Pope Francis Says Remarried Divorced Catholics Still in Church

Pope Francis said today that Catholics who establish new relationships after the failure of their marriage should be welcomed by the church and must not be treated as if they were “excommunicated”.

Francis said the clergy must be more merciful and not treat Catholics who found happiness in a second marriage as though they had been excommunicated, especially because of the potential impact on their children.

Francis wondered how the church can insist that the children of these failed marriage be raised by their parents “with an example of convinced and practiced faith, if we keep them (the parents) far from the community life (of the church) as if they were excommunicated?”

The ban on Catholics who divorce or remarry from receiving communion is a practice that Catholic bishops plan on reviewing at the Vatican in October, according to CNN.

His call comes just ahead of this autumn’s General Synod on the Family, when cardinals from across the world will gather in the Vatican to debate the church’s future direction.

“They are still part of the Church”, Francis said during his weekly general audience at the Vatican.

He made similar comments last December, lamenting that divorced Catholics are often “excommunicated de facto”, urging the church to “open the doors a little bit more”, and asking “Why can’t they be godparents?”

“It is important that they experience the Church as a mother attentive to all, always disposed to listen in encounters”.

Dr. Zsupan-Jerome says she would definitely categorize Francis as a pastoral pope, “a pope who’s concerned about the actual context and lives of people and their struggles”.

As a boy, I could never understand why my grandfather’s best friend never walked up with him to receive Holy Communion.

As judicial vicar for the Harrisburg Diocese, the Rev. Paul Clark works closely with couples who are in the process of getting a divorce or seeking to remarry.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says while divorce itself does not constitute a moral offence, entering into a new union, even if it is recognised by civil law, “adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery”. “Each one of us can do our part by having the attitude of the Good Shepherd, Who knows every one of His sheep, and excludes no one from His infinite love”.

Francis also talked about the impact that church teaching on divorce has on children. On Wednesday, he took it up in a brief 660-word reflection, the gist of which was to call the church to greater compassion for people in this situation.