Important Info -- Read Prior To Posting

[Therese Martin]

Please review the forum descriptions before deciding in which to begin your thread.

Ask an Apologist - get expert answers to questions on Catholicism - read this first

Karl Keating's E-Letter - react to it here, pro or con

Radio - offer feedback or discuss Catholic Answers Live

This Rock - talk about articles in CA's magazine

New Projects - be informed about upcoming CA endeavors

Apologetics - learn to respond to questions about and challenges to your Faith, including effective presentation techniques, examine historical controversies

Sacred Scripture - discuss the Bible, including translational issues and exegisis

Moral Theology - explore moral implications and ramifications of Church doctrine and dilemmas affecting you and find the answer to the question, "Is this a sin?"

Social Justice - dialogue about Church teaching with societal implications, pro-life/pro-choice issues, just war doctrine, human rights

Traditional Catholicism - talk about the Traditional Latin Mass, the Indult, SSPX, sedevacantism

Eastern Christianity - learn the history, spirituality, and practices of Eastern & Oriental Churches, Catholic and Orthodox

Non-Catholic Religions - explore the history and beliefs of non-Catholic and non-Christian faiths, dialogue with their adherents

Liturgy & Sacraments - discuss Mass and Sacraments, roles of ordinary and extraordinary ministers, liturgical music, church etiquette, the "other" Western Rites (Ambrosian, Bragan, and Mozarabic), Anglican Usage

Family Life - talk with peers about marriage, educational concerns, interpersonal relationships, family planning, other aspects of daily family life

Parenting - chat with others about coping with the joys, sorrows, practicalities, and challenges of raising children

Evangelization - meet with others involved in religious education, catechesis, RCIA, CCD, and missionary outreach, compare experiences, learn from one another

Spirituality - learn about Catholic apostolates, Secular and Third Orders, prayer, fasting, sacramentals, devotionals, Saints, your own spirituality

Prayer Intentions - post prayer requests, respond to those of others, participate in perpetual prayers

Vocations - discuss discernment of your own vocation to the religious, married, or single life; share your experiences with others; get information on diocesan and secular priestly formation and on religious orders

Popular Media - dialogue about our culture, including art, magazines, books, computers, television, radio, music, theatre, and the performing arts

Catholic News - talk about news events involving the Church, its leaders, and the laity

Secular News - share perspectives and analyses of current events in our country and the world

War on Terror - discuss emotional, social, and spiritual concerns involved in reacting to terrorism

If your topic doesn't fit criteria for any forum, try the Back Fence - a mix of the ridiculous and sublime, or The Clubhouse - chat there is light, but can be educational

Finally, the Concierge Desk - a collection of subforums designed to meet your needs, visit it to: get or offer Tech Support; better understand forum use through Mini-Tutorials; familiarize yourself with the Rules of the Road; and, even test forum features in the Sandbox

With these choices, everyone should find a forum to meet their needs. Enjoy yourself, and use the Suggestion Box to let us know what we can do to make your experience better.

[Therese Martin]

Forum moderator:

Jean Anthony

If you experience difficulty in the Liturgy & Sacraments Forum, please use the private message system to contact the forum moderator, Jean Anthony.

[Marian Carroll]

Helpful Hints for Posting

1) Thread title: Please do not use non-related thread titles such as Help Me – Desolation – Read at Once etc.

Use a thread title which conveys the subject/content of what you wish to address. This is helpful to other readers in the forum and if someone needs to search for the thread, they will remember the subject, not a non related title.

2) Be well acquainted with the Forum Rules and “Sticky” (Choosing Your Forum Wisely), towards the top of each Forum which offers a general description of the various forum sections. Post accordingly.

3) When creating a post, use white space and paragraphing for easier reading. One large “lump” of text does not encourage heavy readership among other posters. Be certain to limit yourself to one post blank -- do not use sequential posting blanks.

It would be very helpful if when posting reference urls they were bolded and/or in a different color so as to make them instantly identifiable to readers.

