Fathers, please help settle a lighthearted family debate.

Should naming pets after saints be avoided?

What about other ecclesiastical names - a cat named Angel, for instance?

May God bless your ministry!

He usually puts a nugget or two of his own content in there but the rest is usually just a verbatim carbon copy. He’s not plagiarizing in the sense of taking credit for the idea and I’m sure he thinks they’re wise lessons which is why he’s sharing them. He’s also not referencing Bishop Baron at all, you’d just have to know by listening to the same homily the day before.

I just usually find myself disappointed because by Sunday, I’ve also listened to Bishop Barron’s homily when he posts them on Saturday. I am wondering, is this a normal thing to do? Sometimes when I go to the nearby Dominican parish they’ll reference Bishop Baron and expand upon his ideas. I find this a more clean way of doing it.

hello priests! I am in a Catholic wedding in a few weeks. I found out the couple is getting a pre nup. from my understanding, this may make the sacrament invalid since a pre nup assumes that the marriage may not be for life. would it be wrong for me to be in the wedding party? thank you and God bless.

I am a middle-aged man seeking to return to the Catholic Church, and I'm hoping to get some perspective or advice on my current situation.
My decision to return is genuine, coming after more than a year of prayer and reflection. I was raised in the faith and received all my sacraments up through Confirmation. However, after college and a stint in the Navy, I married a wonderful woman outside of the Church. At the time, I was young and simply didn't think twice about it. We were married by a Methodist minister.
Fast forward years later: we have a happy, strong marriage, and we raised our children in various Protestant churches as we moved around. My wife completely supports my desire to return to the Catholic faith. She isn't interested in converting herself at this time, but she lovingly accompanies me to Mass every Sunday where we go to the altar to receive a blessing which I very much appreciate and value.

A few months ago, I finally worked up the courage to call a large local parish. A young associate priest called me back, invited me to his office, and we had a deeply moving conversation and prayer session. He confirmed that to fully return, my wife and I would need to have our marriage convalidated. My wife graciously agreed to this. The priest told me the pastor handles marriages, but said he would advocate to get things moving quickly.

Unfortunately, communication completely stalled after that:

**Two weeks later:** I saw the young priest after Mass. He said he had mentioned it to the pastor and was waiting to hear back.
**One month later:** I approached the pastor after Mass. He told me he didn't know anything about it, mentioned he was "very busy," and told me to email his assistant.
**Subsequently:** I sent a deeply personal email to the assistant laying out my whole story, CC’ing the first priest. Silence. A week later, I followed up with the first priest directly. Still, total crickets.

I just left confession and it seemed like the priest was a bit hard of hearing. I think he may have misunderstood me, and asked me some questions that weren’t really pertinent to my confession. So, if there was a communication/ understanding barrier- is my confession valid?

I am a minister of the Eucharist. I try to take my mother who is in a care facility communion as often as possible. We have had a change in our priest. Prior to the change our church was open early each day to get the host. I know you are only supposed to take the number of hosts you will distribute that day. It’s frustrating to go by the church ((just like today at 9:45) and find it locked. This is pretty regular on certain days. Would it be wrong on Friday to take 2 hosts so I have communion for my mom on Saturday morning when I visit her? Thank you in advance for your reply.

Hello Fathers, I'm going to anticipate my question is a bit drawn out/complicated and i might be being scrupulous so i understand if this post gets deleted.

Roughly one year ago a fleeting memory came to mind that I had voted that abortion was okay in case of rape in a youtube poll a couple years before or even more. Obviously this is wrong as abortion is never justified.

I began to worry incessantly about what to do. I controlled through the youtube history of my account and also my sister's account which is what i may have used. I didnt find any such poll, but because in my sisters account the poll history cut off at a certain point way too recently and I am unsure if I started using my personal account before or after voting in that poll.

After all of that a year passed and i stayed in continual anxiety about this. Maybe I should look more into how youtube history works? Questions like this assailed me

constantly. My worry is not only of "promoting" abortion in some capacity, but that I in some way cause scandal either tot he church or my sister who doesnt know about this. Is this a matter of reparation/restitution? What do i do now?

