Category: Blog

From the bulletin of September 13, 2020      Since it came up in the last column, I think it might be worthwhile to summarize the Church’s stance on the organization known as the Freemasons or sometimes just as “Masons.” I’ll tell you up front that Catholics are not allowed to be members of the Masons and that becoming a member jeopardizes a person’s standing in the Church. That may surprise a few people and upset a few others because most have only positive experiences with the members they have met. Well, there are a few reasons for this position. I’ll...Read More

From the bulletin of August 30, 2020      As we journey through some of the more recent Papal teachings, it is also important to understand the different kinds of documents a pope can write. Last week’s survey of the Marian doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption were drawn from the kind of document called an “Apostolic Constitution.” This is considered the highest level of document which can be used for infallible teachings and for other very important decisions about things in the universal Church. Even when the teaching is not specifically formulated as an infallible dogma, they are...Read More

From the bulletin of August 16, 2020      Continuing our study of Papal Infallibility, this week we’ll consider the way this has been misunderstood and misused. You may recall that some of the people who objected to the decision of Vatican I to proclaim this doctrine did so because they were worried about it being misunderstood. They believed the Holy Spirit infallibly protected the teachings of the Church and that the pope had a special charism to carry out this protection. What they feared was that people would interpret this declaration to mean that everything the pope said had to...Read More

From the bulletin of August 2, 2020      Perhaps you’ve heard of the Second Vatican Council, or simply “Vatican II.” Many of you lived through it and remember the impact it had on the Church at large. When we do get to that council, we will spend a lot of time going through it, but our historical tour hasn’t gotten there just yet. We’re still in the 1800s and now we’re going to take a look at the First Vatican Council. It was called on December 8, 1864 by Pope Pius IX in response to the rising influence of various...Read More

From the Bulletin of July 5, 2020      Recall that we learned about Jansenism last week. That particular heresy greatly impacted French Catholicism and the parts of the world influenced by it, including our own Acadiana. With its emphasis on our unworthiness, it caused a lot of scrupulosity and fear so that many Catholics considered their faith a burden rather than a blessing. The Church, as guardian of the truth, did condemn this error and work to undo it’s effects, but our faith is not a list of ideas. Our doctrines and teachings mean very little unless they are lived...Read More