Ask a Franciscan

Is Americanism a heresy? If so, what does it mean? The person who introduced me to this term was not very clear about its meaning.

I have heard that St. Francis of Assisi was very devoted to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Why? Did Francis write about her? 

Is it proper for me as a Catholic to have a living will? What does the Church teach about this?

Why do Catholics teach that purgatory exists? I can’t find it in my Bible. 

Why does Jesus refer to himself much more often as the “Son of Man” than as the “Son of God”?  You are right about his preferred self-description. Using the Concordance of the New American Bible, I count in the Gospel ...

Where does the Catholic Church stand on images of Christ, statues of saints, pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our Lady of Guadalupe, etc.? Is it wrong for me to have these items in my home?