Divorced remarried Catholics and those living “in irregular situations” are able to receive holy communion in some cases, Pope Francis says. In a letter to the bishops of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis has praised their proposals for implementing Amoris Laetitia, including access to the sacraments for those in “irregular family situations,” Vatican Radio reports. The document Read more
The Vatican is striking back at critics of Pope Francis’s document on family life, titled “Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love)”. Wednesday’s L’Osservatore Romano carried a front page essay by Italian Catholic historian and politician Rocco Buttiglione. He insisted that the document is in line with teaching by previous popes on divorced and civilly remarried Read more
Three New Zealanders will be running a workshop on Amoris Laetitia “The Joy of Love” at a meeting of young people in Lyons, France. They are part of a group of seven heading to Lyon to take part in Dare to Dream, the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Marist Family. Jen Martinez, Sam Mao Read more
An archbishop known for his conservative views is to co-ordinate a committee of US bishops working on the implementation of Amoris Laetitia. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia will lead a working group of five bishops. The group’s purpose is “to support our Holy Father in furthering the reception Read more
An Italian journalist says parts of Pope Francis’s recent family exhortation drew on writings by an Argentine prelate who once clashed with the Vatican. Writing in L’Espresso, Sandro Magister compared passages from Amoris Laetitia with passages from two articles by Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández. “The resemblance between the two is very strong,” the journalist wrote. Read more
The apostolic exhortation on love in the family, Amoris Laetitia, is a landmark document not only for the pontificate of Francis, but also in the history of modern papal teaching. This is not simply because of its approach to the hot-button issues of marriage and sexuality, but especially because of its vision of the Church. Read more
The Church’s doctrinal chief has said Pope Francis’s document Amoris Laetitia is in line with previous Church teaching on divorce, remarriage and Communion. The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, told seminarians in Spain that the apostolic exhortation does not change the Church’s discipline in this area. John Read more
Early reaction to Pope Francis’s recent document on family life has seen some divorced and remarried Catholics demanding absolution at an Italian cathedral. This was stated in an article by major penitentiary at Milan Cathedral, Msgr Fausto Gilardi, a translation of which was published on the Crux website. In the article, he mentioned the reaction to a Read more
Pope Francis has spoken of his annoyance at the media’s seeming fixation on Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried. On his flight back from the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, the Pope was asked about a much-commented-upon footnote in his recent apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. In a section of the document discussing pastoral Read more
On Friday, Pope Francis released a 256-page document called “Amoris Laetitia,” or “The Joy of Love.” In it, he calls for the Catholic Church to approach issues of sex, marriage, family planning and divorce with less emphasis on dogmatic law and more emphasis on individual conscience. While the post-synodal apostolic exhortation doesn’t directly alter any Read more