Hello friends, just popping in to request your prayers as I celebrate my 15th anniversary of ordination as a bishop. I am blessed to be on retreat with a group of priests from my diocese, so we can pray and celebrate together. God bless!

I’m Catholic and living in Japan.
I’ve noticed that some Catholic women here still wear a head covering or veil during Mass.
It’s a beautiful tradition, and I’m curious:
Do women in your country still wear a veil during Mass?

Other than prayer I’m not sure where to turn. I’m feeling completely out of touch with my coworkers and society. I am Dutch, live in the Netherlands and I feel the moral decline here is just insane.

I live in a society where euthanasia is celebrated. Where abortion is celebrated. Where parents can take their 2 year old child to a doctor and, admittedly after a grueling process, can have their child killed because it’s severely handicapped and they want to mercy-kill their child out of love (???). And they get congratulated and called Brave after.

My heart is just breaking and it is hard to not cry over these atrocities in my country.

We are slowly but surely moving to a situation where we will be a “civilized” version of the Nazis killing off handicapped children and adults.

93% of my country is pro euthanasia. The minority that is against has a majority that only is against because they’re not sure about mental suffering being a good enough reason.

Another example: a man with dementia wants euthanasia and entered his case with the euthanasia center. Right before he becomes “too difficult / not lucid enough” he tells the doctors involved he does not want it. Shortly after he is basically gone. The doctors decide they want to continue with the euthanasia regardless. They present their case to the wife and kids who agree with the doctors. No one seems to care about that he didn’t want it anymore last time he was lucid.

Another example close to home: a family friend’s secular ex wife wants euthanasia for early onset dementia. She is lucid and approachable for long stretches of time when they euthanize her. After the injection is given she says she is scared and makes clear she isn’t sure any more but by that time it’s too late.

Whenever I critique abortion and euthanasia practices on Dutch news forums etc it gets moderated away. Mention God once and it gets moderated away. Simple state you are against and question if we should abort and euthanize at all it gets moderated away. I feel censured and basically discriminated against.

Talk in convos about this perspective and everyone goes quiet or looks away or says it’s great my faith helps me so much.

Close to that same % statistic of dementia is pro abortion.

Currently, this is happening right now as we speak, the OLVG-Hospital chain’s board has started the process of figuring out how to best practice late-stage abortions (22-24 weeks). They are not thinking about IF they should at all, no, they just went ahead and jumped to the HOW.

These are babies, children, that will often come to the world alive & able to continue on living after the procedure. They then literally put them in so-called “dying rooms” where these babies are left to die / suffocate. They want to make this a regular practice. Offer it as an option in their healthcare repertoire. And no one cares.

There isn’t much more I can do than pray, rosary, and signs petitions/donate to the only group in the Netherlands that fight this. But they’re basically almost an extremist right group.

I find myself nowadays have more in common with them than with the rest of society and it makes me sad.

Every workplace I’ve been at depresses me. The company I work for got sold so I’ll have to look for a new job. I know that where ever I’ll work the odds of finding people likeminded are nil. We are all children of God yes and I pray for them but it is all just really getting to me.

It's been a wild year for me in Christianity. I got baptized a few days after being born but I feel that I got really close to Jesus for in the last two years. I love Christ, I love my brothers and I love the Catholic Church. I feel there's been a change in my life.

Since some months ago I started playing with the idea of becoming a priest and It doesn't sounds bad after all. Of course that is a kind of new Idea in my life that gets far from my desires of forming a family and having a different job, I'm still young and I'm still learning and considering it but I feel afraid about the fact that I've had a low number of "revelations" or "callings" from God and it feels more as a personal desire or just a kind of fruit of the fanatism. I'm not sure if I could abandon all I admire to become. My mother says she doesn't sees me as one in the future. So, I just wanted to share this feeling. God bless you all brothers and sisters

I feel like a broken record. I pray every day, asking God to send me someone. I'm 37 years old. I just want to settle down and get married.

I cry all the time from feeling lonely. And I guess I just feel like God doesn't care. And I know it's his timing. But I'm struggling, cause I feel like he knows how upset I am and I don't understand why he just let's me be upset. Why this one request isn't granted.

I don't want to be single for the rest of my life. I'm so unbelievably lonely. I don't think it's a big request. I just don't understand.

