No Matter What you Heard, That’s Just Not True!

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No Matter What you Heard,
That’s Just Not True!
Everyday Misconceptions
about Catholicism

(originally appeared in Seton weekly bulletin)
by Msgr. Thomas Sandi
Catholics are automatically excommunicated when they get divorced. Not true! A divorce dissolves the civil marriage bond. It does not affect the sacramental bond of marriage. At a church marriage a couple is bound by two bonds. The sacramental bond can never be broken.
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Catholic annulment is really just “Catholic divorce.”  Not true!  An annulment is a church declaration that the Sacrament of Marriage bond (not the civil union of husband and wife) does not exist, due to some irregularity..
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Catholics have to go to confession before they receive Holy Communion. Not true!  Not unless you have committed a serious (mortal) sin.
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Divorced Catholics can just “buy an annulment” if they have enough money.   Not true! The Marriage tribunal has a set fee for processing a church annulment, and the judgment about the validity of the sacrament of marriage is not contingent upon payment of any kind.
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Catholics can’t eat meat on Ash Wednesday and Lenten Fridays and Ash Wednesday (abstinence) no matter what. Not true! For a very serious reason (including age and illness), any Catholic may “dispense himself/herself” from this Lenten obligation, and then fulfill his/her obligation at a later date. For example, you are about to begin eating at a formal dinner party on a Friday evening and, unexpectedly, they serve a meat dish. Transfer your obligation to abstain from meat to Saturday.
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Everyone present at Mass should receive Holy Communion. Not true! Only Catholics who are not conscious of very serious sin may receive the Eucharist.
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Everyone gets Blessed Ashes on Ash Wednesday. Not true! Unlike most sacramental's, those who have not yet reached the age of reason and celebrated their First Penance are not capable of understanding, or responsible for carrying out, the obligation “to turn away from sin and believe the Gospel.” Very young Children usually receive a blessing after their parents receive ashes.
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Anyone can act as a godparent at Baptism and Confirmation.  Not true!  Only a practicing Catholic, who is living a faithful Catholic life, who is at least fourteen, and who has himself received Confirmation ,may act as a godparent (sponsor) at these sacraments. However, a non-Catholic Christian may act as a “Christian Witness” along with the Catholic sponsor.
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The “Immaculate Conception” refers to the manner in which Jesus was conceived in Mary.  Not true.  It celebrates the fact that Mary was born immaculate (sinless).
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Suicides are not allowed to be buried from the church nor be buried in consecrated ground.   Not true! A person who tragically takes his own life is usually not “in his right mind,” and therefore commits no sin. The parish will celebrate the Funeral Mass and bury him/her.
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Catholics don’t have to go to confession anymore.  Not true! If something is seriously wrong, you know it’s seriously wrong, you freely choose to do it, and you do it, you have committed a serious sin and need to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
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Jesus despaired when he said from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Not true! He was reciting Psalm 22.
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Mary Magdalene was a “fallen woman.” Not true! She was not the (unnamed) woman caught in adultery nor the woman (Mary of Bethany) who anointed Jesus’ feet, nor the fallen woman who anointed his feet in the house of the Pharisee. She was a person Jesus cured of “seven devils,” (probably mental or psychological illness), and the first to whom he appeared after rising from the dead.
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Catholics don’t fast from food before receiving Holy Communion anymore. Not true. We fast from food for one hour before receiving the Eucharist out of respect for the Body and Blood of Christ.
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No one can receive communion twice on one day. Not true! If you have to attend two different masses for a good reason (e.g., Sunday morning mass and then an afternoon Nuptial mass) you may receive the Eucharist at both.
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St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish

1377 E. Main St.,
Shrub Oak, NY 10588

914-528-3547

No Matter What you Heard, That’s Just Not True!