Ask a Franciscan

When and why did the Catholic Church begin the practice of receiving the host in the hand during Holy Communion?

May a non-Catholic husband and father have a Catholic funeral if the deceased’s widow or children request it?

A friend asked me recently, “Now that Benedict XVI has resigned as pope, is he still infallible?” I don’t think so, but I wasn’t sure how to explain my answer. Can you help?

When Pope John XXIII was beatified in 2000, the date assigned for his feast was October 11, the day that Vatican II began in 1962. The feast has since been moved to June 3, the day he died in 1963. ...

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that God made “him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (602). What does this mean? How can the Son of ...

Your November 2010 issue included the following abbreviations after the names of priests, brothers or sisters: O.F.M., F.S.P., T.O.R., O.S.B. and O.S.F. Where can I find out what these represent?