No official report on why or how he went missing and then found, Fr. Morales had been allegedly threatened previously.

Hello to my fellow brother and sisters in Christ,

Would really appreciate some thoughts/counsels and above all prayers for my discernment. Note: I have never lived in the USA and would like to keep my home country confidential.

I spent a total of 12.5 years in religious life in two Latin Mass convents just after graduating from university: 6.5 in a teaching order in Australia (gained teaching qualifications) and then another 6 in a semi-contemplative congregation in France (organising retreats, service with the elderly).

Life as a teaching sister was enjoyable but stressful and my superiors did not admit me to renew my vows as my anxiety and depression did not improve. They did encourage me to try another congregation. After a gap year I joined one with a different pace of life and apostolate and it really suited me. I foresaw myself persevering with no issues and my superiors admitted me to renew my vows. However, I had a stomach malady which only became increasingly severe and tests revealed no physical causes. I was then told to leave as it was determined that something in the environment was causing it. I started becoming better weeks after leaving and my health is almost back to normal.

I returned home in February this year and started freelance work as an assistant to elderly patients at a public hospital. It pays decently, allows me sufficient time for prayer and I do love my elderly. In a month’s time I will be heading to France again to volunteer at a Dominican school/ convent for a sabbatical year.

My main spiritual director is not very enthusiastic about this step; he thinks that I should eventually choose a suitable profession in education or health services. However, I do not feel ready at all to undertake training in these professions. I have thought carefully about the possibility of becoming a nurse, a care assistant, an occupational therapist, a teacher of students with disabilities, and even a farmer, etc. I have also been told by others to stop discerning any further call to consecrated religious life after two failed attempts so far.

However it is still a challenge for me to adapt properly to secular life, despite the great privilege of daily Mass and other means of sanctification. There seems to be always a dissonance between my current reality (working in a secular environment, the physical and psychological fatigue after only 32–36 hours of work per week, the very materialistic views of the world around me, the lack of structure in prayer and daily duty outside religious life) and my spiritual ideal.

Anyway, we are only pilgrims on this earth. The world (and I myself) thirst for God, and the solution to all the problems around us lies in a true life of union with God. I want with all my heart to find something (working for a Catholic institution, for example) that allows me to act directly for the salvation of souls and to lead a true life of recollection more easily. I also have a perpetual and private vow of chastity.

In any case, I have the possibility of keeping my current position after a year of leave if I still want it. For the moment, it seems to me that it would be ideal if I could do a mix of work (manual tasks, teaching, caring for others, etc mixed in with prayer times) instead of remaining confined to a single profession. But I don’t know where I can find such a combination of work/prayer schedules outside of religious life. I really don’t mind becoming a perpetual volunteer for some religious community but I still have to provide for my own retirement.

Yes, perhaps I am overthinking, and it also takes quite a lot of time to adapt to life in the secular world. I have had also lots of things on my plate since I returned: getting my driving license, dealing with an extended family fairly hostile to Catholicism and who opposed the baptism of my grandmother (now quite ill) in March, the paperwork of getting a new visa to France etc. I have felt quite overwhelmed until recently.

I just really hope I will be able to find out what the good Lord wants of me for the long term after the upcoming sabbatical year. It is hard feeling like an émigrée into the secular world and living in a certain kind of limbo. Thankfully I have no debt and my parents are currently in good health. So at least I have the space to consider various options….

