·        Be a Catholic who has received Baptism, Eucharist, Reconciliation and Confirmation.

·        Be someone whose life is exemplary witness to the Gospel.

·        Be sufficiently mature with strong and continuing influence on the candidate (not parents).

·        Be a regular attendant at Mass.

Question 30: Does the Catholic Church condemn astrology? Is it sinful to have one’s horoscope taken? What about the use of a weejee board?  

Answer: The Catholic Church condemns astrology as a pagan superstition, which by encouraging fatalism leads to the denial of Divine Providence. The stars have absolutely no influence whatsoever upon human life and human affairs, and the casting of a horoscope or diagram of the heavens at the birth of a child in order to foretell its future is downright foolishness. St. Augustine attacked it strongly in his City of God (8, 19), and St. Thomas Aquinas writes: “If anyone applies the observation of the stars in order to foreknow casual or fortuitous events, or to know with certitude future human actions, his conduct is based on a false and vain opinion: and so the operation of the demon introduces himself therein, wherefore it will be a superstitious and unlawful divination” (Summa, IIa. IIae., Q. 95, art. 5).

Divination is the attempt to learn hidden facts with the expressed or implied aid of evil spirits. Divination in this sense includes palmistry, crystal gazing, astrology, omens, and the ouija board. It is a sin against the first commandment of God because it involves business with the devil, a lack of trust in God, and the danger of being harmfully deceived. 

Divination seeks guidance from a higher power apart from God. Divination is any attempt to foresee future contingencies, which human beings can know neither naturally nor by divine revelation. In taking seriously omens, astrology, automatic writing, or reading palms, cards, tealeaves, and so forth, people engage in divination. Implicit in these practices is recourse to something more than human, which is assumed either to know the future, to determine it, or both. Such a higher power other than God would be either personal and demonic or some sort of impersonal, cosmic, ruling force which subjected human life to inexorable fate. In either case, something other than God is regarded as if it were divine, insofar as enlightenment is sought from it to supplement the guidance God has made available. Divination is always a mortal sin unless it is used out of ignorance or as a joke. 

Question 31: Recently I was advised by a parish priest that I should not strike my breast during the Agnus Dei -- that it was liturgically incorrect. I have done this for years and I am sure I have seen this "rubric" somewhere. Has something changed or has it expressly been forbidden?  

Answer: From a technical point of view the parish priest is correct. Striking one's breast is a gesture implying penance and admission of sinfulness.

In the present rite it is done, above all, within the context of the first form of rite of penance at the beginning of Mass when the "I confess" is used and by the priest when he uses the Roman canon (Eucharistic Prayer 1) at the words "though we are sinners."

Before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council it was also customary to do so at the "Lamb of God" and at the "Lord, I am not worthy," and this is probably where you get your custom.

The gesture is no longer prescribed at these latter moments and should not be fomented among younger Catholics. But it would be probably going too far to say it is forbidden to those who have been raised in this custom.

What motivated the removal of the gesture of striking the breast at the Lamb of God and the "Lord, I am not worthy" is not really known. This gesture entered into the Roman liturgy at these moments relatively late, the first notice of the gesture at the "Lamb of God" is from around 1311, and from a Spanish manuscript dated 1499 for the "Lord, I am not worthy."

I'd guess that the removal of these gestures was a consequence of the general desire for simplification of the rites. Then again, neither the "Lamb of God" nor the "Lord, I am not worthy" are, strictly speaking, penitential rites. They do not mention the personal sin of the individual but rather the sin of the world and a general state of unworthiness.

The "Lamb of God" is rather a hymn of praise for the work of redemption. And the petition of mercy asks for forgiveness of sin as well as for grace, which is a fruit of God's mercy.

Striking or beating the breast with the hand, and bowed head, is an ancient sign of sorrow and penitence (cf., Lk. 18:13; 23:48), survives as a liturgical gesture in the Latin rite. The gesture of beating the breast is carried out during the recitation the Confiteor: “I confess to Almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do...” Striking the breast at the words “through my own fault.” expresses our repentance physically, in body language.

The early Christians were familiar with the practice, as St. Augustine and St. Jerome testify. “No sooner have you heard the word “Confiteor, says St. Augustine, than you strike your breast. What does this mean except that you wish to bring to light what is concealed in the breast, and by this act to cleanse your hidden sins?”[i] “We strike our breasts”, declares St. Jerome, “because the breast is the seat of evil thoughts: we wish to dispel those thoughts, we wish to purify our hearts.”[ii] A justification for these statements is found in Psalm 51:17: “A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

 The ancient Christians were accustomed to strike the breast when they heard mention of sensual sins and at the “forgive us our trespasses” of the Our Father.

Father Romano Guardini[iii] answers the question: How should this gesture be carried out? 

“All its meaning lies in its being rightly done. To brush one's clothes with the tips of one's fingers is not to strike the breast. We should beat upon our breasts with our closed fists. In the old picture of Saint Jerome in the desert he is kneeling on the ground and striking his breast with a stone. It is an honest blow, not an elegant gesture. To strike the breast is to beat against the gates of our inner world in order to shatter them. This is its significance.

