We are about to leave Lent and enter the liturgical season known as "Triduum."

What is this season, and why does the Church say that it is "the culmination of the entire liturgical year"?

Here are 6 things you need to know.

1. What does "Triduum" mean?

It comes from Latin roots that mean, essentially, "the three days" or "period of three days" (tri- = three, -dies = days).

Today it refers to the liturgical season that follows Lent and precedes the Easter season.

According to the main document governing the celebrations connected with Easter, Paschales Solemnitatis:

38. . . . This time is called "the triduum of the crucified, buried and risen"; it is also called the...READ MORE

Palm Sunday--or is it Passion Sunday?--marks the beginning of Holy Week.

This day commemorates not one but two very significant events in the life of Christ.

Here are 9 things you need to know.

1. What is this day called?

The day is called both "Palm Sunday" and "Passion Sunday."

The first name comes from the fact that it commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the crowd had palm branches (John 12:13).

The second name comes from the fact that the narrative of the Passion is read on this Sunday (it otherwise wouldn't be read on a Sunday, since the next Sunday is about the Resurrection).

According to the main document on the celebration of the feasts...READ MORE

What are we to make of this?

Getting the Facts

According to press accounts, back in 2010 when the Argentine government was in the process of approving homosexual "marriage," then-Cardinal Bergoglio suggested the possibility of civil unions for homosexuals as a way of keeping homosexual marriage from being made legal.

He was absolutely adamant on the impermissibility of homosexual marriage, stating:

In the coming weeks, the Argentine people will...READ MORE

Pope Francis's inaugural Mass is unique in several respects.

That's raised a lot of questions: Only some cardinals doing the act of obedience? Different Mass readings? The Gospel reading in Greek? No offertory procession? No Communion distributed by the pope?

What does all this mean about the pope and where he stands on liturgy?

Is he striking out on a radical new course?

Let's take a deep breath . . . and a closer look at these differences.

1) Only Some Cardinals Doing the Act of Obedience?

This change is not as strange as you might think.

The last time a pope had this kind of Mass (when Pope Benedict had his in 2005) they didn't have all the cardinals present make the...READ MORE

On Tuesday, March 19, Pope Francis will participate in his inauguration Mass.

If he hasn't been inaugurated, is he pope yet?

If he is pope, why is this called is "inauguration" Mass?

Here are 9 things you need to know.

1. Is Pope Francis already Pope, if he isn't "inaugurated"?

Yes. According to the Code of Canon Law:

Can. 332 §1. The Roman Pontiff obtains full and supreme power in the Church by his acceptance of legitimate election together with episcopal consecration. Therefore, a person elected to the supreme pontificate who is marked with episcopal character obtains this power from the moment of acceptance. If the person elected lacks episcopal character, however, he...READ MORE

This weekend Pope Francis is scheduled to give his first Angelus address, a kind of address that popes give every Sunday.

He's very likely to comment on the Gospel reading of the day, which is the famous, beautiful, and dramatic story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8).

We don't know what Pope Francis will say about the passage, but previous popes have commented on it.

Here are 9 things they wanted you to know.

1. What happens in this account?

Pope Benedict said:

The Gospel passage recounts the episode of the adulterous woman in two vivid scenes:

In the first, we witness a dispute between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees concerning a woman caught in flagrant...READ MORE

Many people across the world are wondering when we should be watching the chimney above the Sistine Chapel to see the smoke that will tell us whether a new pope has been elected.

Here is a quick guide to when to watch and what to expect . . .

The Color of the Smoke

After casting ballots, the cardinals burn them, and this is what produces the smoke. They also burn other things--straw or chemicals--to change the color of the smoke, though precisely what they're burning this time is a bit of a mystery.

As most people know, it is supposed to be black if there is no new pope but it is supposed to be white if there is.

In practice, there have been troubles with the color of the...READ MORE

Soon the cardinals will enter the conclave and begin casting their votes for the new pope.

What's going through their minds as they do this? How do they actually go through the process of deciding, on any particular ballot, who to vote for?

Why is the first ballot so important? What patterns does history teach us? And is there any way we can help them?

Here are 9 things you need to know.

1. Why is the first ballot significant?

It is the first time that the cardinals get the "lay of the land" in a concrete way.

Up to this point, they have had discussions among themselves about who would be a good pope, and they have done some informal nose counting to get a sense of how...READ MORE