The solitude and isolation of the conclave is meant to foster almost a retreat-like atmosphere, which should make it easier for cardinals to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

We should keep in mind that the church sees the process of Christian initiation as a spiritual journey, not as an academic year with a deadline for “graduation.”

We know that God is totally loving and merciful, and is always ready to forgive. And this is why Jesus left the church with the sacrament of penance, to provide a means for reconciliation after post-baptismal sins.

If a Catholic attends a clearly invalid wedding in the normal festive spirit, they are celebrating something which is, at least objectively “on paper,” a falsehood.

There have been many canonized saints who were treated very badly by church leaders of their day, through no fault of their own.

While a vegan or vegetarian already fulfills the law of abstinence by just sticking to their usual meat-free eating habits, it might make sense for them to consider adopting an additional penance for Lent.

If a person truly cannot remain faithful despite their desire to do so, this means that they were incapable of marrying due to a fundamental incapacity to assume a core duty of the vocation of marriage.

Not all sins are equally terrible, and the dynamic of how we come to fall into sin can vary depending on the circumstances.

Under ordinary circumstances, the church does not allow non-Catholics to receive Holy Communion. But this discipline is not meant to “keep people away from Jesus.”

It is true that actual wheat must be used in a valid celebration of the Eucharist, but there are still ways to receive holy Communion even as a Catholic with a severe gluten intolerance.