PASTORING MARGINAL OR INACTIVE CATHOLICS

How are marginal Catholics best approached? When is the best time to draw people back into the Church from the perspective of common sense and sociology?
How are the general canon laws of the Church applied to specific people being ministered to? How are laws administered with love? Is it possible to be flexible and at the same time properly apply the laws of the Church to given situations? Should we deny the sacraments of baptism and marriage simply because the parents or the couple are not practicing the faith the way they should? What are the best ways to deal with non-practicing Catholics when they come to have their child baptized? Can non-Catholics be Godparents? What is a Christian witness as opposed to being a Godparent? What about ex-Catholics as Godparents?
Should we deny a couple the sacrament of marriage because they are not practicing the faith or because they are living together? What does the Pope say about this? How should the initial marriage interview be conducted? Why is living together not a good preparation for marriage? How can we reach out to such people in this situation?
Is it the role of the pastor of the pastor to judge the viability of the couple’s marriage? Should parents go to the wedding of their child that is being married outside the Church? What literature is available to help those who are marginal Catholics?
How can we reach out to people on Christmas and Easter when many people come back for the high holidays? How can we use these holidays for evangelizing the marginal Catholics? How do we find out the questions that people are actually asking rather then the ones that the preachers are grappling with? How do we reach out to non-believers who come to Church during the high holidays?
How do we revise the faith during times of grief, depression, and illness? How can we use funerals as a teachable and touchable moment? How do we use ecumenism to increase understanding between faiths and generate positive publicity for the faith community? How can we be a presence on radio and other media? How do we use music for evangelization by really integrating it with the preaching and the word? These are just a few of the questions that are addressed by this best selling author and priest Fr. Champlin.

Produced in collaboration with the National Institute for Clergy Formation of Seton Hall University.