Jenna Marie Cooper

The catechism is meant as a summary of core Catholic beliefs and is widely available both in print and online — and there are a few searchable web versions of the catechism that make it fairly simple to navigate.

Because we believe that Jesus is physically, bodily present in the “sacred species” (our term for the bread and wine which have been turned into the body and blood of Christ), we have several laws and customs pertaining to the Eucharist that ensure a sufficient degree of protection and reverence for Jesus’ presence in the Blessed Sacrament.

Even though St. Peter was the first pope, his status as the “first among equals” among the apostles doesn’t automatically mean that writing was his personal strong suit.

We find a clear scriptural reference on the praiseworthyness of praying for the dead in the Old Testament’s second book of Maccabees.

It is true that the Catholic Church presumes that marriages are valid until proven otherwise, and it’s only logical that faithful Catholics should discern their life choices in light of this general principle.

Catholics don’t believe that a lack of physical healing is due to some fault in the faith of the one suffering, nor can it be attributed to a lack of faith on the part of that person’s loved ones.