Our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, is the latest in a long line of popes who have chosen that name. The thirteen previous popes named Leo date from the fifth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. The last pope with that name died in 1903. Leo is …

How can Jesus be God and God’s son? One of our Catholic faith’s greatest mysteries is the Trinity: God in three Persons. The word “trin- ity” is not found in the Bible, though God the Father, Son, and Spirit are mentioned by name and in relation to each other according …

You’ve heard the call to the Church. What’s next? The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) is the process by which non-Catholic adults and children of cat- echetical age, whether non-baptized or baptized in another Christian faith, become members of the Catholic Church. Until recently, this process was called …

Dear Father: I have a question regarding godparents. It seems mandatory that a godparent be a Catholic. I could have a Catholic be a godparent and move three years after the baptism to another state. The child would only rarely see them, possibly only on holidays. I could ask a non-catholic …

What’s the difference between an archbishop and other kinds of bishops? Bishops fulfill a fundamental office in the Church, an office instituted by Christ when he called the apostles. Through apostolic succession, today’s bishops continue to fulfill roles of governing, teaching and sanctifying. Though every bishop receives a single episcopal …

What are the origins of the Stations of the Cross? When were they first placed in churches? The Stations of the Cross, also known as the Way of the Cross and the Via Crucis, is a Christian devotional practice that commemorates the events of Good Friday, specifically Jesus’ journey from …

Why do Catholics abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent? What is the history behind the practice? The Church’s penitential traditions date back to the first Christians. Jesus provided a model for fasting and abstinence during His 40 days in the desert and taught that fasting would be part of …

The priest who baptized me has left active ministry and no longer functions as a priest. Does that invalidate my baptism? Early in its history, the Church struggled with the question of whether a sacrament’s validity was impacted by the minister’s personal faith, devotion or moral state. Some argued that …

What will Heaven be like? Heaven surpasses human understanding. None of us knows for sure what it will be like. The Church’s teaching provides few details, calling Heaven “a mystery of blessed communion with God,” which “is beyond all understanding and description” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1027). While it …

When someone asks for the intercession of a candidate for sainthood, such as healing from illness, if the prayer is answered, how can it be proven that the miracle was through that saint’s intercession? The Church believes that those in Heaven, because they are close to Christ, can intercede for …