TCA Question & Answer of the Day

Each weekday, you'll find a new question and answer. Check back for the new question and scroll down to see previous day's entries! Let us know what you think - - or question! -- by emailing us at tcanswer@osv.com.

For the Week of August 3-7, 2009

Question of the Day for Friday, August 07, 2009

Sacramental Marriage?

Q. Marriage is one of the sacraments that does not have to be conferred by a priest. The individuals getting married confer it upon each other. So is it accurate to say that any marriage, whether by the justice of the peace or a minister of some other denomination, is accepted by the Catholic Church, and the individuals have received the sacrament?

A. Here’s a reply from TCA columnist Father Francis Hoffman, J.C.D.:

No, it is not accurate. As a general rule, a Catholic must marry according to the canonical form of the Church, that is, in the presence of the parish priest and with two witnesses. Anything else would not be valid, unless there was a specific dispensation from canonical form by the competent ecclesiastical authority. And if the marriage is invalid for the Catholic, there is no sacrament. However, non-Catholics can be married validly by a justice of the peace or a minister.

Question of the Day for Thursday, August 06, 2009

Demons in Other Religions?

Q. Do other religions besides Christianity teach the existence of demons?

 R.S., via email

A. Yes, they do, though they refer to them under many names and conceive of them in various ways. Traditional Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism; so-called “primal” religions of the world (the religions of aboriginal peoples); and the mythology and folklore of many peoples have all affirmed the reality of malevolent, intelligent, non-human spiritual powers.

 Given that near-universal testimony, our contemporaries would do well to hesitate before denying the existence of demonic powers. For more information about the Church’s teaching on the subject, see the study published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Christian Faith and Demonology (1975).

Question of the Day for Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Skinned Alive?

Q. I recently heard that one of the twelve Apostles was martyred by being skinned alive. Is this true? If so, who was it?

 M.F., via email

A. According to an ancient tradition reflected in the Roman Martyrology, after Christ’s resurrection the apostle Bartholomew eventually travelled to India and Greater Armenia, where he was flayed alive and beheaded by King Astyages for preaching the Gospel. The place of his martyrdom was Abanopolis, on the west coast of the Caspian Sea. He also preached in Mesopotamia, Persia and Egypt. His feast day is August 24.

Bartholomew is named among the twelve Apostles in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and in the Book of Acts (see Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13). But we know little else about him from Scripture.

His name does not appear in the Gospel of John, but many biblical scholars believe that he is the same person identified in that Gospel as the apostle “Nathanael” (a name that does not appear in the other Gospels). In the first three Gospels, Bartholomew and Philip are always named together; in John, Nathanael and Philip are always named together, and they were friends before they were called by Christ (see John 1:45).

The name Bartholomew means literally “son of Tolomai,” so it might well have been the surname of a man whose given name was Nathanael.
 An interesting side note: Michelangelo’s painting The Last Judgment, which appears on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, depicts St. Bartholomew in heaven, holding his flayed skin and the knife with which the horrific deed was carried out. The face on the skin is recognizable as Michelangelo’s.

Question of the Day for Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Indulgences for Others Still Living?

Q. When I gain an indulgence, can I apply it to another person who is still living?

 D.C., Cleveland, Ga.

A. We can apply the indulgences we gain to those who are deceased, but not to others who are still living, because they are still in a position to seek indulgences for themselves, and to engage in other penitential acts as well.

 This instruction was at one time made explicit in the Code of Canon Law, in which Canon 930 stated: “No one who gains indulgences can apply them to other living persons.” However, the Code was revised in 1983, and in its current form reads instead: “Any member of the faithful can gain partial or plenary indulgences for oneself or apply them to the dead by way of suffrage” (Canon 994).

The newer formulation still implies what the earlier formulation explicitly stated: The category of persons to whom indulgences can be applied comprises oneself and the departed; no others are included.

Even so, we can always pray for those who are still living, have Masses said for their needs and intentions, and offer personal sacrifices to God on their behalf.

Question of the Day for Monday, August 03, 2009

Non-Catholic Eucharist?

Q. Are there any other faiths outside of Catholicism where the faithful are receiving communion and believe that they are receiving the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ? I know other Christian faiths give out communion, but I did not think there is a consecration of the bread and wine, or belief in transubstantiation. I thought this truth about the Eucharist was unique to the Catholic faith, but a friend told me I was wrong. If there are other faiths that believe in the Eucharist similar to Catholics, please list which ones and discuss any differences.

D.S., via email

A. Here’s a reply from TCA columnist Father Ray Ryland, Ph.D., J.D.:

In general, Protestant traditions hold that in communion (few use the term “Eucharist”) the bread and wine are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Their services of communion are essentially memorials, reminders of the suffering and death of Jesus. Yet many Protestants I have known believe that in their communion they do receive Jesus in some spiritual sense. I agree with them. Remember Jesus’ promise: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).

The Lutheran and Anglican traditions (and in some respects certain strands in the Methodist and Presbyterian traditions) emphasize the real presence of Jesus in the sacrament. None, however, holds the full doctrine of transubstantiation; none has a specific description of how they believe Jesus is present in the sacrament.

Only a priest with valid orders can offer the Holy Sacrifice in its full reality. Valid orders can be bestowed only by a bishop in the apostolic succession. This succession in its fullness, headed by the successor of Peter, is found only in the Catholic Church.

The Church acknowledges, however, that the separated Eastern churches have also retained the apostolic succession. Therefore their sacraments, the Eucharist first of all, are valid sacraments. Though members of the separated Eastern churches do not use our terms, we Catholics believe they too in a state of grace receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.