Rita Ferroneis the author of several books about liturgy, including Pastoral Guide to Pope Francis’s Desiderio Desideravi (Liturgical Press). She is a contributing writer to Commonweal.
Reading a new letter from the Vatican, one might think the sign of peace is floundering in the church today. In fact, it's one of the most successful rites we have.
From 2005 to 2010 adult baptisms fell by 41 percent. Those losses were masked by a gain in adult receptions into full communion; then those totals began to fall too.
