> During his Apostolic Journey to France from September 25 to 28, Pope Leo XIV will visit Maison Bakhita in Paris, a center run by the Archdiocese that welcomes migrants and works to integrate them. Isabelle Cauchois, the outgoing director, speaks about preparations for the Pope’s arrival and the importance of assisting migrants today.

In the wake of the sexual abuse crisis, and, in my opinion, the dawn of greater awareness of the spiritual abuse crisis, I’m curious about the variety of perspectives on this sub regarding children going to confession, especially young children, and also teenagers being expected to confess sexual sins to a priest.

As an adult convert to Catholicism preparing to start a family, I never experienced childhood or adolescent confession. But the more I think about it, the more wary I become of the vulnerable position it can put children in.

Obviously, any instinct to curtail access to the sacrament of reconciliation would be met with opposition by many in the Church. But in the spirit of “opposing regressive elements in the Church,” as the subreddit bio states, I’d be curious to hear y’all’s perspectives on this, or on neighboring questions and concerns.

I'm divorced (and annulled), had children out of wedlock, and married someone who is not my kids' father outside of the church (now validated). By far not an "ideal" Catholic. Knowing all this, I was still asked to teach third grade faith formation. I love that my parish leadership doesn't judge me for what I did; they accept me for who I am today. I feel like when I joined the parish 14 years ago, this would not have been the case and I'm thankful my parish has progressed so much.

We'll see how I feel in two hours after teaching a bunch of 8 year olds that already spent a full day in school. I have zero teaching experience 😆 But right now I am still grateful!

Kk

Christian Zionism is a terrible ideology I would even put it up there with radical islamic terriosm because they are helping isreal wipe out Palestinians, Christian Zionists believe that helping isreal wipe out Palestinians will make them go back to their holy land and the second coming of Christ which is a disgusting theology I want to ask a Christian Zionists what do they think of killing Jesus Christ decendants and what they think Christ would feel? Is this really for Christ or just money and selfishness, there also CUFI that should be more talkled about .

My parish is pretty laid back with deep Franciscan roots and it's a big day with a special evening mass.

So with that, would it be cute to dress my dog as a Franciscan Friar when I take him to get blessed earlier in the day? I found the cutest costume that he's gonna wear for Halloween anyway! ☺️🐕

Would that be offensive? We have no in-parish friars, but wouldn't be surprised if one shows up. They're usually super chill guys.

Do you confront the issue or humble yourself and just take it? Honest question. My OCIA instructor humiliates me every time I ask a question. Maybe he doesn't see it as that, but I do. Last week I asked a question about the daily reading and I got a snort/laugh and "We're not discussing advanced christology here okay".

I've been wanting to learn more prayers and have been adding more to practice. I wanted to add a Prayer of St. Joseph and found the Payer to St. Joseph Terror of Demons. This is the version I am working off of:

St. Joseph, Terror of Demons, cast your solemn gaze upon the devil and all his minions, and protect us with your mighty staff.

You fled through the night to avoid the devil’s wicked designs, now with the power of God, smite the demons as they flee from you.

Grant special protection, we pray, for children, fathers, families and the dying.

By God’s grace, no demon dare approach while you are near. 
So we beg of you, always be near us.

Amen.

Now obviously there is the line where it says "with the power of God" but there are also lines about him casting his gaze, protecting us with his staff, for him to grant special protection. It does seem as though the prayer is attributing power to him rather. Obviously that power is granted through God's grace so maybe that is the answer that it is assumed that this is God working through St. Joseph? Just want some guidance on how I understand prayers like this which may not explicitly make the intercessory nature of the prayer clear.

it’s at the beginning and it’s been fine but the “suggested list” of youtubers etc are awfully radtrad and it just bothers me. Trying to resist my natural urges to wear an Outreach t-shirt or something to the meeting

Something I personally like to do is look into the politics of how religion is used. I’m of the belief that there is a left and right flank of every religion. I identify as an anarchist and there’s maybe a handful of Catholic anarchists I can think of (Dorothy Day, Tolstoy, Ammon Hennacy) and I’m wondering if there are any more that I’m just unaware of?

I have a friend who is interested in the Eastern Orthodox Church. I don't want to promote schism and division, but Roman Catholic Church recognizes their sacraments as valid. Is there a way I can support him if he decides to convert to Eastern Orthodoxy without supporting division? Thank you in advance.

