Christian tradition - Topics

Confession and the role a priest plays as intermediary The liturgical year and why its seasons still shape the working calendar Why Orthodox and Western Easter usually fall on different Sundays Why some churches celebrate communion weekly and others only monthly Why do some Catholic families still eat fish on Fridays? What is the order of a Catholic funeral rite from vigil to committal? What is the difference between a godparent and an adoptive parent? Why pilgrimage sites in Christianity attract believers from rival churches Why Catholic and Protestant Bibles contain a different number of books Baptism as an infant versus as an adult and what each practice implies Why is baptism treated as an initiation ceremony? What is the difference between a christening and a baby naming ceremony? How the veneration of saints differs across Christian denominations Advent candles and the counting rituals of the weeks before Christmas Lenten fasting practices and how much of them survived into modern life How long is the mourning period in different religions? What is the order of a British coronation service? Why was the anointing of the monarch hidden from the cameras? Can a godchild inherit and does the law recognize it? Hymn traditions that split along denominational lines A funeral mass and a graveside committal ask different things of the mourners Church buildings and the symbolic layout that survived every reform The old arguments over saints' days and whether honouring them is superstition