ASK A PRIEST
QUESTIONS ABOUT DATING & MARRIAGE
“Ask a Priest: What If We Feel Pressured to Attend an Invalid Wedding?”
Q: Our divorced daughter and her boyfriend, both atheists, live together a few states away. We maintain a good relationship with them, hoping and praying daily that they will find God. She recently let me know that they have been thinking about getting married. She said she understood that we ...
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“Ask a Priest: What If My Love Interest Expects to Sleep With Me?”
Q: I recently met a man on online after being single and celibate for seven years. I have a list in my heart of what I am seeking in a spouse, and he checks every box, and I am pretty lovestruck. I am a cradle Catholic, and he is a ...
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“Ask a Priest: Does My Atheist Girlfriend Have a Chance at Salvation?”
Q: I’m worried about my girlfriend, who’s an atheist. The rest of her family is religious and believes in God. I told her I accepted her beliefs. But yesterday I forgot those who believe go to heaven and those who don’t go to hell. I don’t want her to spend ...
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“Ask a Priest: My Husband Is Dying. Is This God’s Vengeance on Me?”
Q: I walked away from my religious vocation years ago and ended up getting married (much later) to a wonderful, loving man. Now my husband is dying of cancer, and I’ll be a widow with no family. Could this be happening to me because I turned my back on God ...
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“Ask a Priest: May I Receive Communion If I’m Cohabitating?”
Q: During confession, a Catholic priest told me that it is okay to receive Communion, even if I am unmarried and cohabitating – as long as I am sleeping with this man only. That troubled me a lot because my understanding is that if you are fornicating (even if with ...
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“Ask a Priest: What If My Husband Resists Spiritual Direction?”
Q: I’ve suggested that my husband look into spiritual direction, but he thinks he can live his spirituality without it. Am I wrong in thinking that everyone needs a spiritual director or at least guidance once in a while? And how do I help him to see the need for ...
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“Ask a Priest: What If My Partner Doesn’t Want to Have the Marriage Blessed?”
Q: I was confirmed Catholic through RCIA when I was 19, I’m 23 now. After about six months of being an active Catholic I had decided to leave the Church and joined a non-Christian faith instead. Between then and now I had gotten married to a man who is not ...
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“Ask a Priest: How Long Should a Courtship Be?”
Q: If a person is discerning marriage, is there a specific time that is too long before arriving at an answer, or this more of a question of prudential judgment? Also, during that time of discernment is it appropriate to offer signs of affection (not in ways that would be ...
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