For the Church’s first seven centuries, penance could be received no more than once in a lifetime. That policy dated back to the time of St. Peter. The New Testament tells us... - Published on August ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. As a medieval historian, I study ways that community leaders used Catholic practices and institutions to respond to war and plague ...

Penance is actually what we have to do all the time. It’s quite clear that we need it, given our weakened, wounded, and sinful condition. But it has its more intense moments, one of which is precisely ...

One of the many deeply disturbing aspects of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has been the lack of discussion about penance. While public apologies from bishops who protected abusive ...

On Sept. 14, Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Va., celebrated a Mass of atonement in reparation for the sexual abuse and its cover-up by Catholic priests and prelates. In his homily, the bishop ...

In today’s society, we are constantly regaled with a chorus of My Way — of acceptance of who we are, amid all our faults and eccentricities, and in whatever state. But Jesus cites a different way in ...

I took my older children to Confession this afternoon. The lines were long with well over 100 people in attendance, and our wait for the Confessional was way beyond an hour and a half. The kids (ages ...