Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Father Kenneth Doyle: How does excommunication work? What became of the 10-minute limit on homilies?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: From what we are seeing on social media here in New York state, there seems to be some misunderstanding about what excommunication is and how it happens. Does the pope excommunicate someone, or can a bishop? Is there a process? What is the pastoral approach to something like this? What are the […]

Ask Father Kenneth Doyle: Why do the properties of bread, wine remain? Do miscarried babies go to heaven?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: I firmly believe that at Mass the Eucharist becomes Christ’s body and blood. But here’s what I don’t understand: Why then do the properties of the bread and wine still affect people — for example, those with wheat allergies or alcoholics? (Danville, Indiana) A: Not surprisingly, this is a bit difficult to […]

Father Kenneth Doyle: May a Lutheran receive Catholic Eucharist? Can you confess online?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: One of my sisters who is Lutheran recently moved to an area where there is no Lutheran church, so she started attending Mass at a nearby Catholic parish. She has been receiving the Eucharist at Mass even though she is not Catholic. She says that she asked the Catholic pastor and he […]

Father Kenneth Doyle: Where do ‘single Catholics’ fit in?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: Where do single people “rank” within the Catholic Church? Many times we are asked to pray for those who are married or who have followed a calling to the religious life — but how many times has anyone in any parish been asked to pray for those who are single? Are we […]

Father Kenneth Doyle: Why are there only four Gospels?

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  QUESTION CORNER Q: Luke’s Gospel begins, “Several biographies of Christ have already been written.” Why, then, are there only four Gospels in the New Testament, and how were they chosen? (Charlottesville, Virginia) A: First, just a comment on your quote from the opening verse of Luke. The text you offer comes from an edition […]

Father Kenneth Doyle: I’m divorced, may I receive Communion?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: I am in my 50s and have now been divorced for three years. I was married in the Catholic Church and have always attended Sunday Mass regularly and received Communion. But I have begun to wonder whether I should still take Communion. I asked a priest recently in confession, and he said […]

Father Kenneth Doyle: Sacraments for those with dementia?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: I bring holy Communion to a local nursing home. Of the 66 Catholics there, many of them have no visitors. Those with dementia are asked whether they would like to receive the Eucharist, and if they say yes, I give them the host. It saddens me that Jesus suffered to give us […]

Father Kenneth Doyle: Is the death penalty out completely?

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  QUESTION CORNER Q: I have always been against the death penalty — since the prisoner is behind bars and removed from doing further harm to the public. But a recent piece in The Wall Street Journal included statements by criminals who said that they were not as aggressive with victims when they knew there […]

Father Kenneth Doyle: ‘Last rites’ for a comatose person?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: My daughter, who was 50 years of age, became deathly ill, spent six weeks in the intensive care unit, then entered hospice to die. When death was imminent, a nurse finally found a priest to administer last rites. (It was a Jewish hospice, and they weren’t used to calling a priest.) By […]