 “The blow also is to wake us up. It is to shake the soul awake into the consciousness that God is calling, so that she may hear, and take his part and punish herself. She reflects, repents and is contrite.”

 So when you strike your breast, do it like you mean it, so that the sound echoes.  

1. St. Augustine, Sermo de verbis Domini, 13.

2. St. Jerome, In Ezechiel 100.18.

3. Guardini, Romano, Sacred Signs, tr. Grace Branham (St. Louis: Pio Decimo Press, 1956). 

Question 32: John Edward claimed to be able to contact the dead on his TV program, Crossing Over; how did he do it?  Now, there is a new television program called Medium, is this a program that Catholics should watch? Does the Catholic Church allow a Catholic to attend a spiritistic séance or to become a Medium? Isn’t spiritism invaluable in supplying us with proof of immortality?  

Answer: The answer to the first question is simple, he didn’t. John Edward claims to have had a "psychic" ability since an early age. What he actually does is called "cold reading."  A cold reading is the "sleight of tongue" procedure that fast-talking artists or so-called "Readers" use (as opposed to a "warm reading", where the Reader has actually acquired information about the subject beforehand). Cold reading has many methods whereby the Reader can get out of a blatantly wrong guess with extreme speed. So fast that, unless you listen very carefully or are able to review a transcript of what was actually said during the reading, few would ever notice. Cold reading is used by such other "psychics" or "sensitives" as Sylvia Browne and James Van Praagh (John, Sylvia and James being the three most popular Cold Readers at the moment). All of whom claim to communicate with loved ones who have crossed over.

The answers to the rest of your questions are probably not, and no, and no. Although I have not viewed the program Medium, it must be understood that this is pure fiction, designed to be entertaining, with no basis of fact.

That said, it is important to understand that the Catholic Church forbids Catholics to have anything to do with Spiritism, which she condemns as a destructive superstition. The Holy See has issued at least five decrees (1840, 1847, 1856, 1898, 1917) forbidding Catholics “to be present at spiritistic conversations or manifestations of any kind, even though these phenomena present the appearance of honesty or piety, whether by interrogating souls or spirits, or by listening to responses, or only by looking on, even with a tacit or expressed protestation that one does not wish to have anything to do with wicked spirits.”

Spiritism is simply a modern from of pagan necromancy (summoning the spirits of the dead) condemned by the Law of Moses. “There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, any one who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord” (Deut. 18:10-12).

Some of these practices survive or reappear from time to time in contemporary culture. Instead of taking the form of false religions, however, today they may present themselves as programs of self-improvement or psychological therapy, or as new forms of "spirituality." Whatever their guise, one must be careful to avoid any participation in false worship and superstition.

Attempts to summon the ghosts of the dead are forbidden. Such attempts, called spiritism or spiritualism, always risk evoking demonic activity, and often are undertaken for the sake of divination and/or magic. The séances conducted by supposed mediums often involve religious elements whose doctrinal basis denies Jesus' divinity.  If Catholics undertake such practices to seek reassurance about the fate of their loved ones, they show lack of confidence in prayer and the rites of the Church, and manifest underlying defects in their faith. Those who seek guidance through a medium also show lack of confidence in divine guidance (see 1 Chr. 10.13-14). Participation is a grave matter, and the Church warns her members to avoid having anything to do with such practices.

Spiritism is a pagan superstition, which denies every dogma of the Christian Gospel in the name of an imagined communication with the dead, which is a cruel parody of the Communion of Saints. Experience has proven that spiritism comes with many dangers to both body and soul; it has frequently destroyed the physical health of its practitioners; caused mental illness, and deprived them of the true faith.

The immortality of the soul is a dogma of the Catholic faith. Spiritism in no way proves immortality, for despite its exaggerated claims, no person has ever succeeded in summoning a spirit from the dead or communicating with one.  

Question 33: Do animals have souls and will there be animals in heaven?  

Answer: All living things have souls. There are three classes of souls, vegetative, animal, and rational. The souls of vegetables and animals are incomplete, when they die, the soul dies. Only man has a complete and immortal soul, which is capable of gaining heaven. (See also Question 42)

Question 34: Is it permissible for a layperson to expose and repose the Blessed Sacrament for adoration.

Answer: Yes, under certain circumstances. The ordinary minister of exposition is a bishop, priest or deacon. Only a bishop, priest or deacon may give the blessing with a monstrance, ciborium or pyx, which is known popularly as "Benediction". However, the bishop may authorize an acolyte, an extraordinary minister or a male or female religious to expose and repose the Blessed Sacrament for a just pastoral reason (CIC, Can. 943).

