We do not have the answers to every question – but the very asking of the question is the beginning of the answer. So why don’t you send us your questions and let us together find the answers to our questions.

SIGN OF THE CROSS

When I went to Mass, the priest said that there’s no need to make the sign of the cross right after taking Communion. But my younger sister, after I told her this, reacted and said that making the sign of the cross is an expression of our reverence to God so you cannot tell people not to do it. What can you say about this?

I go along with your younger sister. There are many beautiful things in life, which we are not obliged to do but life would be poorer without them. Surely this is one of them.

GARDEN WEDDINGS

Are garden weddings allowed in the Catholic Church?

A wedding is a very solemn occasion as two people pledge their faithfulness and love to each other for life. The church setting, for me, has the right solemn atmosphere, so I imagine no priest would be quick to encourage an outdoor wedding where appropriate reverence might be lost. Recently, I saw some couple getting married underwater! However, I am sure the rules in the Catholic Church are not so rigid as to NEVER allow such a wedding especially if there was some good reason for it other than sensationalism.

ACCOMPLICE

I knew my married friend was having an affair with a married man. Although I did not approve of this, I promised her not to tell this to anyone and this was our secret for two years. Now everything is gradually beginning to be discovered and my friend and that married man decided to end their affair. Should I confess to a priest for being an accomplice for this crime?

Knowing someone’s secret does not necessarily make you an accomplice. However if you were an active agent encouraging the whole affair, then I suppose you would have some questions of conscience to answer and confession might be appropriate. But does not all this go back to our finding it so difficult to tell a friend the hard truth in any matter? How do we tell a friend we don’t agree with them without them feeling we don’t love them? This is a courageous act well worth cultivating and it will make us a true friend in the long run.

INTERESTING WEDDING

I recall an interesting wedding featured on television – a gay and a lesbian getting married. I am not too sure now if it was a church or a civil wedding. But if it was a church wedding, is it allowed?

That wedding you saw on the TV strikes me a bit as being media sensationalism – something being done for show rather than a solemn contract before God and the Church. For a Catholic wedding they would have to be of the opposite sex but their sexual orientation would be a private matter for themselves.

LEAVING RIGHT AWAY

After the final blessing in the Mass, I notice that most of the people leave the church right away without waiting for the priest to leave the altar first. Is this okay?

Sometimes what causes this is that the final hymn is too long and they are expected to wait right till the end. The last hymn is a recessional and is meant to accompany the ‘going out’ of the priest and people so I don’t mind if the people actually do go out during it though it would be better if the priest led the way.

Then there are always some people who are slipping away fast because they have some important matters at home to look to. The cure, of course, is a really good recessional song, which rivets them to their seats!

CREMATION

Is cremation accepted or approved by the Church?

Yes. Cremation is allowed, “provided it doesn’t demonstrate a denial of faith in the Resurrection of the body”. There was a time when some people interpreted cremation as a sign of non-belief in the Resurrection but that is no longer so. In certain cultures it is the normal way of burying and since sometimes it is needed in order to be able to send a body home for burial or some other practical reason, cremation has been allowed since the Vatican Council II.

ANNULMENT

If my marriage is annulled by the church, can I get married again in church?

Yes.

DYING WITHOUT BAPTISM

What happens if someone dies without having been baptized? Mostly this happens with newly born babies.

In the case of the newborn who dies, the great mercy of God “who desires that all human beings be saved” and Jesus’ tenderness towards children which caused Him to say: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them”, allows us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without baptism. (see Catechism of Catholic Church #1261)

Good people who die without baptism: “Every one who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of His Church but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.” “God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but He himself is not bound by His sacraments.” (see Catechism of Catholic Church # 1257/1260)