Thanks to all for any prayers or advice offered…

Greetings, my name is Berat, I am 22 years old, I live in Turkey, and I am Turkish. I lived as a Muslim until I was 15 years old. At age 15, I realized that Muhammad was a repulsive person, that the marriages he made involved children, and that the religion of Islam was merely Arab culture. After that, I became an atheist and remained an atheist until the middle of my 21st year. Around November 2025, I saw Jesus in my dream, after which I researched the Christian faith and encountered Turkey's biggest problem: the difficulty of finding information about Christianity. First, I looked on YouTube and the internet, then I went to a Turkish Protestant church; they invited me. I received a Bible and a Torah from them. Although I didn't have a denomination at first, they tried to force me to become a Protestant. While I was still researching denominations, they tried to trick me by saying, 'Become a Protestant, other denominations are heretical traditions that corrupt the religion, only the Holy Book matters.' So I became a Protestant. Then, they wanted to baptize me very quickly. I told them, 'I have only been a Christian for 2 months, I cannot get baptized this fast because you haven't taught me theology, tradition, or philosophy.' They just taught me a few verses from the Bible and the Torah and said, 'Okay, now you can be baptized.' Instead, I went to the Catholic church in the city where I live (Mersin), and there they told me the truth. Then I went back to the Protestant church and talked to them about the sinlessness of the Mother Mary, the authority of the Pope, and why traditions are necessary. They called me apostate and heretical and threw me out of the church. Because my foot is broken, I can't go to the Catholic church either. Could you help me with the Catholic Catechism?"

I’ve contacted my parish about RCIA. I’m waiting for them to contact me. I’m in no rush: I first felt the presence of God many years ago. I was 12, I was singing in a choir, and we were singing Vivaldi’s Gloria. And there I felt God. 

But my family was not an option, I had no adult I could trust. Although my parents had me baptized in the Catholic Church when I was a baby (my grandmother insisted), they did not go to church (my mother was strongly anti-religion by the time I was a teenager), and the people in my life who were the most outspoken Catholics were awful to others, it gave me a very distorted image of Catholics.

However: I got a copy of the Bible, read it (I got the general idea: flood, exodus, Jesus said to be kind to people). I lived in a place with lots of churches, so I learned the Our Father and Hail Mary, and over the years, I would pop in, and praying to the Virgin Mary became my go-to: when I was scared, when I wanted to give thanks when something good had happened, etc.

As an adult, I started looking for a more structured relationship with God. So I looked... and I looked at other religions. Of course, none of the other religions felt right (now I know why), like in Goldilocks: this one is too hard, this one is too soft... I was still praying the Virgin regularly on my own, still grabbing my Bible to read a soothing passage every once in a while, and casually keeping an eye on what the Pope had to say. I didn't even think about it, it was instinctive that's where my heart went (this one is just right!). I felt incredibly alone in my spiritual life, and unable to discuss the topic with anyone.

That brings us to June this year. I went to the city of Quebec. I visited the cathedral, and I saw the Holy Door. I was submerged by two feelings: gratitude that the Church had given such a gift to the Catholic people of Quebec (the church is huge in the history of the province). And an immense sadness that I was not Catholic, and therefore could never appreciate it fully.

I know. I laugh at myself now. But I did buy a new Bible when I got home, my old copy was getting damaged (although still cherished), and I have been reading it daily since that trip. So you know, thick but not completely deaf to God's call?

It's a good thing God is patient. It still took until this month (October) to have that lightbulb moment, but I got there. I finally went to mass. And it felt like I was coming home at last: I could not be happier. Full disclosure, it took a few years of therapy, but finally feeling safe to nurture my spiritual life is such a gift.

While I wait for the parish to respond to my RCIA request, I’m praying my rosary, reading the catechism, listening to a couple of podcasts… With a smile and feeling happy.

heavy topic, I know.

i started attending mass earlier this year as I’ve felt a calling to the Catholic Church for the last couple of years. I’m in OCIA now and lately I can’t help but feel like I would be a fraud if I were to go through confirmation knowing I’ve had 2 abortions in the past.

ill save the sob story-but I truly didn’t think it was a big deal at the time. now my thoughts have changed obviously..and I’ve since had 2 children. I sometimes block it all out because the shame and guilt is too painful. but i digress. anyways, I just don’t know how to get past this. I feel like I’m being fraudulent towards the church for going against one of their biggest teachings, which is to respect life. (although I appreciate how outspoken the CC is compared to most other sects of Christianity because the CC is what made me confront my choices and realize what a mistake I had made)

Anyways..if anyone has any advice, I could use it. thank you.

I just got downvoted HARD in r/orthodoxy because I said I didn’t think Joseph was actually a super old man when he married Mary.

Partially because I remember Mother Angelica arguing that “old men don’t walk to egypt”.

