Jesus said therefore to them again, "Peace be to you.  As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you."  When He had said this, He breathed on them, and He said to them: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."—John 20:21-23, DRB. Let me say at the outset of this blog that it is long but probably worth it.  It is practically written for other priests but it will help lay people historically.  The only answer you need is in the last paragraph of this post.  However, this blog will give much sacramental [...]

There's a lot of combinations of sacramental debates happening today, but most of them are very similar:  Someone's Catholic family member is getting married outside the Church.  Half the family feels squeamish about it.  A priest steps in and says to the more conservative family members, "You should indeed go to your son's wedding outside the Church, so as to not break the bonds of charity.  That way, you can evangelize him back into the Church later." Then, all the lay people in the family have their consciences euthanized by the smiling priest, and they all go to the "wedding." Here's why that priest is wrong and it's actually a [...]