Tag: Confession

Like many Catholics, I often find myself asking why I commit the same sins over and over again. This Lent, I wanted to see if I could change—but how do we go about conquering habitual sins?

Last year in Advent I decided to issue a rousing pastoral letter calling the faithful to repentance. I’m going to do it again this year.

It was the first Friday night in December and hundreds of young people were queuing for confession at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Randwick.

I have heard a number of times, and I accept, that it is quite likely that when they die, most souls will go to purgatory on their way to heaven. Can you tell me what we can we do to avoid purgatory altogether, or at least reduce the time we spend there?

There’s infinite reasons why nothing on earth comes remotely close to how good a Catholic lifestyle is. To take the most obvious, which we can see in simply looking at Jesus at the moment - it doesn’t do him so badly! Not only is every bodily, psychological and spiritual part of him flawlessly where and as it should be, but even death is powerless over him ...

A reader wrote to ask Dr Philippa Martyr why she always encourages people to go to confession. As a lifelong "fan" of this sacrament, here's eight reasons to go more often

For many years I have been saying the “prayer before a crucifix” to gain a plenary indulgence, observing the usual conditions, but someone recently told me that this indulgence is no longer recognised by the church. Is this true?  

Dear Father, I read recently that Pope Francis told some seminarians that priests should always forgive sins, even when the person is not sorry...

Last year I said that the Australian Catholic bishops should issue a pastoral letter on the First Sunday of Advent, calling the entire Catholic...

Ministers of religion in Western Australia are now legally required to report information about child sexual abuse, including information gained in the sacrament of...

I looked at the date and gasped out loud. How can it possibly be this late already, with so much left undone? Every single...

At last, some long overdue joy! This week I’m continuing with some concepts I think the Plenary Council forgot to discuss. If we are to...