4) Keep personalized chit-chat for your PM’s with your “special friends” – use the forum boards for posts of general interest.

5) When you have a problem with learning to backquote or other questions on how things “work” remember the Concierge Desk – don’t drop them into the general Forum – you’re much more apt to get a speedy and helpful reply from someone in the Tech Support Forum.

6) Do not post large or oversize photos – use a link instead. Those wishing to view will do so, those not, or who are on older computer systems, will not then be adversely affected in their viewing.

7) Don’t jump threads. If you get involved in an argument in one thread, it’s considered poor manners to restart the previous argument in the middle of an unrelated thread. Also, if the moderator closes a thread, consider the subject closed and do not begin it anew in another thread.

8) Check out thread:
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=52484
Where many posters have contributed ideas and thoughts on posting etiquette.

Guidelines on posting articles to Catholic Answer Forums

9) Stay on the topic of the forum you are posting in. If you are going to post an article, make sure you are placing it in the correct forum.

10) Please check current postings to avoid duplicate threads.

11) Mandatory threads on news reports of current events as well as the quoted works of others MUST be linked to a publicly available article/reference on the web.*

*if using Zenit as a referring source of material, (as they no longer provide a direct link to the article being used), please include both the Code number and the date together with the link to Zenit. (www.zenit.org).

Quotes from books must include standard reference information, including title, author,(and page number if possible). (Publisher, date, and preferably ISBN are helpful).

12) Do not paste lengthy quotations from books and articles into a post. Brief excerpts, no more than two or three paragraphs or pull quotes, may be posted to highlight a particular point that you wish to discuss.

Full or extended excerpts posted will be trimmed to just the first sentence. Alternatively, the entire thread may be pulled.

13) The character limit is in place on the forums to encourage participants to keep their remarks to a reasonable length. Please limit posts into a discussion thread to one single posting form.

14) Do not post articles that make personal attacks or are in other ways inappropriate for the CA forums.

[Marian Carroll]

GENERAL NOTICE

In order to more easily consolidate RCIA threads now scattered throughout the Forum sections, they are being included in the new Evangelization sub-forum which will cover threads on RCIA, catechetics, and missionary endeavors. Please use this new Evangelization forum to ask questions, provide feedback, and discuss the various programs and experiences directly related to RCIA.

Other questions should be placed into separate threads, correctly titled and posted in the appropriate forums.

[Marian Carroll]

Helpful Hints in Reporting Posts/Problems

As the Moderators cannot possibly read through the thousands of threads hosted at the Catholic Answers Forums, they depend on the Report A Post system to do their job and do it well - the job being to afford a place for civil and charitable discourse, dialogue, and debate.

The Post Report system is a tool meant to aid in keeping CAF a safe, charitable, and pleasant "home" on the Internet where Catholics and non-Catholics may gather. Please be assured that all submitted reports are reviewed and appropriate action taken with respect to them.

Please keep the following guidelines in mind when filing a Post Report:

1) Do not submit more than a single Report regarding the same post.

2) Do not use multiple identities to file duplicate Reports regarding the same post.

3) Do not form a group or alliance with your friends to file a series of Reports on the same post/forum member.

4) Do not submit Reports simply to: even scores; redress disagreements with others; buttress your position in a thread; or, attempt foreclosure of legitimate debate.

None of these practices are legitimate uses of the complaint process and all are generally transparent to Moderator staff. They detract from the credibilty of the Report itself, unnecessarily increase Moderator workload, and reflect negatively on those who employ them.

[Joe Monahan]

Banned Topics List

Catholic Answers has an obligation to protect our members and assure that the Forums remain a respected discussion environment in which members feel secure in participating.