Anyways I got dog piled about “this is holy tradition, who are you to deny it” and also a quote from Josephus that was actually fabricated when I said the protoevangelium of James is not reliable (I pointed out that it talked about temple virgins which did not exist, and they claimed Josephus backed that up even though that’s a fabrication). They also brought up Abraham being 100 when he had Isaac (but it claims people in that time lived 100s of years so how is that comparable?)

On our end is it heresy or incorrect to hold a belief that Joseph was probably not some 75 year old guy and instead like maybe 30 or some reasonable younger age based on the contextual clues and logic?

As of recent, I've felt a big spiritual calling that was proceeded by consuming a lot of content online by people expressing views around apostolic faiths and more specifically Catholicism.

I was raised Southern Baptist, and even baptized by my dad in a southern baptist church. However, as of recent, I have come to accept some of the Catholic doctrine such as Mary's sinless nature, Mary's perpetual virginity, and the intercession of the saints.

On Sunday, I decided to attend my local Catholic Church. I didn't even know which building to go into, and so I asked one of the church members if he would lead me in the right direction and he did. I love how reverent the service was, though the silence was quite a culture shock. The images and icons are beautiful, and I can say the same about the Catholic faith and church in general.

After mass, I talked briefly with the priest (Fr. Martin) and told him of my baptist background. He immediately took me by the wrist and lead me to two men standing outside, one of whom (Mike) who had been a baptist pastor for 15 years before converting to Catholicism. The other man was John, and he described himself as a "Cradle" Carholic, meaning he was raised in the Church. We talked for a bit relating to one another's backgrounds, some Carholic doctrine, and a few unrelated general topics.

I then walked with Mike to the building where everyone was gathered after Mass and eating refreshments. I found some people around my age (I'm 20) and begin to converse with them. They were two couples: One that had been confirmed into the Catholic Church and one that is in OCIA at the moment. Having already expressed interest in OCIA I was prompted to follow the couple in OCIA and I went to where the teacher was instructing on some basics of the faith.

In OCIA, we discussed the deuterocanon briefly, touched on the gospels, and mentioned some Catholic-specific doctrine in brief. It was a good time, and I was able to get the discord of one of the people (Cale) around my age.

Now we come to last night, I was watching a Jesusandwhatnot video of some variety, and he mentioned that a rosary should help you fall out of habitual sin, and I have for a while been struggling with making a particular grave sin a habit. And so I prayed the rosary: The Apistolic Creed, all 50 Hail Mary's, all five Glory Be's and Our Father's, Concluded with the Holy Queen prayer and the other thing at the end (I genuinely forget the name of the last prayer 😭). I also read some scripture when choosing what mysteries to focus on during meditation. After completing the Rosary, I can say I felt a unique kind of peace that I never have before and I intend to pray it every day now.

Note: I do not have a physical Rosary yet, but from what I've read the object is not necessarily required for the prayer.

I am visiting Rome and here are some personal tips I would have found useful:

The queues can be extremely long at the St. Peter's basilica and peak around noon in my experience, best visiting times are after 17:00 and right at opening hours.

If you plan on visiting a papal audience, Sunday Angelus or mass lead by the pope, there will be an apostolic blessing. This blessing does not only apply to the visitors of said event but also to all devotional objects carried physically with them.

Visit off season, the summer is hot and crowded, in October there will still be a large amount of visitors but smaller than in the months before (from what I've been told), you'll also get to experience the end of the summer with the weather roaming around 20°C. In the winter the weather will be chilly but there will only be a small amount of visitors.

The gift shops around the Vatican can be really expensive, I recommend Soprani and the Via del Mascherino as a whole, on the Vatican end of the street there are a lot of Catholic shops that offer the same things as the expensive ones. There is also a wide array of stores offering liturgical garments, statues and such.

If you want to go to Mass at the grottoes of Saint Peter's before they open (9AM), wait at the entrance of the them, Mass clergy will come and you'll be allowed to pass.

Make sure to wear appropriate clothing.

If you want to attend the wednesday Papal audience you need to get the ticket at the bronze door, you can get it starting from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning.

You might want to offer mass for yourself or families. The priests will take the mass cards and offering from you, and celebrate mass there when they are scheduled for mass.

Don't buy from the small stands selling food, a 0.5l coke can cost up to 5€.

