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Catholics/Questions
| Subject | Date Asked | Expert |
| conception | 2/2/2012 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: I asked this question of another priest on this forum and got a one sentence answer that had ... A: Joan, I am sorry to hear all of this. Certainly you would understand "Our Lady of Sorrows." ... | ||
| curious | 2/1/2012 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: I am a practitioner, born and raised, of the Asatru religion. I am curious about different ... A: Our beliefs such that they are very different, yet at first glance do not seem to be that far apart. ... | ||
| addiction | 1/30/2012 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: i experianced sex and homo sexuality ever since i was small first i was too little to know that it ... A: First we need to define the terms: Homosexual (same sex) attraction refers to a person who ... | ||
| Catholic Marriage | 1/28/2012 | Fr. Michael |
| Q: I have a question regarding a Roman Catholic wedding. I am a Catholic however my fiance is not (he ... A: In the normal case (unless a dispensation for good cause could be obtained, and the non-Catholic ... | ||
| Catholic Women in the 1800s | 1/27/2012 | Fr. Michael |
| Q: Good day, Father Michael! This is a multi-part question. I hope that's okay. I am writing a ... A: 1) Males, not necessarily boys, the one exception being nuns' choirs, where obviously there cannot ... | ||
| HOLY MASS | 1/24/2012 | Griff Ruby |
| Q: in the legion of Mary, when praying the catena in the course of the meeting, is it right to make the ... A: If you follow along in the Missal, the places where the "+" symbol appears are where one would cross ... | ||
| Marriage/validity | 1/22/2012 | Donald Higby |
| Q: I’m a practising Catholic with a query about my existing marriage, of now 20 years. I’ve an unusual ... A: Marriage is poorly understood by most Catholics, unfortunately, including priests. Marriage is a ... | ||
| Marriage/validity | 1/21/2012 | Donald Higby |
| Q: I’m a practising Catholic with a query about my existing marriage, of now 20 years. I’ve an unusual ... A: You seem to have a good understanding of what the church teaches, and I applaud your commitment to ... | ||
| Flood/dinosaurs/caveman | 1/20/2012 | Marco |
| Q: I have been searching for information to be able to answer my 12 year old child,who is very ... A: catholics do not intepret all the verses of the Bible literaly. I do not think that the Genesis is ... | ||
| Adult children not presently practicing the Catholic Faith | 1/15/2012 | Donald Higby |
| Q: I have five adult children all of who are not practicing the Catholic faith. One of my daughter's is ... A: I'm sorry to hear about your situation. A real problem, sometimes, is that children of Catholics ... | ||
| Latin Vulgate OT | 1/12/2012 | Edward Bode |
| Q: What source text did Jerome use for his Latin Vulgate? Thanks. A: Basically, Jerome used Hebrew, Greek, and Latin texts in his "Vulgate" [a Middle Age term] begun in ... | ||
| How to teach stepdaughter (whose mom is SDA) catholic beliefs | 1/12/2012 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: I have two step-daughters (ages 12 and 14) that stay with us throughout the week and in the weekend ... A: I am not saying not to evangelize, and I commend your desire to share the Faith---but evangelization ... | ||
| Catholic vs Protestant | 1/10/2012 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: We doing a project for National History Day. We are doing our project of The Revolution Reaction and ... A: In a sense the Catholic Church brought the Reformation on itself because of the rampant moral ... | ||
| Catholic vs Protestant | 1/10/2012 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: We doing a project for National History Day. We are doing our project of The Revolution Reaction and ... A: Dustin, Before I answer this I need to know if by "Revolution, Reaction and Reform" you mean ... | ||
| lack of form | 1/6/2012 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: I got married 7 years ago to guy who had 2 previous marriages that were both divorced before we got ... A: This does not sound like a simple "Lack of Form" Annulment to me. Who told you this? If your ... | ||
| immaculate conception | 1/5/2012 | Griff Ruby |
| Q: I was just reading elsewhere that in order not to be tainted by sin Jesus' mother must have been ... A: What His mother had, being concevied of the lineage of Adam through the conventional means as ... | ||
| Baptist view on Catholicism | 1/3/2012 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: Grew up in a loving, Catholic home. Recently my 56 year old brother, baptized Catholic, got engaged ... A: I am not sure that we can label all Baptists together and say "All Baptists hate Catholics." Some ... | ||
| Argument on the existence of God | 1/3/2012 | Marco |
| Q: Recently I had a discussion with a friend who is having trouble in believing God. He said that the ... A: I think that faith cannot come only from logic, because to have faith in God means to trust and love ... | ||
| The Birth of Christ according to Catholic Teaching | 12/29/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: I was watching the live midnight mass from Southwark Cathedral (as I do every Christmas Eve) when ... A: The answer to your question depends on who you ask. If you as a Baptist Fundamentalist the Baptist ... | ||
| Jehovah's Witnesses | 12/24/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: A Jehovah's witness friend of mine said that they are connected to the apostles throughout history. ... A: The Jehovah's Witness organization (The Watchtower) is basically the fourth century Arian heresy ... | ||
| (Lumen gentium 14) | 12/23/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: Greetings, I was wanting some insight on this, thanks! "...if you believe that the Catholic ... A: I don't know if the average lay person knows more about the Faith then some priests so much as it is ... | ||
| (Lumen gentium 14) | 12/22/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: Greetings, I was wanting some insight on this, thanks! "...if you believe that the Catholic ... A: Here is the relevant citation in content from Lumen Gentium 14: "This Sacred Council wishes to turn ... | ||
| Marriage to a non-Catholic and possibility of divorce | 12/22/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: I am a Catholic married to a non-Catholic man (Protestant). We got married in a non-denominational ... A: Catherine, I appreciate your question and the difficult situation you find yourself in. ... | ||