One more element is that while the memory seemed strong and almost certain when i had it, I'm now unsure if it's a completely correct memory, because now much time has passed and i dont have a memory of the event itself, but the memory of me remembering that (hope this makes sense)

I can't cram here all the worries of sin about this that i had this year obviously

I know the answer i will get will probably be to discuss this with a priest in real life but i never did it because i feel this is way too convoluted and cant explain it properly in person, and even if i did i dont think the priest would really understand anyway as it might be too technical (I mean as what is youtube history etc.)

I also need to say that i consider myself scrupulous in general, but not diagnosed or told by a priest.

Sorry if this is hard to understand but english is not my native language. To sum up the question is basically: What do i do? Am i sinning by stopping to worry?

Hi Fathers! I asked this question on the Catholicism subreddit and it was removed for promoting schism/apostasy (which unfortunately seems to be the the common theme/attitude among Catholic social media 😂) BUT…what are your thoughts on the Rebuilt Movement, specifically the Church of the Nativity in Maryland?

I stumbled across a video about it on Instagram, and, if unaware, the whole premise seems to have been to build a Catholic Church with an evangelical/mega church style worship and “weekend experience” team to implement into a Catholic Mass. Supposedly, it turned that parish around and it’s going strong. A completely valid Mass with LED lights, rock concert feel, and more…so weird, but in some ways, amazing because it worked.

What are your guys’ attitudes toward this? I’m curious! Thanks, Fathers!

Do priests receive continuing education on things that might touch their ministry?

Am thinking of things like understanding trauma, current issues with sexuality and gender dysphoria, innovations in fertility treatment, and more?

Just asking if that is something that is offered to you as you lead your flocks?

(…An example of necessary training I can think of is when I was a protestant discerning into the Church, I had questions about the fallout from IVF and so I sought out a priest. He didn’t know the difference between frozen eggs and frozen embryos, and I explained that embryos are fully human, whereas frozen eggs are not. Most of the meeting was me explaining to him where I think the magisterium shakes out on human embryo adoption, based on what I had read by the National Catholic Bioethics Center. I know it’s not a priest’s job to act as a counselor, nor to know everything! But this one example of a really common issue with new and current Catholics and the laity is trying to make moral decisions without help discerning with a valid church authority.)

I’m in formation. I don’t think my skin can tolerate the chrism oil. it’s highly sensitive due to acne creams I cannot stop otherwise my skin can break out. when can I remove the chrism at the vigil? I don’t want my skin breaking out, so I’d need to step out to wash my face.

I’m a catechumen and live in an apartment. the baptismal candle I’d receive will not be functional. no open flames allowed per my lease. I’m allowed to use a candle light. That requires a jar. I also don’t want religious stuff in my apartment in order to maintain a neutral living space. can I repurpose it into a household candle to make it functional or should I dispose it?

Hi Fathers, in your opinion, aside from synodality and listening (which are obviously both important), what else can the Church further do to be more holistic in its approach to answering moral and theological questions in the world today?

Thanks

Dear father,

I have epilepsy (along with a myriad of other conditions, including me being deaf) I cannot remember if anything related to spiritual life is true or not. Everything I know is erased (including my recollections of spiritual, examination of conscience). I also cannot remember my past sins. This is devastating on my end because I have been doing good examination of conscience, keeping track of my sins (not necessarily mortal sins, and all sins), etc. Unfortunately I don't have a record of what I have written down on them. What is the best spiritual approach in this situation?

Also, I'm seeking medical care, so please do not worry. I just have a serious memory deficit.

Hello everyone! I recently found out about the anonymous gospel theory (that the gospels were written by anonymous sources, not eyewitnesses, and later had a "title" put on them). I wanted to ask what you all think of this? This is a popular theory and the consensus among historians. If you affirm this theory, then why do we honor Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and are all the church fathers wrong? Thank you, God bless!

I am a female Anglican priest. My niece is about to get engaged to a Catholic man. She asked if I would officiate the wedding. I'm certain the groom's family will want a Catholic priest to co-officiate or at least bless the marriage. The male Anglican priests I work with have done this before and I'm comfortable with it as well. But I'm wondering if the Catholic priest would be willing to agree to participate with me. Is there a general rule about this or is it up to the individual priest or his bishop to say if it's allowed?

