Question: Can our pets love us? — Paul VanHoudt, Erie, Colorado Answer: No, our pets cannot love us in any human sense of the word. Love requires freedom and a rational soul. It is clear that pets, especially dogs and (sometimes) cats,
Question: I have a friend who says she is leaving the Catholic Church because of the new sexual abuse scandals. What can I say to convince her to stay? — Name withheld Answer: Begin with empathizing with her anger and grief at
Question: Why does society in general, and religion in particular, refer to sins of the flesh as “immoral”? Is this not rather vague? Idolatry, blasphemy, murder and perjury are also immoral. What gives? — Lawrence Berg, San Gabriel, California Answer: Your question
Question: I was trying to instruct someone that masturbation is wrong. And when I went to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it did say masturbation is “intrinsically and gravely disordered.” But then it says this: “To form an equitable judgment about
Question: I am a bit confused about the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s treatment of acedia. What does the Catechism mean to teach by this sin? And how is it related to joy? — Inigo Incer, via email Answer: The more common
The Church strongly urges that Catholics have recourse to confession for all sins — mortal or not Question: I know that the Church urges frequent confession. But what if one has no mortal sins to confess? I am reluctant to go to
The Black Death, the influenza outbreak of 1918, AIDS — all are deadly epidemics that killed tens of thousands at different times in the history of mankind. But all these plagues pale in comparison to the pandemic that started in the Garden