Cardinal Pell said the text of the report has been "significantly misunderstood" and has no direct reference to the matter.

Cardinal Pell said that "the discernment that is encouraged in paragraph 85 in these particular matters has to be based on the full teaching of Pope John Paul II" and the teaching of the Church in general.

Other synod fathers have said the final report represented an opening to discernment, on a case-by-case basis, of the possibility of eventual absolution and Communion for some divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.

Cardinal Pell said the document's mention of the "internal forum" . . . "cannot be used to deny objective truth".

Asked why the document does not clearly say that the door is closed to Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried, Cardinal Pell replied: "I think that is a good question, and I think that the document does say that", however not explicitly.

The ban on Communion for civilly remarried Catholics, he said, "is implicit, really present in the document, but not spelled out as much as some of the fathers would like".

The paragraphs in the synod's final report that deal with the question of pastoral care for civilly remarried Catholics received the largest number of "no" votes, but still gained the necessary two-thirds majority.

Cardinal Pell said the synod fathers could have achieved "an even deeper consensus with a bit more clarity".

The Australian prelate was asked whether the Pope will settle the issue of Communion and provide a definitive interpretation to the document

He responded: "Whether he will or he won't depends, I suppose, on how he sees this document; whether it is clear enough, whether it expresses adequately the mind of the Church."

"We don't want it to be in the situation of some of the other Christian churches where one or two issues were fought about publicly for years and years and years," he added.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• Catholic Voices
• Catholic Culture
• Image: Reuters

In 93 interventions at the synod on Wednesday and Thursday, widely different views were expressed.

A key issue is whether there could be any possibility for divorced and remarried people to take on some sort of "penitential path" that would eventually allow them to receive the Eucharist.

A Vatican spokesperson told a media briefing that this issue crystallises the differences in the two approaches.

Some bishops want the Church to "accompany people in spite of their failures without watering down [church] teaching".

Others warned against "quick fixes or quick solutions" to pastoral problems.

Those in favour of some sort of "penitential path" did not want to allow "indiscriminate access to the Eucharist, but a customised approach for each diocese", the spokesperson said.

Bishops had said that divorce "is a sort of tragedy for the family" but asked: "How can the Church punish something that is part and parcel of the human experience?"

One bishop had spoken of a need to "profess the faith with clarity, to know what the creed means and also to know not only such expressions as doors wide open but the importance of the narrow path sometimes, which is difficult to follow".

One bishop had reportedly told the synod of a particularly moving story about a child of a remarried couple who had received the Eucharist and then shared it with their parents.

That bishop, another Vatican spokesman said, wanted to show "the suffering of the children of these divorced and remarried couples".

German Cardinal Reinhard Marx asked the synod how could the Church refuse people the sacramental experience of God's mercy, even if they really and honestly repented their share in the breakdown of their first marriages?

Cardinal Marx pleaded that divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, who played an active role in their parishes, be allowed to receive the sacraments under certain conditions and only after considering each individual case.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: The Catholic Thing

At his general audience on August 5, the Pope said such people are "still part of the Church", even though "their unions are contrary to the sacrament of marriage".

"As these situations especially affect children, we are aware of a greater urgency to foster a true welcome for these families in our communities.

"For how can we encourage these parents to raise their children in the Christian life, to give them an example of Christian faith, if we keep them at arm's length?" he asked.

He stressed that his predecessors "have worked diligently to let these families know they are still a part of the Church".

Acknowledging that "there is no easy solution for these situations", he said: "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."

The Church is always looking with the "heart of a mother" to seek out the good for people, the Pope said.

He also called on priests "to manifest openly and coherently the availability of the community" to welcome and encourage divorced and remarried persons.

The Pope added: "May everyone, especially Christian families, imitate the Good Shepherd, who knows all his sheep and excludes no one from his infinite love."

Quoting from his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium ("The Joy of the Gospel"), the pontiff said: "The Church is called to always be the open house of the father."

"No closed doors," he told the audience, repeating: "No closed doors!"

Sources

• The Tablet
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Washington Post

After a consistory on February 20-21, Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said the cardinals' discussions had focussed mainly on three topics.

These were the Christian vision of people and family life, pastoral support for families and ministry to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.

Synods in October this year and next year will address similar family-related themes.

Retired German Cardinal Walter Kasper gave a two-hour opening presentation to the consistory, laying out the biblical and theological basis of Church teaching on marriage.

He also emphasised the challenge of finding ways to remain faithful to Jesus' words about the indissolubility of marriage as well as embodying the mercy God always shows to those who have sinned or fallen short.

Several cardinals spoke about the Church's process for granting annulments and possible ideas for improving the process or simplifying it.

Other cardinals, Fr Lombardi said, spoke about the desire of some divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to be able to receive Communion even though they have not received an annulment.

"The discussion was very interesting, very broad, very serene," the spokesman said.

"No decisions were made," but there was "a clear commitment to finding the best way to keep together fidelity to Christ's words and mercy in the life of the Church."

Cardinal Kasper told reporters that Pope Francis had asked him to pose questions to the cardinals to prompt a debate.

"We cannot change the doctrine," Cardinal Kasper said. "It's a question of applying the doctrine to concrete situations."

He cited a case with which he was involved regarding a remarried Catholic mother whose daughter was preparing for her first Communion, but the woman couldn't receive Communion because her first marriage wasn't annulled.

"The mother wants to live the faith. She educated her daughter in the faith. She went to Confession because her marriage had failed. But is not a remission of sin possible in this case?" the cardinal asked.

As a bishop in Germany in the 1990s, Kasper had tried to institute a policy that would allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion in certain circumstances, but this was rejected by Rome.

In opening the consistory, Pope Francis said the Church needs a "pastoral" approach that is "intelligent, courageous and full of love" and not focused on abstract arguments.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• Codewit/Associated Press
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Daily Mail/Getty Images

She had entered a convent straight out of high school and left to marry her high school sweetheart eight years later.

Some time after the second marriage broke down and her daughter was grown she re-entered the order: this was possible because her first marriage had been annulled, and the second had never existed in official eyes because the husband had not been dispensed from his vows as a priest.

When she talked about Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI she sketched a Hitler salute in the air and giggled.

I don't know of any story which better illustrates the gap between the Vatican's official teaching about marriage and the lived experience of some of the most serious Catholics.

There have always been annulments available for the rich and well-connected, but for most Catholics divorce is not recognised and - more to the point - their second marriages will officially be treated as adulterous relationships, and disbar them from communion. Continue reading.

Andrew Brown is a journalist, writer, and editor. He writes a blog for The Guardian, and edits their online Comment is Free blog.

Source: The Guardian

Image: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

"In our communities, remarried divorcees take communion and receive the sacraments of reconciliation and the anointing of the sick, with our approval," the priests say on their website.

Calling their actions a 'balancing-act', the priests say they are aware they are violating the rules of the church, but they are taking account of the real-life conscious decisions made by individuals.

The priests don't want to have to continue the 'balancing-act'. As a matter of urgency they are urging the Church to consider the delicacy of the situation and hope that it will change its attitude and practice to divorced and remarried people.

"With our signature, we declare that in our pastoral activity regarding remarried divorcees, we are allowing ourselves to be guided by mercy," the priests say.

Sources

• Vatican Insider
• Momorandum Priester und Diakone Freiburg
• Image: Catholic Charities