Hot-button issues remain in new questionnaire for 2015 synod
In the run-up to last October’s synod of bishops on the family, one of the more sensational developments was the Vatican’s decision to ask bishops around the world to survey the grassroots on matters...
View ArticleWhy do divorced converts to Catholicism need annulments?
Q. I am a Protestant married to a Protestant (my first marriage was also to a Protestant), and I want to join the Catholic Church. I was told by a priest that my husband and I would have to have our...
View ArticlePope to married couples: ‘Never stop dating’
MANILA, Philippines — In a session with families on Friday in Manila, Pope Francis offered some vintage off-the-cuff homespun advice to married couples, telling them to “never stop dreaming” of each...
View ArticleVatican whodunit: What happened to books on marriage?
VATICAN CITY — A whodunit is making the rounds at the Vatican. The publisher of a book on traditional Catholic marriage is crying foul, saying someone apparently swiped upward of 100 copies of the book...
View ArticleOklahoma bill would abolish state’s role in granting marriage licenses, leave...
OKLAHOMA CITY — In an effort to block the state’s involvement with gay marriage, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday to abolish marriage licenses in the state. The legislation,...
View ArticleHow can I receive Communion if I wasn’t married in the Church?
Q. My husband and I have been members of our parish for 20 years, and for the last six of those years I have been a eucharistic minister. Recently, there was an announcement in our parish newsletter...
View ArticlePope says marital separation sometimes is ‘morally necessary’
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis addressed damaging dynamics within families Wednesday, saying sometimes the separation of a husband and wife may be “inevitable” or “even morally necessary” to protect the...
View ArticleWhat are the requirements for having a marriage convalidated by the Church?
Q. My daughter is scheduled to be married four months from now, and her fiance is a born-again Christian. He was baptized a Catholic in his country of origin, but when his family immigrated to the...
View ArticleFrancis is not the only pope facing a divorce dilemma
CAIRO – As Pope Francis gears up for a showdown over divorce and remarriage at October’s Synod of Bishops, marking the latest chapter in a polarizing debate that’s left some Catholics delighted and...
View ArticleWill my daughter receive the sacrament of matrimony without a full Mass and...
Q. My daughter is a Catholic and has received all of her sacraments, up to and including confirmation. She is engaged to a young man who is Presbyterian. They are scheduled to get married in a...
View ArticleShould we go to the wedding of a cohabitating couple?
Q. My husband and I have an issue that we really struggle with. We are often invited to the wedding of a Catholic couple who have already been living together. We understand cohabitation before...
View ArticleThe pope is making it easier to get an annulment
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will release new streamlined procedures for annulling marriages after he — and thousands of Catholics before him — complained that the Church’s current system is cumbersome,...
View ArticlePope Francis streamlines process for granting annulments
ROME — Pope Francis has sped up the process by which Catholics can obtain marriage annulments, reducing the number of courts and judges, dropping automatic appeals, and making the process free. The...
View ArticleAnnulment reform will have a real impact on those in marital limbo
The media is abuzz again this week in the wake of Pope Francis’ statement about the need to simplify the annulment process for Catholics. Those familiar with Church teaching recognize that nothing has...
View ArticleFaster annulments: Building a raft out of the wreckage
Let’s face it. Marriage is a mess. It’s a shipwreck. Fifty or 60 years ago, most Americans had a shared, basic understanding of marriage. Whether a person was Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, or Jewish,...
View ArticleCardinal Raymond Burke: Tolerance vs. Satan
On the same day that Pope Francis introduced new procedures to speed up the annulment process, Cardinal Raymond Burke told an audience at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio that marriage...
View ArticleTaking an oath: Marriage, annulments, Kim Davis, and ‘A Man for All Seasons’
“A Man for All Seasons” is available on DVD and streaming via Amazon Instant. “Sir Thomas More she’s not,” begins a recent editorial by William McGurn on WSJ.com regarding Kim Davis, municipal clerk of...
View ArticleSome North Carolina magistrates say no to same-sex marriages
MARION, NC — Magistrates in a northwestern North Carolina county are refusing to perform same-sex marriages, citing the state’s religious exemption law, and officials in a neighboring county are...
View ArticleBishop suggests holding pre-synod continental meetings
ROME — One of the 75 prelates who addressed the Synod of Bishops General Assembly at the end of last week floated a new idea: Before heading to a synod in Rome, bishops of each continent would meet...
View ArticleSynod small groups suggest much work remains in finding consensus
ROME—With the conclusion of the second round of small group discussions, consensus is emerging around a few key themes at the synod on the family: The working document needs a lot of work, the Church...
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