| 2 Timothy 2:17 meaning ? | 12/21/2011 | Griff Ruby |
| Q: In Timothy2:17 Says: " And their message will spread like cancer." I'm puzzled with the word CANCER ... A: Standard online bible references seem to answer this one satisfactorily. The original word was ... | ||
| Relationship after a failed marriage | 12/20/2011 | Donald Higby |
| Q: I am married with a wonderful son. I am separated from my husband since 2008 because he was hurting ... A: If you were married in a civil ceremony and did not get permission for this from your bishop; and if ... | ||
| Relationship after a failed marriage | 12/18/2011 | Donald Higby |
| Q: I am married with a wonderful son. I am separated from my husband since 2008 because he was hurting ... A: First of all, you are not a bad person, and for his parents to treat you that way is certainly not ... | ||
| copyright violation | 12/15/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: I was doubting whether hearing covers of violins or any other instrument over an artist's song was a ... A: Karen, The Church gives us general principles with which to inform our Conscience. It is up to us ... | ||
| inter religious marriage | 12/13/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: Why inspite of knowing the threats it can pose to christianity ,the church is so linient on the ... A: Marriage is a natural right. A man and a women have a fundamental and natural right to Marry. The ... | ||
| confession and past sins | 12/12/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: I have a question regarding confession. I know you are supposed to confess all mortal sins. What ... A: Here is what you do if you want certainty regarding the issue: Make an appointment with a priest, ... | ||
| Re: Priesthood | 12/10/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: I am 42 years old married man with 1 child. I have always wanted to be a priest just was not sure ... A: Let's reverse the"You know, I know I am a priest, but I really feel like God is calling me to ... | ||
| Who am i in past life | 12/7/2011 | Marco |
| Q: Who was I before? I'm Demi Louise Villaluz, im bi female,. I was born on march 03, 1992 at merville ... A: none of us had a past life. We have only one earthly life, and after our death our soul will go to ... | ||
| Census at Jesus' Time | 12/7/2011 | Fr. Michael |
| Q: I recently heard that the census at Jesus' birth didn't take place. I tend to believe the bible and ... A: There are a number of references to censuses in Augustus' time in the classical historians, such as ... | ||
| Genetic Modification | 12/7/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: I am doing some research on a project for school centered around my main question of, "Should ... A: Life is not a commodity to be "designed" by our personal taste and desires. Every life is a unique ... | ||
| Meatless Fridays | 12/6/2011 | Edward Bode |
| Q: Why is fish not considered "fleshmeat"? A: In the Catholic Church, for penitential purposes the usual distinction is between fleshmeat [animal] ... | ||
| Valid Baptism? | 12/6/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: I wanted to know if since I took the sacrament willingly, to follow god in his church my sins were ... A: Baptism is valid for someone unwilling, but the grace is not efficacious unless or until the person ... | ||
| Are these sins? | 12/4/2011 | George A. Card,sfo, M.I |
| Q: I wanted to ask whether these were sins: I know violating copyrights is a sin, but is printing out ... A: Peace I guess it depends on motive why you copying something. Also it should be noted that US and ... | ||
| Can you explain this to me? | 12/2/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: Can you explain to me what this link says about restitution and when it is obligatory to pay back ... A: In making restitution, the point is not whether someone got hurt. The point is justice. Justice is ... | ||
| Restitution | 12/2/2011 | George A. Card,sfo, M.I |
| Q: Can you explain to me what this link says about restitution and when it is obligatory to pay back ... A: Peace Sorry for the delay, PC has been having problems. In the case, you cite society was hurt if ... | ||
| This got me worried | 11/30/2011 | Father Dave Bechtel |
| Q: So the reason I started getting freaked out about counting our sins is that I found this website ... A: Karen, Stop being so legalistic. This is not a court room and I am not a lawyer. The spirit of ... | ||
| Immaculate conception | 11/30/2011 | Edward Bode |
| Q: Ineffabilis Deus condemns "a distinction between the first and second instance of conception and ... A: I have no more information to add. However, Do the writings of Alexander or Pius reflect any ... | ||
Catholics
Answers by Expert:
Father Dave Bechtel
Top Expert on this page
Expertise
I am a Catholic priest in good standing. I am from the Diocese of Scranton PA. I can answer most any questions on the Catholic Faith accurately. My specific area of study is Systamatic/Dogmatic Theology. One of my interests specifically is on the differences between Catholics and Protestants. If you have general questions about the Catholic Faith/issues pertaining to the Catholic Faith, or on Catholic/Protestant issues I feel more then able to answer your questions.
Experience
Formerly I was a member at CARM (Christian Apologetics Research Ministry.) I was a member from 2006 until around 2009. On this website I would respond to many threads attacking or asking questions about the Catholic Faith.
I have also had correspondence with some Protestant apologists over the email. Robert Zinz of a Christian Witness to Roman Catholics and Mike Gendron who wrote a book called "Preparing Catholics For Eternity." I was not a priest at the time of correspondence with these people, nor were they aware of my aspirations to be a priest.
I have had some polite conversations over the email with some Catholic professors of theology, some orthodox, some not so orthodox in their teaching.
I answer questions on Wiki-answers about the Catholic Faith from time to time.
None of this is to mention my day to day experience with people in the parish and in the surrounding community.
Education/Credentials
Bachelors of Science-- University of Scranton PA
Masters of Arts Theology---Saint Mary's Seminary and University Baltimore MD
Masters of Divinity--- Saint Charles Borremeo Seminary Philadelphia PA
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