“Individuals who began a brand new union after the defeat of their sacramental marriage are under no circumstances excommunicated, they usually completely should not be handled that means”, Francis informed pilgrims and vacationers at his first common viewers after a summer time break.
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The Argentinian pontiff also said it would be hard to give these children “an example of convinced and practiced faith” if their parents are kept fare from the community – “as if they were excommunicated”.
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.
That issue had emerged as the most likely candidate for possible reform after Pope Francis ordered a worldwide survey of Catholics and heard that many ignored Church teachings on birth control, sex before marriage or acceptance of homosexuality.
In his newest remarks on divorce, Francis did not go that far.
“There is no easy solution for these situations, but we can and must always encourage these families to participate in the church’s life, through prayer, listening to the Word of God, the Christian education of their children, and service to the poor”.
Still she does not foresee a lifting of the Communion ban.
“These people are not excommunicated – they are not excommunicated!”
Some analysts believe that despite the opposition of Vatican conservatives, Francis may try to push for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion again.
The divorced who have remarried can not, however, be admitted to Eucharistic Communion because “their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist”, St. John Paul II taught in Familiaris Consortio.
The church, he said, must be one of “open doors”.
Francis said the children often carry the “additional weight” of being made to feel like outcasts in local parishes because of their parents’ failed first marriages.
In June, Francis created a new Vatican Tribunal to hear cases of bishops accused of failing to protect children from sexually abusive priests, Newsday reported.
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“The biblical symbol of the Good Shepherd summarizes the mission that Jesus received from the Father: that of giving his life for the sheep”, said the pope. Although instances of priests openly rejecting divorced couples because of their marital status are relatively rare, it does happen, and simply preaching the policy can lead to people feeling unwelcome in – and possibly even leaving – Catholic parishes.