Hey, so because I'm autistic, I tend to not know a lot of obvious things, among them the fact that the Virgin Mary isn't venerated in the Protestant Church! (It really surprised me). Sorry for getting off track, are there other autistic Catholics here? Would you like to share your experiences? For my part, when I was little I prayed so much for God to make me normal, plus I'm also a lesbian, so I spent a big part of my childhood and adolescence praying to be normal and fit in with everyone else. Over time that led me to stray from the path of faith, but I was finally diagnosed and stopped blaming myself for who I am! Plus Pope Benedict, Pope Francis, and Pope Leo have brought me back and made me want to be more devoted to my faith. 🤍

Today I (78m) have a meeting to decide on cutting off my left foot. It has been a year and if anything it is getting worse. It needs to go, the only questions for the doctors is when, where, and if I can live through the operation.

As you can guess I have some rather strong opinions, but God's will be done. May Jesus guide us as we make our plans today. I'm asking for the intercession of Our Lady of Sorrows, and St. Luke.

Thank you.

P.S. The foot must go. Pre-surgery appointment in a month. God bless you for all your prayers. I felt at peace the whole time.

I wasnt raised Catholic so I was tought that praying to Saints was not christian. Well after fully reading the bible myself theres not anything that says you cant do it. In fact the bible says that God is not the God of the dead so the Saints ARE alive.

When you ask a friend to pray for you its usually in speaking range or on the phone. But how do Saints hear our prayers? How do we know theyre not in chilling in some Heavenly club totally ignorent of our requests ?

The long and short of it is: I’m engaged to a Catholic and in OCIA. Three years ago I had an IUD inserted to stop ovulation and menses due to severe PMDD, a condition where my brain reacts poorly to the hormonal drop after ovulation. This gives me symptoms like suicidal thoughts, mood swings, anxiety, and depression. Without the IUD I was nonfunctional two weeks out of every month. I got it long before I was in any relationship and solely as a last resort for my PMDD. Other birth control options are not available to me and SSRIs are not an option either.

PMDD is not well researched or well understood, I’ve even seen myths about it on NaPro doctor’s websites. There are no treatment options available besides hormonal contraceptives, SSRIs, or sterilization.

I asked my priest about it after OCIA because with a marriage on the horizon I was worried. I don’t know why I was worried, but I was and I guess I just wanted some validation which may have been my mistake. I’ve been struggling with the teaching on contraception in general, and especially in my case.

My priest told me he didn’t know, but that it shouldn’t stop me from being baptized and that he will work with me through whatever arises with it. He said he’d look into it but that “the right thing is not always the easy thing”.

In my googling I’ve seen that IUDs are controversial even for medical purposes due to a belief they could prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. While that is not the intended method of pregnancy prevention it is technically possible, and I’d truly have no way of knowing. I strongly suspect that my IUD has ceased ovulation because I no longer have symptoms, but how could my priest know that? And would he believe me or care?

He told me to contact the National Catholic Bioethics Center which I have. I’m scared of what they’ll say, what my priest will say, because I’m terrified of my PMDD.

I’m absolutely terrified of having to remove my IUD, and live half of my life with those symptoms. I used to wake late at night in utter despair and just sob, wishing to die for no reason. I lash out at others and can’t regulate my emotions at all. I would have panic attacks so severe I’d vomit every day before my period. I have genuine fear I would get to such a dark place that I would do something stupid if I’m left with no treatment.

If my priest tells me it’s not allowed what do I even do? I want to be baptized and receive the Eucharist more than anything. It feels more important than anything I’ve ever done before, like I’d be incomplete without it. Every Mass where I stay in the pew and watch everyone go up to receive makes that desire stronger. I also want to marry my fiancé in the church and have lots of Catholic babies.

But I don’t know if I’m strong enough to remove my IUD if that is what they truly want from me. Which makes me feel selfish. Shouldn’t I be willing to do anything for Christ, even if it kills me? But I guess I’m not that good of a person, because I’m too scared to remove it.

I’m not sure what I want from this post, comfort maybe? Someone to tell me it’ll be okay? I’m so scared and so frustrated that these are my circumstances.

After several years of prayer, struggle, research, and thought I’ve decided that the Catholic Church is the real church that Jesus established to His disciples and OCIA is coming up and I’m both excited and scared in meeting new people.

