The Catholic Church:: Easy Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

By Joseph Domfeh-Boateng

Many Christians have specific questions regarding the operational structures of the Catholic Church, its beliefs, and practices, and are looking for direct answers, ones that are not readily available nor found in Sunday homilies.
In this book, the author presents in question-and-answer format information about the Catholic Church, its sacramental life, beliefs, and practices. The questions are grouped according to major topics, such as the Catholic Church, its operational structures, the particular Churches and their groupings, the parish church, the teaching and sanctifying offices of the Church, and Catholic beliefs and practices.
Thus, the book will guide readers to a better understanding and appreciation of the Catholic Church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493174355

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Copyright © 2014 by Joseph Domfeh-Boateng, JCL. PhD.

Foreword by Rev. Thomas Oppong-Febiri, JCD

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scriptures taken from Christian Community Bible: Catholic Pastoral Edition

Sixth Edition Copyright @ Bernard Hurault also from GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTERCANONICALS/APOCRYPHA TODAY’S ENGLISH VERSION

ABS AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, NEW YORK 104891-104892.

Rev. date: 03/04/2014

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Foreword

Acknowledgments

The Author

General Introduction

Abbreviations

Chapter 1: The Catholic Church

What is the Catholic Church? Are its members Christians?

How many autonomous Churches constitute the Catholic Church?

Does the Catholic Church have only one Code of Canon Law?

Is there any difference between the Christ’s Church and the Catholic Church?

How does one become a member of the Church of Christ?

How does one become a member of the Catholic Church?

What is a valid baptism? How does one’s baptism become valid?

Are there any conditions that a non-baptized person needs to fulfill before he or she is baptized in the church?

What is the baptism of desire?

Why does the Catholic Church administer infant baptism?

Does this practice of baptizing infants have any biblical foundation?

How do children enroll in the various Catholic Churches (Church sui iuris)?

Who are the clergy? How does one become a cleric?

Do the members of the clergy have any specific obligations and rights in the Church?

If the sacrament of the Holy Orders imprints an indelible character, why then can one lose one’s clerical state?

Who are the lay faithful?

Do the lay faithful have any rights and obligations in the Church?

Who are the members of the institutes of consecrated life?

Chapter 2: Operational Structures of the Universal Church

What are the basic operational structures of the Catholic Church?

Who has the competence to erect, suppress, or alter a parish?

Who constitutes the supreme authority in the Church?

Who are the members of the College of Bishops?

Does the authority in the Church have any limits?

How does the Bishop of Rome, the pope, govern his diocese?

As the supreme pastor, how does the pope govern the universal Church?

The Roman Curia: What is it?

What is the purpose of the Roman Curia? How does it assist the pope in the governance of the universal Church?

Who are the papal legates? How do they assist in the governance of the universal Church?

Does the Roman Pontiff have any consultative bodies?

What is the Synod of Bishops?

The College of Cardinals: What is it? How did it originate in the Church?

What are the functions of the College of Cardinals?

What are the structures of the College of Cardinals?

Chapter 3: Particular Churches and Their Groupings

What does the term particular church mean?

What are the required qualifications for the office of a bishop?

How does a priest become a bishop in the Church?

What does the term pastoral governance mean?

How does diocesan curia assist the diocesan bishop in the governance of his diocese?

The office of the vicar general and episcopal vicar: Is the diocesan bishop required by law to appoint a vicar general and episcopal vicar?

What does the term local ordinary mean?

Who is a judicial vicar?

What are the functions of the diocesan chancellor?

Is the diocesan bishop required by law to have a diocesan finance council and finance officer (financial administrator)?

Is the diocesan bishop required by law to have consultative bodies to assist him in the pastoral governance of his diocese?

What is the diocesan presbyteral council?

What are the functions of the diocesan college of consultors?

Does the law require the establishment of a diocesan pastoral council in every diocese?

What does the term diocesan synod mean?

What happens when a diocese is impeded or becomes vacant?

What is an ecclesiastical province?

What are the primary functions and responsibilities of the bishops’ conference?

Does a bishops’ conference have any doctrinal authority?

What are the internal structures of a bishops’ conference?

Chapter 4: The Parish Church

What is a parish church?

Does the law require every parish to have its proper pastor?

What are the principal functions of a parish priest or a pastor?

When does the office of a parish priest or a pastor cease?

Who is a parochial vicar or associate pastor?

Is there any relationship between a parish church and a diocesan bishop?

What are the principal functions of a parish church?

Are there any required ecclesial bodies at the parish level to assist in parish administration?

