Read More

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ASK FATHER: Can I be godparent of the child of a Lutheran couple?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: My 2nd cousin who was raised catholic and is now a lutheran (along with his wife) are having a child in a few months. They have asked me to be a godparent of the child. As … Read More

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FOR PRIESTS: Wherein, prompted by this conference, Fr. Z posts something for CONFESSION

I’m at the annual conference for priests held by the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. They have these three times a year. I’ve been going for year and wouldn’t miss it. There is great fraternity and the presentations, on … Read More

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IMPORTANT expert canonical exam of the DDF SSPX Decree: It does NOT excommunicate SSPX priests or faithful who attend Masses, or change the practical canonical position of faithful seeking SSPX sacraments.

Again at Rorate today, there is a careful examination of the SSPX Decree and Explanatory note by an anonymous canonist who clearly knows what he is talking about. Here is a dense summary.   Let’s call this… What Does The Decree … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, 1983 CIC can. 915, SSPX, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices |
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ASK FATHER: Lay people, SSPX and excommunication

I have several of these in my mail box, similar situations. From a reader… QUAERITUR: I am a lay person who attends a diocesan Latin Mass with my family. On occasion, we attend SSPX Masses or devotions out of necessity … Read More

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The DDF’s procedures for “reconciling” both clerics and lay people from the SSPX

Today the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) released – along with the decree and explanatory note about the SSPX – the requirements for clerics (deacons and priests, according to the 1983 Code) seeking reconciliation with the Church.  … Read More

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What constitutes “formal adherence” to schism? It is NOT merely attending Masses. There’s more to it.

The Explanatory Note from the DDF today references the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts’s Explanatory Note on the excommunication for schism incurred by adherents of the movement of Bishop Marcel Lefebvre of 24 August 1996. The DDF says they adopted … Read More

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ASK FATHER: Frequency of confession and confession of venial sins

From a reader… QUAERITUR: During confession recently the priest told me I don’t have to confess venial sins, because receiving the Eucharist takes them away. He also said I don’t have to go to confession more than once a month … Read More

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