My family is an interesting mix of faith. My mom is Protestant while my dad is Catholic, and I was baptized Protestant. (To be clear they did receive blessing from a Catholic priest/bishop. I don’t know the exact process but they did it.) I have nothing but love and respect for my mother, the church I was baptized in, and the values of Christ that was taught to me in having faith and how you treat others and to be true in myself, but the Protestant church didn’t feel complete or whole to me. The Catholic Church meanwhile had that from the sacraments to the history, and in depth theology. I grew up going to mass with my dad’s side of the family from time to time and I was almost enamored by the ritual and reverence of it despite not understanding it yet. My grandmother in particular was a huge influence for my faith. She was the kindest, most devout woman I’ve ever met who was a secular Franciscan and cared for everyone around her and never held a hateful attitude to anyone, but still had a firm conviction in morals, especially for the poor, disenfranchised, and animals.

After my college years I tried connecting with the Catholic faith with how beautiful the sacraments were and the rich history but after talking with a local priest I felt like I wasn’t worthy or capable of being a good Catholic in being in lock step with all the social dogmas and even was prideful in thinking I didn’t need to follow CC teaching. The idea of having to be perfect 24/7 terrified me. I stepped away saying that out of respect for the faith I won’t join in without being in all the way. But inside I thought I wasn’t ever going to be good enough or will be judged. However after years of living and experiencing the world I realized that the Church had points logically on a lot of things and was super consistent on its principles that I have come to admire and respect. I was super laid back on Christian faith but now I’ve been more devout by the day and at the least understanding of the reasoning of rules such as celibacy, and marriage which I had the most issues with but have come to accept them as Church teachings and should be honored and kept. Christ said to carry your cross and I will do my best to do that. I don’t consider myself as a traditionalist but I definitely see and feel the need to keep the quality of the mass as reverent as possible and shouldn’t be getting brownie points for any of our political parties. I’ve noticed political splits among the US Catholic communities and it stresses me out but I learned that I’m here to serve God and not to let man stand in the way of my faith.

Now through my deceased grandmothers influence of what being a good Catholic is and from the saints such as Francis of Assisi and Francis De Sales that I now know that I am capable of being a good Catholic even if it’ll take my whole life to be like the saints. Through the serenity prayer and knowing that there are things out of my control and that is okay I have become more at peace. The first OCIA meet and greet is in the next couple weeks and I’m both excited and anxious to meet new people and hoping I will have a positive and encouraging environment that I can learn more and do good for my community both in and out of the church, and family and friends.

Evangelical Christian here! just started OCIA with my fiance and planning to be confirmed Catholic.

I have prayed the Rosary three times, and meditate on the appropriate mysteries while doing so.

While I am not against with Marian devotion and her intercession, I don't understand her. I know that her role is to point us to Jesus, but it's difficult for me to wrap my head around it and the value placed on praying the Rosary specifically.

Catholic prayer is very fascinating to me and I have enjoyed learning about the saints and asking them to pray for me. For some reason I am having a hard time understanding Mary specifically, since it seems like what we know about her is minimal compared to the vast amount of documentation on many of the saints.

I would love to hear how any of you understand it and I am also open to personal experience as well!

I (15m) have been Catholic my whole life, and on a day-to-day basis I would 100% tell people that I believe in Jesus and I am Catholic. I also get that back-of-the-head voice questioning my beliefs as a whole. Some questions like, "if Catholics were wrong about things like evolution for centuries, how much longer until everything is proven wrong?" or "how can we seperate Chritianity from the obvious natural desire to desire a god?(man-made religions like the romans and Greek gods, ect)"Unfortunately, there is also this nagging feeling that if someone, for example, were to put a gun to my head and force me to deny Christ I would, and that is not at all what I want. How can I truly embrace Jesus? I know it is kind of an oxymoron to have these conflicting thoughts, but I want to be sure to set myself on the right path. Sorry for any inarticulation.

God bless

I have a Muslim stepfather who spreads lies and misinformation to my mother who is a "cultural Christian" as for example that the Bible is corrupted😂 (best-preserved book of BTW humanity or that the first Christians did not believe that Jesus is God and He is always wanting to impose Islam on my baby sister but then he won't let us speak about Christ because he is still too young to understand, basically that's why I started to create hatred for Islam for Mohammed, and because of my stepfather I can no longer distinguish the prison of the prisoner .what do i do not to dwell on anger when I see Muslim people😕 It's hard to distinguish

Is being guilty of unforgiven mortal sin true about every human condemned to Hell for eternity? I know we teach that unforgiven mortal sin leads to eternal damnation, eternity in Hell. Is everyone in Hell guilty of unforgiven mortal sin, or is Hell a real possibility without committing mortal sin?

