Reports that Pope Francis told an Argentine woman civilly married to a divorced man that she could receive Communion “cannot be confirmed as reliable,” said Federico Lombardi, S.J., the Vatican spokesman, on April 24. World media quickly picked up the story after an account of the phone call was posted to Facebook. Father Lombardi, in a formal statement, said “that which has been communicated in relation to this matter,” and its “consequent media amplification cannot be confirmed as reliable and is a source of misunderstanding and confusion.” While Pope Francis has made it clear the church should find a pastoral approach to helping divorced and remarried Catholics, he has said any decisions on how to handle such situations would have to be discussed by the Synod of Bishops that will meet in October and again in 2015. “Consequences relating to the teaching of the church are not to be inferred” from anything the pope may have said during the call, Father Lombardi said.
When the Pope Calls
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met inside St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of the funeral for Pope Francis on the morning of April 26.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re’s homily for the funeral of Pope Francis.
The day before he died, Pope Francis made one final circuit through St. Peter’s Square in his popemobile. “That’s my last image of him alive,” Gerry O’Connell remembered. “He drove among the people.”
Universities need to change. But Trump is attacking the wrong problems.