What are the primary functions of a parish finance council?

The parish pastoral council: How does it assist in the pastoral ministry of a parish?

Chapter 5: The Teaching and Sanctifying Offices of the Church

Teaching office of the church: Does the Catholic Church have any authority to teach doctrine and morals?

What is the ecclesiastical magisterium of the Church?

If all Catholic Christians are encouraged to participate in the prophetic mission of the Church, why does the Church limit the ministry of preaching to the ordained?

Sanctifying office of the Church: Who instituted the seven sacraments and what is their significance?

What are the non-repeatable sacraments?

What are the repeatable sacraments?

What is the sacrament of baptism?

Who can receive baptism in the Church?

Under what conditions can one be baptized in the Church?

Who can play the role of a godparent?

Who can baptize in the name of the Church?

What are the effects of the sacrament of baptism?

Why do we need the sacrament of confirmation if we have already received the Holy Spirit in baptism?

Who can be confirmed in the Church?

Who is the ordinary minister of the sacrament of confirmation?

What is the sacrament of holy orders?

Are there any impediments that can prevent someone from receiving holy orders?

What is the proper form and matter for a valid ordination?

Why does the Church hold the sacrament of the Eucharist in high honor?

How was the sacrament of the Eucharist instituted in the Church?

Who is the ordinary minister of the Eucharist?

What is the proper form and matter for the valid celebration of the Eucharist?

Who is the ordinary minister of Holy Communion?

Who can receive Holy Communion?

Can a Catholic minister administer Holy Communion to non-Catholic Christians?

What does the term transubstantiation mean?

What is a Mass stipend or Mass offering?

What are the fruits of Holy Communion?

What is the sacrament of penance?

Under what conditions does a penitent receive divine forgiveness?

Who is the ordinary minister of the sacrament of penance?

What is the seal of confession?

What is the sacrament of the anointing of the sick?

Who is the ordinary minister of the sacrament of the anointing of the sick?

What is the sacrament of holy matrimony?

What are the primary purposes of a marriage?

What are the essential properties of a marriage?

What is a sacramental marriage?

What is a natural marriage?

What is a mixed marriage?

A secret marriage: What is it?

What is matrimonial consent?

What does the term canonical form of marriage mean?

What invalidates a marriage?

What constitutes defective consent?

Diriment impediments: What are they?

Can an invalid marriage be validated?

The Church Tribunal: What is it?

Is there any difference between an annulment and a divorce?

Two people validly married in the Church could not have children: Can their inability to procreate be grounds for nullifying their marriage?

Why does the Catholic Church have these tribunals to adjudicate cases when our civil courts can perform these functions?

The Church preaches forgiveness and exhorts its members to forgive those who wrong them: Why then does the Church often punish its errant members?

Chapter 6: Catholic Beliefs and Practices

What are sacramentals? How are they different from the sacraments?

The Liturgy of the Hours: What is it?

Why does the Catholic Church attach great importance to funeral Masses?

What is the difference between a church and a chapel?

What is a shrine?

What is a basilica?

What are the holy days of obligation in the Church?

What is an ecumenical council? Does an ecumenical council have any significance?

What does the term consistory mean?

Who governs the universal Church when the Apostolic See is vacant?

Is there any difference between a Catholic university and an ecclesiastical university?

Does the Roman Catholic Church have any relationship with other Christian Churches and ecclesial communities?

References

Glossary

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my parents: Peter Kwame Domfeh and Agatha Kissiwaa Domfeh, whose caring love cultivated and nurtured the Catholic faith in my family.

FOREWORD

A story is told of an aged staunch Catholic who was asked by his friends to define the Catholic Church that he was so fond of. Without any theological formation, but on the basis of his personal experience, he defined the Catholic Church as a vast or oceanic institution that embodies all that is best and worst in human beings. Indeed, the Catholic Church is like an ocean. The Catholic Church is divine and human; old and young attached great importance to tradition, yet were attentive to new trends. The Church adores and worships the one and only God; yet she honors and venerates the heroes and heroines of her faith, and her members are made up of saints and sinners, pilgrims and the triumphant, the poor and the prosperous, doubters and believers. The Church, in the words of Karl Adam, is a union of contraries. But contraries are not contradictions. In the more than two thousand years of her existence, there has always been a union between her interior and exterior strengths, her material and spiritual wealth, her prosperity and poverty, her terrestrial and celestial concerns, her exhortation of marriage and her treasure of celibacy.