To achieve this, it is necessary to ban certain topics, content, and posting techniques. If you are unsure whether or not something falls within the scope of this list, inquire of a moderator privately, before posting

1. Advocating violence or threatening a person or institution
2. Inappropriate language or graphics (crude, obscene, rude, vulgar, or blasphemous)
3. Pornography and links to pornographic sites or sites which host links to or advertise pornographic sites
4. Sexually explicit or graphically violent material or content that is inappropriate for non-adult members or might offend adult members
5. Hate material and links to sites that promote bigotry, hatred, or prejudice toward those of any race, religion, ethnicity, culture, or nationality
6. Derogatory terms characterizing a class of people by religion (Papists, Prods, Fundies), political affiliation, or national/ethnic origin
7. Blatantly disrespectful characterization of any faith, ("Rome is the Whore of Babylon", “Nazarenes are Holy-Rollers”, “Jews are Christ-killers”, "Muslims are terrorists") its tenets, practices, or adherents
8. Proselytizing Catholics or encouraging them to leave the Church
9. Debating moderator action, including discussing, disputing, or speculating as to why a member’s posting privileges were restricted, why posted messages were edited or deleted, or why threads were closed or removed from public fora
10. Posts in circumvention of a restriction, suspension, or ban imposed by staff
11. Solicitation of personal information (e.g., age, income, or location), beyond that freely offered by members through inclusion in their public profiles
12. Identifiable information pertaining to individuals, including the names of non-public personages who have not consented to being identified, their mailing or e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, or details of their private life (or such information - not already in the public domain - which relates to a public personage who has not consented to it being revealed)
13. E-mail or private correspondence from a third party
14. Discussion of political candidates, including posts that name a candidate, allude to a particular candidate, use euphemisms for a candidate, or refer to surrogates for a particular candidate
15. Rumored "conversions in process" that involve third parties, particularly public figures. Exception: If the possible conversion is itself a news story, that news story may be discussed in the Catholic News sub-forum so long as a link to the news story is provided in the original post
16. Encouraging “swarming” of other forums to engage in debate of anti-Catholic postings there
17. Links to blatantly anti-Catholic sites, except as a valid reference point for discussion
18. Addresses or telephone numbers of individuals, institutions, or commercial enterprises to promote activity that might negatively affect another’s life or business operations
19. Identifying individual parishes, clergy, or hierarchs as “unfaithful to the Magisterium”, guilty of “liturgical abuse”, or otherwise engaged in unacceptable or unpopular practices, based on personal “knowledge” or opinion
20. Soliciting or proffering financial, legal, medical, or mental health advice
21. Asserting credentials as a clergyman, religious, theologian, or legal or medical professional, on which members might rely to their detriment, when the credentials cannot be verified to the satisfaction of CA staff
22. Lengthy excerpts of articles or publications that exceed standards for “reasonable use” (generally no more than three paragraphs) or might otherwise be construed to infringe copyright
23. Unlinked news stories or those not linked to a publicly accessible website (one that does not require registration or payment)
24. Intentionally deceptive material, including plagiarism (presenting another's work as one's own) or text attributable to or quoting others that has been altered
25. False statements maliciously made to defame another’s reputation
26. Promoting unapproved apparitions and revelations (those not approved by the Church for private or public devotion) or alleged private locutions
27. Soliciting business for any commercial enterprise without prior approval by CA staff
28. Soliciting donations for any individual or institution without prior approval by CA staff
29. Spamming (multiple or repetitious messages consisting of identical or nearly identical text or links without substantive commentary)
30. Using “sock puppet” identities to deceive others, promote an agenda, bolster one's own credibility, filibuster, or engage in debate with oneself in furtherance of a point of view

From time to time, it may be necessary to adopt content rules applicable to individual forums because of their particular nature. Members should periodically review the Posting Guidelines of forums in which they regularly participate

[Marian Carroll]

How to Talk to (and about) a Bishop
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2007/0701fea2.asp

[Marian Carroll]

The purpose of the forums is to allow dialogue, discussion and hopefully provide some clarity or meaningful commentary.

To that end, please refrain from posting videos or stills depicting purported liturgical abuses, as they are usually provided without any recognizable purposeful context other than to provide a “tsk tsk”.

Few sites featuring these kinds of photos and/or descriptions are ever fully referenced as to their proper source much less verifiable as having occurred at specific liturgies, which is clearly the inference or outright claim.

