Sacraments and Liturgy

Catholics call the Mass a sacrifice. Protestants object that Christ was offered once for all on the Cross. Here is what the Church means when she says the Mass is the sacrifice of Calvary made present, and why it does not repeat or add to the Cross.

Every few years, a parish discovers that a priest used the wrong words at baptisms for decades, and the baptisms were invalid. How can that happen? Here is how the Church understands what makes a sacrament valid, the difference between valid and lawful, and why the words and actions matter.

Many Catholics are surprised to learn that the Catholic Church is a communion of 24 Churches, most of them Eastern, with their own liturgies, laws and married priests. Here is who the Eastern Catholics are, the great liturgical traditions, and what they show about the Church's unity.