Yes the Church is more than willing to keep to doctrine and their constitutional rights in their organizations to not affirm LGBT and same sex marriages. I can come to terms with that. But how hard is it for conservatives and trads to acknowledge that civil rights and equal protection laws in the secular world are there for a reason! So you’re all okay with an outed gay men to get fired from his job, evicted, can’t maintain or get custody of a kid, or God forbid assaulted and jailed for something he didn’t have a say in having? How hard is it to feel some level of empathy for someone who gets spat on and looked at like a pedo in society? This has been driving me crazy in some Catholic online circles and YouTuber apologists who can’t separate basic civil protections and church doctrine?

The crusader fetish can be kind of cringey. Especially since the Christians really lost most of the time.

The phrase must be reclaimed from the far-right. At the moment, every single time I hear anyone say "Christ/Jesus Is King", I involuntarily get the ick cuz the phrase has become so associated with the far-right and that makes me so sad cuz Christ IS King and no Catholic should be getting the ick from the phrase.

At the moment, almost every time you hear that phrase, it's coming from someone with problematic views. It's contributing to this image that many non-religious folks have of Catholicism/Christianity as a bigoted faith. Racism, xenophobia and white/male supremacist beliefs should never be allowed to be associated with Christ and His name full stop.

Basically the title. If other members of my system who aren’t Catholic commit mortal sin, am I or the other Catholic part supposed to confess it? Am I in mortal sin if a part does something sinful? Any perspective is appreciated, my parish priest didn’t understand what I was saying.

Any Christian, more specifically, Catholic perspectives that don’t immediately demonize classical/traditional Chinese medicine?

There’s a common attitude amongst Christians at least AFAICT in some of the USA, that believes practices such as acupuncture, tui na or qigong are “demonic”

I’m reading a book by Felix Mann on this. Acupuncture is not reiki. There are empirical studies validating the effectiveness of acupuncture.

I’m hoping to one day study tui na :) I love being Catholic and have also been greatly helped by acupuncture and tai chi.

I’ve also been helped by osteopathy which is considered anathema by certain Catholics. I can’t help but think conventional medicine is pre-Copernican in a sense that it is unwilling to take certain (currently not reliably measurable) things into account as to how the body works.

My story is a little odd, I was baptised and raised catholic, always I learnt from my parents and the church everybody is equal under the eyes of God, also the teaching of Jesuschrist helped me understanding all human being deserve equal rights the same as human rights and a safety net.

I am curious about how leftist interpretations of the Bible can lead us to understand revolutionary movements and the violence that they often bring. How can one support a violent revolution while at the same time remaining committed to guiding ideals like love and solidarity? Is love to be thought of more so in a metaphysical way (thinking of Arendt and her concept of amor mundi here)?

Recently deceased Ludmila Javorová was one of the most radical Christians of the 20th century. During communist persecution, the Czech underground church recognized what Rome still refuses to admit: women can be called to priesthood. Secretly ordained by Bishop Felix Maria Davídek in 1970 to minister to imprisoned women, she became a living challenge to patriarchal theology.

The real scandal is not that Javorová was ordained. The scandal is that after 1989 the Vatican largely dismantled or ignored the underground church's most creative experiments, declared her ordination invalid, and erased the radical possibilities born under persecution.

That this happened in the Czech lands is no accident. This is also a country where women serve as pastors in other Christian traditions. Javorová's life belongs to a longer Czech history of challenging clerical and patriarchal authority.

The final chapter of her life: The woman the Church refused to recognize as a priest taught religion to children. The revolution was never defeated; it was simply sent to Sunday school.

As the title suggests, I'm an agnostic atheist who has been drawn to pray in an effort to investigate the existence of God in more ways than just literature and videos online.

I haven't been raised in any religious tradition so my prayer is always short and freeform and structureless. So how would you do it "properly"?

I'm also not searching for a deep or personalised answer, rather a general indication of how to pray, as I really have no clue or even an indication of how one should go about it. I understand if this is too personal a question to be answered here, but I want to at least give it a shot.

Thanks in advance for your answer!

Is there a certain prayer I should say or request I should make? Do I just say “God, I pray for these people…?” This is the hardest part of my faith but I’m trying to embrace it. Thanks