I have decided to dedicate Tuesdays to answering your questions about the Roman Catholic Church and about Traditionalism (to the best of my ability).  I do not want to see this used for internet arguments, flame wars or proselytizing.   This is for genuine questions about what we believe from Catholics or non-Catholics alike.  I will do my very best to answer your questions simply (because I am not a canonist or a theologian, I am a homeschooling mother of 8!) and with truth and charity.  So please post your question to the comments section and except for a few hours of dental appointments today I will try to keep a close eye on the computer today to approve and answer.

To kick things off I will post my answer to a question posed to me by a lovely lady the other day.  Why aren’t confessions and marriages preformed by a valid priest who is not in communion with Rome not recognized by the Church?  All other sacraments are recognized by Rome (although the reverse is often not true – many indpendent priests and groups do not recognize the validity of sacraments given by priests in communion with Rome).  The reason that confession and marriage are not recognized by Rome is that those two sacraments require jurisdiction, or permission from the ordinary of a diocese.  It’s like a drivers license.  Do I know how to drive?  (Well, that is actually debatable since I have taken out a tree, a mailbox, our garage door, a Mercedes, a Mustang, a Toyota Avalon and one of our own cars!  – YOU try backing up in a 15 passenger van!  Want to contribute to my insurance fund?!)…  Okay back from that tangent.  Okay, one more tangent, I am cracking up!  Tears rolling down my face, squeeze real hard so I don’t pee my pants (which is a risk after 8 babies) laughing.  I never realized quite how bad my driving record is until I saw it in print.  And that is only the damage done since I started driving The Beast.  I had my first accident in the parking lot of the DMV when I pulled in from taking my drivers test.  And guess what?  I passed.  Either that guy was bored, crazy, stoned, or I looked smokin’ hot that day.  I am going to go with smokin’ hot.

Okay, reel in my crazy brain… Jurisdiction is like a drivers license.  The state could assume that at my age I probably know how to drive, but my drivers license says they KNOW that I know how to drive and give me permission to so in their state.  Jurisdiction means that the local bishop gives the valid priest permission to hear confessions and perform marriages in his diocese.  There is a distinction to be made between VALID and LICIT.  VALID means the priest is truly a priest (has received Holy Orders from a valid bishop) and has the POWER given by God to perform the sacraments.  LICIT means he has the right to perform them.  So by way of example: as a parent I have the authority to punish my children for disobedience (valid), but I do not have the right to beat them (Licit- or in this case that would be ILLICIT).  Any questions?

By the way, if you are smarter than I am and can answer or clarify a question, which is WAY likely, GO AHEAD!  Have a great day!