This book, The Catholic Church: Easy Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, explores this oceanic institution and attempts to explain the beauty of the contraries in the Catholic Church. The author guides his readers through the operational structures of the Church by answering questions people ask on the legalistic and pneumatic dimensions of the Church, its hierarchical structure, the basic equality of its members as pilgrims, its sacramental life, its beliefs and practices, and its cherished sacramentals. The author is modest and acknowledges that his book is just a drop in the ocean in terms of describing what the Catholic Church is or what it does.

This book is highly recommended for seminarians, for it enables them to answer questions often posed to them. It is also a vital tool for pastors in sharing the Catholic faith with the flock they minister to. It is good material for seminary professors, helping them to refresh and to update themselves. This book is also a good source of information for Catholics who desire to deepen their understanding of the Church and for non-Catholics who seek to know more about the Catholic Church. In a strict sense, the book is not a catechetical instruction book, since it is more informative than formative.

This book had a modest beginning as a private conversation of a pastoral disposition with an enquiring mind about the Catholic Church. The author designed the entire book in a question-and-answer pattern which is easy to read. It is not designed to be read from cover to cover; readers may choose to look for answers to specific questions that are of interest to them.

I believe that this book will help readers to know and understand the ancient and vast institution known as the Catholic Church. It is my prayer that the book will attain its ultimate goal by helping readers not only to be fascinated with the Catholic Church as a divine and human institution, but to have a personal experience with God the Father who has redeemed the human race through Jesus Christ, who founded the Church, and the Holy Spirit, who is continually present in the Church.

Rev. Thomas Oppong-Febiri, JCD

December 8, 2013

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I must admit that this book has received insightful suggestions and encouragement from various scholars. It has, thus, benefited from the work of many different hands and minds. It will, therefore, be a difficult task for me to mention all the individuals who have helped at different stages in shaping the ideas in this book. However, some special individuals must be acknowledged for their extraordinary assistance.

I am particularly indebted to His Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan, the Archbishop Emeritus of New York, for reading the manuscript page by page and giving insightful comments and suggestions. I thank His Eminence Cardinal Egan for the generous assistance and systematic guidance he has given me in writing the book.

Special thanks go to Rev. Thomas Oppong-Febiri for taking time out of his busy parish ministry to read through the manuscript, giving various suggestions and writing the foreword to the book. I thank Rev. Oppong-Febiri for his help. I am also grateful to various scholars whose books I consulted at different stages, gathering materials for this book.

Last but not least, I am most grateful to many friends, both ordained and non-ordained, for their friendship, support, and care. This book would not have been possible without their friendship and encouragement.

I am grateful to all of you for the help you have given me at different stages when writing this book; for your insightful comments and constructive suggestions helped to shape the ideas in the book, though I take sole ownership of its content.

THE AUTHOR

Joseph Domfeh-Boateng is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Sunyani, Ghana. He holds a PhD in Educational Administration and Supervision from Fordham University, New York and a Licentiate in Canon Law from St. Paul University, Ottawa, Canada. He is the founder and executive director of the Giving to Ghana Foundation, Inc. and currently serves as a parochial vicar at St. Patrick’s Church, Bedford, New York.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

One lovely summer afternoon, I had a phone call from a friend of mine. He wanted to know the difference between Catholicism and Christianity. In other words, he wanted to know whether Catholics are Christians or not. His question triggered a long and exciting discussion about what it means to be a Catholic. This friend was very appreciative that our phone conversation and subsequent discussion on the subject matter enabled him to have a better understanding and appreciation of the Church he loves. In this book, the term Church refers to the Catholic Church.

Our conversation on that lovely afternoon and the appreciation this friend showed for my systematic guidance sparked the idea for the writing of this book. Like this friend of mine, many people have specific questions about the operational structures of the Church and are looking for direct answers, ones not easily found in Sunday homilies or in a parish Bible study group. This book attempts to answer some basic questions people frequently ask about the Catholic Church. Thus, the primary purpose of this book is to take its reader through the operational structures of the Catholic Church and its basic beliefs and practices regarding the Church’s governance, leading the reader to a better understanding and appreciation of the Catholic Church. The book is not designed to be read from cover to cover; readers can look for answers to their specific questions.

This book, thus, serves as a tool for those who are interested in understanding how the Catholic Church is governed and what informs and directs its activities. The book particularly serves as a tool for those who minister in the Church, such as priests, sisters, deacons, lay associates, and catechists. Young men in the seminaries preparing for the priesthood will also find the book useful during their formative years. Plus, this book is useful for anyone who is interested in knowing more about the Catholic Church.

Overview of the Book

The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 explores what constitutes the Catholic Church. In the first chapter, I attempt to answer questions