Free Republic

The Vatican's cardinal in charge of liturgy and the sacraments has strongly defended the Church's tradition on reception of Communion in the wake of Pope Francis' comments to a Lutheran woman suggesting she could choose in conscience to receive. Speaking with Aleteia reporter Diane Montagna, Cardinal Robert Sarah said, "Intercommunion is not permitted between Catholics and non-Catholics. You must confess the Catholic Faith. A non-Catholic cannot receive Communion. That is very, very clear. It's not a matter of following your conscience." ...

He may be the world’s foremost Catholic, but to his fans, Pope Francis is more the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. than Pope Benedict XVI. He speaks, and millions listen — whether they are Muslim or Baptist, Hindu or atheist.

A good chunk of the $100 million raised to restore St. Patrick’s Cathedral has come from non-Catholics — a testament to the love and respect New Yorkers have for all religions, Timothy Cardinal Dolan said Monday. “We couldn’t be that far were it not for non-Catholic benefactors who have been extraordinarily good to us,” Dolan said in an Association for a Better New York speech. One “prominent Jewish man” told Dolan that as a child he loved visiting St. Patrick’s, where his mother would always light a candle. “He said, ‘I don’t think she ever paid for them so ....

There are usually a few Masses per year at which there can be expected to be a large number of non-Catholics present. Christmas and Easter Masses are popular with non-Catholics, mainly because they are visiting Catholic family and friends. Nuptial Masses, especially when one of the parties to be married is a non-Catholic Christian, will have large turnouts of non-Catholics (sometimes up to half the congregation). Non-Catholics can also be expected at Masses offered for other sacramental firsts and life-cycle events, such as confirmations and funerals.This reality raises a common question for the apologists here at Catholic Answers: What...