I luckily did not experience this, but pickpockets are apparently common especially in crowded areas, *always have your belongings on you safely* an inner jacket pocket is ideal.

If some of this is incorrect please note, I will add more tips soon!

Apologies if this isn’t within the allowable content. I’m going to be playing WoW Forever and I want to see if some other Catholics would like to start a guild? Maybe someone already has one?

I got invited to a TLM in someone's house where an old woman lived who was a close friend of the one that invited me. She usually brings in a priest to do confession in her guest bedroom and mass in her emptied-out dining room because she has a lot of trouble walking and no transportation. I initially was having a great time. They were nice, I had a lot of good social interactions with them about the faith before things got started since it was just 4 of us. It was wholesome, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face. I am a Novus Ordo raised Catholic, but I have always had a soft spot for TLM and learning Latin. I expected things to be normal, but it seemed like the priest noticeably rushed through everything up to his sermon.

That's when things got accusational. The smile completely wiped from my face and turned to shock and confusion as he spent 10 straight minutes lying about Vatican 2, complaining about modernism and how he thinks the main objective was to fully integrate with the secular world, claiming we teach that all faiths lead to God when I know for a fact we explicitly believe still that Christ is the only mediator to God. Saying our "heresies are unjustified and do not coincide with the Catholic faith."

Not a single bit of any reflection on scripture or application to life, just prejudice and deceit. He then immediately went back and started to consecrate the host.

The presence I felt in the room was absolutely gut-wrenching beyond belief. I immediately had to think of an appropriate time to get up and leave because it felt as if a distant voice was yelling at me saying "Don't take the host. Get out now."

Something was very wrong. I felt weak and I didn't want to get up off my knees but I knew I had to. I said "I'm sorry, I have to leave." and left the house in the middle of it.

The one who invited me there told me that he got even worse about it when I left. I don't know what I did wrong for him to suddenly be that way but it just made me feel like it was a personal accusation of heresy towards me or an attempt to make me feel like i dont belong and it completely distracted me from the mass.

It wouldn't have made me as angry if he didn't start with the lies right before consecrating the host. Like I'm sitting here thinking he actually just tainted it right in front of me, there's no way I'm taking Communion now.

I'm not saying this is how all TLM is, and i still love TLM just as much as Novus Ordo, but in this instance by itself, for lack of better terminology, it felt like he essentially decided to piss on my head and tell me it's raining when I just came there to worship God.

I don't frequently struggle with rage, but recently I lost my temper and it resulted in my losing my livelihood and facing charges. I am miserable. I am lost.

I am sorry if this is not the right place to post all of that. I am also sorry for not knowing how to title this post. I am just looking for some prayer suggestions, like the Litany of Humilty has been a really good one...

Thank You.

What arguments can I make or sources should I study into to help me defend icons/statues and icon veneration against Calvinist claims such as, “icons of Christ is Arianism because images splits his human nature from his divine nature only portraying a man”, “we don’t know how Christ or some of the saints looked like so we can’t make images of them because that would be idolatry of the mind”, “icons are forbidden in churches because the human mind is full of idols and always seeks to worship physical objects and images”, and the claim Saint Augustine was a Calvinist and was against statue veneration.

I want to preface this by saying I’m not officially part of the Catholic faith, and I’m very new to all of it, however I want to be confirmed and I plan to. I go to church with the friend who led me to conversion, and sometimes he wants to pray a rosary together. It’s a very enjoyable experience but I always feel embarrassed because as soon as we get to the mysteries I begin to tear up and sometimes it’s even hard to not ugly cry during it, sometimes to the point it’s hard to keep saying the prayer properly.

I’m not a person who cries ever at anything in my day to day life so it’s pretty unusual, my friend was very surprised when it first started happened. But it feels really good during these times, and I like to think it is a good thing. My only concern is that I don’t want to just be that guy who can’t keep his composure while praying and is making a scene.

Hi there, I’m seeking recommendations for Catholic therapists or counselors who can assist us with marriage and parenting. My husband and I reside in South Florida. We genuinely require support and guidance, whether from someone nearby or online. We’re open to any suggestions, but we need help.

Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

I am brand spanking new to Catholicism and I have attended 2 masses and I am in classes.

Im curious what you believe about pets going to heaven. From my baptist upbringing pets dont go to heaven but Im hoping that isn’t true here.

We’re going on three years of trying, and it’s a very difficult place loving your child yet wanting to grow your family. I have been praying to Saint Gerard…any other recommendations or prayers?

This happened some time ago, but today I heard of a situation that oddly reminded me of this incident I had at a church.

The area and church itself weren't known for any altercations. I was in line at a communion, when this large guy, he looks about 6'3+ was behind me. He looked about late 30s at the time. Whenever we walked, he his shoes would stub into my tendon heel area, or kick the back of my shoe.

I gave him the benefit of the doubt thinking he was just very large and it was a close-knit area, however between splitting and shuffling, I ended up behind him walking, I looked at his shoe and it was not making any contact with the other guy he was now behind.

I wanted to ask him what was going on, but he seemed extremely pissed off at me, and seemingly storming off with his dad or some older family member. His face looked normal until he noticed I was close.

That said, I thought it could had been my attire to church. I never wear sweatpants, but that day, somehow, I thought I would swing by church without changing as it was the last mass. The other theory is that maybe I was not supposed to be getting communion, so the holy spirit was angry?

Hello I’m a man in my early 20’s from northwestern New Jersey. I was baptized catholic as a baby and grew up going to mass until I was about 11 when my mom(baptized catholic and confirmed) started taking me to a non denominational church for a few years which she ended up leaving for many reasons. My time in this church was one of the many reasons I lost faith up until recently when I have found my faith. I’ve been going to mass and such. I haven’t participated in communion because Im afraid it will be sinful . I know adult converts can take classes but I don’t know where to find them. I guess my questions are where can I find these classes ? And is the process different for me since I was already baptized?

I’m sorta struggling with anxiety and addiction to certain content relating to lust and acting on it. I feel you can figure out what that means. It’s like I’m younger, young enough I’m in school still and I really feel bad for these actions and I’m trying to quit. I wanna confess this but it’s like I physically can’t get myself to say it, I struggle so much to say it to the point it’s a struggle to even think about saying it. I’m wondering what I can do? I heard under certain circumstances it’s a venial sin and I can confess it directly to Jesus but other times it’s a mortal and i must confess it to a Catholic Priest. I seriously don’t know what to do, it’s just that I can’t get myself to say the words of my actions. I’m truly sorry for it and trying to stop. Thanks for any reply’s.

I’m so lost and undirected right now and I feel close to being in despair. I’m a 19 year old guy, and 8 months ago after not having been to confession for several years I finally went. I remember feeling partly relieved but unless unsure if I withheld sin or not and I obsessed on it for a little bit but eventually the worry subsided. Then I worried again if I withheld a sin or not, and I can’t remember clearly, but I don’t think so in this case.

Here I am, 8 months later, and I’m currently terrified because I realized that there’s a sin I didn’t properly confess I’m I have no way of remembering it that one was the one that made me originally worried. Now I’m terrified I committed sacrilege since I may have withheld it but I literally just don’t know since it was 8 months ago and I don’t remember.

I plan on going to confession Saturday and just start over by making a general confession, confessing that I withheld a sin, and that all my other confessions were also sacrilege because those may’ve been invalid if my original confession really was invalid. There’s no other way I’ll feel at peace unless I confess this. Since I’m a scruple, part of me wants set up an appointment with a priest to explain my situation to him and confess, but at the same time I want to immediately be restored back into a state of grace, so I feel stuck with no place to go. I just feel like I have no definitive way of solving this because if I confess something I may have not done then I’d be falsely accusing myself. Plus all that valuable time where I thought I experienced the beauty of the faith was invalid. Although if I keep ignoring this worry I fear then that I’ll only dig myself a deeper hole.

I’m really scared and I have no idea what to do. I’m extremely sad because if all of these confessions were invalid it feels like this whole year has been a lie and that I’ll have to now reconfess everything, and I won’t be able to remember all of it. I’m so overwhelmed, burnt out, and just extremely sad and I don’t know what to do. I’m in desperate need of prayers and help I don’t know where to go or what to do.