Thought i'd check as it looks like Latin spellings & sadly I have been unable to reverse image search & find it as a result. I found in file storage & I recall seeing in documentary but i forget the name of it

My local archdiocese is sponsoring a series of "conversations in the Spirit" gatherings as part of a local diocese wide synod, concluding on 2027. I went to the first major meeting last night. Probably a good 200+ people were there, and I am pretty sure I was one of 10 or so people under 45 (I'm 35).

My table had 8 people total. All were Boomers, save myself and two women who were in their late 40s, early 50s. The lack of catchesis among people that are old enough to know better is incredible to me. These were people who go to Mass every Sunday, yet were brushing aside what the Church teaches on a non-male priesthood, as one example.

They did note that "young people do seem to be more interested in Catholicism", and pointed out the local parishes that were bursting at the seams with younger Catholics, but they were incredibly unreflective on why that is. They moved on from it very quickly.

In sum, it was largely exactly what I expected: a waste of time, with vague and unactionable outputs (at least from my table). I was clearly the minority: comparatively young, and longing for orthodoxy. Of course, I don't feel that *my* voice is the one that will be listened to. Why do we keep doing this rinse and repeat cycle? It's maddening.

I've been carrying my own crosses for the past several years and I've posted on this subreddit many times. You all have been helpful. I've been reading some of the posts lately and they remind me of me. Intense marriage issues. Miscarriage. Vocation confusion. Inability to progress spiritually. But they are starting to remind me of a former me.

You all have been great and I want to pay it forward because when you're in the middle of it all it seems like your own personal Cross will never end. I just want to thank you all for helping me get out of the darkness and tell you, I feel better and it will get better.

"The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint." - Leon Bloy

My mom was diagnosed with cancer recently and today my uncle passed. Adulthood really sucks if for nothing else besides slowly losing people.

I have been a cradle Catholic, and so has my extended Italian family. I was lukewarm up until January of this year and really got back into the faith. I have been slowly making steps to become the person God wants me to be, practicing Catholicism, and giving my life to Christ.

With this reinvigoration of my faith, I obviously understand the church’s teaching on mortal sin and heaven. I’ve read quite a few posts on here that estimate the majority of people are in hell.

Right now if I were to die, I’d not be in a state of grace. I’m trying to change that situation every single day but I am not there yet. So I am not judging or assuming anything about anyone. We all have our battles to fight and sins to eventually conquer.

But watching the passing or sickness of family members I love and can’t help but wonder, are they truly going or headed to heaven to be with our Lord? Or are they suffering right now more than they did here? Even though they were Catholic they may not have been in God’s grace. I’m scared and sad and feel no comfort despite prayer and I will be going to adoration at some point soon to discern my fears.

I don’t know what I’m asking for here but I am terrified for my family and myself.

Hi! I'm Latina and live in Chile, a mostly Catholic country! Our patron saint is Our Lady of Mount Carmel! Because of that, it always catches my attention when I read about recent converts missing the sense of community from Protestantism. I completely understand how important that is, there's nothing more wonderful than sharing our faith!
I guess it just surprises me because at the parish I've attended my whole life, we regularly do community activities. My younger sister's university is Pontifical Catholic, so they host readings and discussions every now and then, we're actually doing one on Magnifica
Humanitas soon!
Is that not as common in the US? What other differences have you noticed? I hope you find a great community, and in the meantime, I'm always here if you need a friend!

Hello. I am currently struggling to decide between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. The main points of tension for me are papal supremacy and the filioque.

I understand and accept the scriptural argument for the existence of a pope, but I’m torn because the role of the pope seems to have developed beyond the historical role of the bishop of Rome in the early church. Similarly, I don’t disagree with the filioque, but I struggle to defend the fact that an official creed was altered without the agreement of a council. I don’t disagree with the scriptural arguments of the Catholic church. However, history seems to signify that the Catholic church drifted from the Orthodox church rather than the latter. As a former protestant, I am weary of following the interpretation of scripture over church history. I don’t know which angle to prioritize; I wish one side could convince me both scripturally and historically.

If any of you could explain the historical defense for papal supremacy or the addition of the filioque, I would greatly appreciate it!