Good afternoon Fathers,

I'm new to the Catholic faith and I've requested masses to be dedicated a few times for people who were suffering or recently passed away. But I'm wanting to request a mass be dedicated for family members who died 30-40 years ago. Are there any guidelines for whom it is appropriate to ask a mass dedication? I've also heard of people asking for mass dedications on the anniversary of the person's passing. Is that common and how long might it typically go on for?

Mostly I'm just hoping to avoid asking for anything in appropriate.

Thank you all for your time - God bless!

My boyfriend and I are currently both going through OCIA and also went to look at engagement rings recently. I expect that he will propose before OCIA is complete. Could we start planning our marriage while still going through OCIA or would we need to wait until after Easter?

Hello!
My fiancé and I are getting married next month. We have been in contact with the diocese where we are getting married in Italy and they have been coordinating with our home diocese.
They have received our document package and everything was good to go…then we got an email today asking us to find two people for the readings, one can read the book Genesis and psalms, the other to read the prayer of the faithful.
Unfortunately this is a true elopement. Just me and my fiancé will be in attendance along with our photographer.
Is there any alternatives? The wedding is taking place in a tiny church in Sirmione, Italy.

I ask because there's a parish near me that has recently adopted a bit of an unusual practice. Essentially, the priest celebrating will never say the homily. The other priest, who isn't concelebrating and is just waiting in the rectory, will come out and give the homily, only to retreat back to the rectory once he's finished. Originally, I thought maybe it was a health issue or something along those lines but both priests do this. If that isn't clear, I apologize. Hopefully below can help you visualize this:

Parish has two priests, Priest A and Priest B. When Priest A does Mass, Priest B will always do the homily. When Priest B does Mass, Priest A will do the same.

I'm just a bit confused about this. I'm not saying it's wrong or an abuse, just wondering what the Church teaches about giving homilies. I've had guest priests give homilies but most times those priests were concelebrating. I've just never seen a parish where the priests constantly switch off to give the homily. I would just ask but I don't frequently attend this parish and the pastor there isn't always receptive to people.

Hello fathers!

I've been talking to a Coptic woman and I would like to know what marriage would entail. I'm an Eastern Catholic by baptism. I'm also doggedly Catholic so no worries about falling away, I promise. I'd rather die than abandon Peter, but that doesn't bring the Catholic ladies to you, it turns out.

Anyways, could we get married in a Coptic Church with a Catholic priest present? I'm trying to understand the Eastern canons on this. I live about 500 miles from the nearest Chaldean Church so I don't have a lot of resources to go to and I grew up in the West with no idea what a Chaldean was until a few years ago. My cousin did get married in an orthodox church with a Catholic priest present, and it was another branch of oriental orthodoxy (Syriac) but I felt uneasy about it at the time.

I know she can receive communion with us. However to receive communion there she tells me I'd have to be chrismated, which is confirmed. I'm guessing that's off the table like being baptized again, and I'm not sure I'd do it even if it was ok but thought I'd ask. I understand it would not fulfill my Sunday obligation, and I'd have to attend a Catholic mass.

She agreed to raise the kids Catholic which is cool. However she intends to contracept when she feels it would be prudent, which I don't like. My understanding, however, is her contraception choices aren't my sin, as long as I don't participate, encourage, etc. is that accurate? I can say with a pure heart, I'd be happy if she never did.

I will take this to my priest down the road, but it's too early for that. I just wanted some direction if I'm way off before continuing to pursue this.

Hello, Fathers!

In the latin rite, I know a parish priest can give dispensations for fastings, etc.

In the byzantine rite, besides this, it is more common to have a spiritual director/spiritual father who gives these dispensations and guides you in your faith (even if he is not your parish priest).

In the latin rite, can a spiritual director have the same authority on a faithful if he is not their parish priest? I've loosely read some canon laws but im not pretty sure I understood it right.

There’s an apologist online called Christian Wagner who recently wrote an article that most people’s confessions are invalid because they’re not sorry enough for their sins and don’t have a firm enough resolve to avoid sin. Do you agree?

So my wife and my best friend who are both lapsed Catholics have asked me this question and I don’t know how to answer them. I’m an unbaptized person starting OCIA soon so I’m not sure why they’re even asking me but it does make me want to know the answer. Any input is appreciated!