Nearly 50 years ago, an Episcopal priest shocked his listeners during a Palm Sunday sermon at St. Mark’s Church in Van Nuys, Calif. On April 3, 1960, the Rev. Dennis Bennett announced he had received ...

Parents who prefer not to baptize their children in the hopes that they will "understand and ask for baptism" as adults lack faith that the Holy Spirit will act in their child's life, Pope Francis ...

Within the Catholic calendar, we have entered a unique period of time that exists between Christmas and the beginning of Lent. There are many feast days that recognize important events leading up to ...

The Holy Spirit, who worked at the beginning of creation and guided Moses and the people through the desert, "now descends in fullness on Jesus in order to give him the strength to fulfill his mission ...

The Baptism of the Lord closes the Christmas season. The next day begins the First Week of Ordinary Time, Lent following in five weeks on Feb. 17. The Christmas season is full of theophanies, i.e., ...

In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019 photo, Rev. Mark Stelzer, administrator of St. Jerome’s Parish, in Holyoke, Mass., opens doors to the Catholic church before offering Mass. (Credit: AP Photo/Steven ...

Sunday, May 28, marks Pentecost, the conclusion of the Easter season and the commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. In the Christian tradition, the rejoicing over Christ's ...

But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” — Matthew 3:14 It’s a good question: Why did Jesus Christ need to be baptized? That’s basically the question ...

On Aug. 6, 2020, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued a “Responsum” to a question about the validity of baptisms administered using a plural “form” — “We baptize you in the name ...