During the time of exposition, on or near the altar, or near the tabernacle, at least four candles, and/or lamps should burn and flowers should be set up. The custody of the key to the tabernacle should be planned beforehand, but, above all, someone should always be present, "watching" before the Lord. However, if no one in the community can be present, the Eucharist must be reposed immediately. At the conclusion of the time of adoration, even if a priest or deacon is not available for Benediction, the reposition may well be accompanied by the appropriate hour of the Liturgy of the Hours or eucharistic devotions, such as a litany or hymn.

Greater freedom in allowing laity and religious to expose the Eucharist has helped promote adoration in parishes and religious communities. The modern development of perpetual adoration as a parish lay spirituality may include daily exposition. Regular public celebrations of eucharistic adoration should form part of this devout "watching". Personal visits to the Blessed Sacrament are explicitly encouraged in the provision of the 1983 Code of Canon Law (canon 937) that churches ought to be kept open at least for some hours each day for people to adore Our Lord.

"No one who enters a church should fail to adore the Blessed Sacrament, either by visiting the Blessed Sacrament chapel or at least by genuflecting" (Ceremonial of Bishops, No. 71). See also the Catechism of the Catholic Church,  §1418. 

Question 35: What is meant by the statement “Outside the Church there is no salvation”? Does that mean that all non-Catholics will go to Hell? 

Answer: The Catholic Church makes claims about herself that are easily misunderstood, especially in the modern atmosphere of pluralism and ecumenism. Among these claims, the most fundamental is the doctrine of the Church's necessity for salvation.

The New Testament makes it plain that Christ founded the Church to be a society for the salvation of all men. The ancient Fathers held the unanimous conviction that salvation cannot be achieved outside the Church. St. Irenaeus taught that, "where the Church is, there is the spirit of God, and where the spirit of God is, there is the Church and all grace" (St. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, II, 24, 1.) Origen simply declared, "Outside the Church nobody will be saved." (Origen, Homilia In Jesu Nave, 3, 5.) And the favorite simile in patristic literature for the Church's absolute need to be saved is the Ark of Noah, outside of which there is no prospect of deliverance from the deluge of sin.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, following historic Christian theology since the time of the early Church Fathers, refers to the Catholic Church as "the universal sacrament of salvation" (CCC 774–776), and states: "The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men" (CCC 780).

The Church teaches that she is the “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church” instituted by Christ, for man’s salvation, and that a person must be affiliated with her in some way to be saved. That is what St. Cyprian meant when he wrote: “No one can have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother” (On the Unity of the Church, 6). Many people, who are apparently outside the Church, are in truth, really within her fold in the sight of God. While not united with the Church in fact, they are in communion with her in desire. Whoever is saved owes his salvation to the one Catholic Church founded by Christ. It is to this Church alone that Christ entrusted the truths of revelation which have by now, though often dimly, penetrated all the cultures of mankind. It is this Church alone that communicates the merits won for the whole world on the cross.

This dogma "Outside the Church, there is no salvation" refers to those who are outside the Church by their own choice. There is a command to enter the Church, which is the prescribed way to Heaven.  He who obstinately refuses to join the Church, when recognizing that the Catholic Church is the one true Church established by Jesus, forfeits salvation. But those who are in invincible ignorance will not be condemned merely on account of their ignorance. "It is to be held as of faith that none can be saved outside the Apostolic Roman Church ... but nevertheless it is equally certain that those who are ignorant of the true religion, if that ignorance is invincible, will not be held guilty in the matter in the eyes of the Lord" (Pius IX, allocution of December 9, 1854). Those non-Catholics who are saved are outside the visible body of the Church, but are joined invisibly to the Church by charity and by that implicit desire of joining the Church, which is inseparable from the explicit desire to do God's will.

The Church has always taught that no one is lost except through his own fault; that no one is held responsible before God for a duty that he cannot fulfill because of invincible ignorance.

Ignorance is invincible (from the Latin meaning "unconquerable") when it is present indeed but there is no reasonable way, here and now, of dispelling it so that the person cannot be held responsible for doing what he does not know is wrong. He may not even suspect his ignorance, as when a child uses profane or obscene language that was learned from adults, and in such cases the child is not responsible. Or a man may vaguely suspect his ignorance on a point of moral obligation but, under the circumstances, feels it is practically impossible to acquire the knowledge required.

Vincible ignorance can be cleared up if only a person wants to do so. A person would be condemned, not for seeing that the Catholic Church is true, but because, having acknowledged this, continue to close their eyes to it. The measure of his negligence to learn the truth determines his guilt when he does something wrong through lack of sufficient knowledge. Considering the amount of information available to one today, it would be difficult for anyone living in contemporary society to claim invincible ignorance.

This dogma also teaches that if a person is a member of the Church and understands that the Church is the one, true Church established by Christ for the salvation of souls, he forfeits his salvation by separating himself. A rejection of Christ’s Church is a rejection of Christ Himself.  

Question 36: How can it be proved from the Scriptures that the Virgin Mary was miraculously conceived? Doesn’t the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin contradict the Scriptures, which teach that all men died in Adam (1 Cor. 15:22)? Is this not a relatively new teaching of the Church, first proclaimed in 1854?  

Answer: We do not bel