Returning Catholics FAQs: Sign of Peace?

O n Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics , a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.

People get really serious about that handshaking after the Lord’s Prayer. I guess that’s fine, but some of them have just been coughing or blowing their noses or worse. As someon...