In the recent past we have had posted:

. a number of threads pertaining to persons having no legitimate affiliation to the Church itself

. anomalies or oddities obviously for the purpose of “shock” value or inferring that these problems are the “norm.”

. Copies of material originally hosted by anti magisterial or schismatic groups, and,

.Various groups in performance which seem posted only to critique or mock them

. A variety of claimed “facts” which are disputed by others.

Additionally, some of these threads are regularly initiated by those having a posting agenda which is prohibited by CAF rules.

Those who choose to view videos/photos on the net should be aware:

.they are the work of individuals (generally anonymous) whose agenda and objectivity is generally unknown to the viewer,

.they are not necessarily accompanied by verifiable documentation that the persons or places depicted are those named,

.the context of events depicted may or may not be as described and the viewer is not always privy to sufficient information to have assurances in that regard,

.superimposed captioning to replace a poor or absent audio track has inherent risks as regards accuracy.

[Marian Carroll]

Your cooperation and courtesy in not reopening old/dormant threads is requested:

-1. the issues that spurred them are often no longer "hot" or current topics, explaining why thread activity ceased originally

-2. posters originally involved in the discussion are sometimes no longer active on the forum and, therefore, unavailable to reply to comments added to the thread

Our experience suggests that, when a topic merits revival, it is best accomplished by initiating a new thread that draws on recent events and can be posted to contemporaneously. This eliminates the baggage of folks being frustrated by asking and not receiving responses to issues raised in early posts (because the new poster didn't notice that the post he is quoting was made a year ago).

[Jean Anthony]

FONTS:

Please choose fonts that are clean and easy to read. Most fonts will become problematic at size 4 or greater, but not all. In other words, fonts should not be excessively large and/or bold.

CAPITAL LETTERS:

Posting in ALL CAPS is considered yelling when posting online, so please don't do it. All caps may be used to "season" your posts, but like all good seasoning, a little is better than a lot.


FONT COLORS:

Please be very sure that whatever color of font you select is easy on the eye so that others will find it clean and readable. Some colors obviously will never work for that, so preview you text for readability before hitting the submit button.

Don't post every other word in a different color. It's too distracting. Take to heart the adage about seasoning.

TEXT MESSAGING AND OTHER WRITING FADS:

Please don't use text messaging. Do use plain, ordinary English grammar in constructing sentences. Not everyone understands the abbreviations used in text messaging or other faddish writing styles. Many people use abbreviations common to online posting, such as IOW, LOL, AFAIK, etc. But please don't over use these, either.

Understand that if I see a post with a problematic font/color/CAPs/writing fad I will contact you about it. However, please do take the hint. Thank you all.

Jean Anthony, Moderator
Liturgy & Sacraments

[Jean Anthony]

Just a bit of housekeeping people.

Please, if someone writes something inappropriate/inflammatory/against forum rules, don't comment on it within the thread. Use the report post function so the moderator can deal with it instead of having to go back through the thread to try to find the offending remark. It's not just a waste of moderator time to have to do that; it allows the inappropriate comment to be read by more people before it can be removed. Review the forum rule that is being violated, if you need to, before sending a report and please don't use it to "get back" at another member.

Also, if someone posts a remark challenging Church teaching, don't respond. Report it. The moderator will either delete the post or split it off into a new thread and move it to the appropriate forum.

And please read the stickies before posting if you have any question about what is under moratorium or not allowed in the L&S forum.

Thank you all and God bless,
Jean Anthony

[Jean Anthony]

And please don't encourage off topic discussions. Report threads that have gone off topic, as well.

This has been a tacit understanding on the L&S forum, but to clarify, no denigration of any rite of the Church nor of clergy/religious are to be posted. And do not name individual clergy/religious unless you wish to cite their good words/actions.

Again, thank you all.

[Jean Anthony]

Lately we've seen several old threads revived--some as old as six years. Please, when you search for a topic take note of the year it was first posted. If it's over a year old, please start a new thread to discuss the topic. Thank you, all!