Pope confirms: Amoris Laetitia allows divorced/remarried to receive Communion in some cases
September 12, 2016
Catholic World News
Pope Francis has strongly endorsed a document in which the Catholic bishops of Argentina say that Amoris Laetitia allows for Catholics who are divorced and remarried to receive Communion under some circumstances.
In a letter to the Argentine bishops, the Pontiff praised a guide which they had prepared for their priests, explaining the Pope's apostolic exhortation. He said specifically that the document "fully captures the meaning" of Chapter VIII of Amoris Laetitia, which addresses the controversial question of Communion for divorced/remarried Catholics. "There are no other interpretations," the Pope wrote.
The Argentine bishops' document states that it is improper to speak about giving "permission" for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion. Instead, the document emphasizes a "pastoral accompaniment" in which the priest recognized a couple's desire to live in accordance with God's law. This process "does not necessarily lead to the sacraments," the bishops' document says.
The bishops' guide recognizes the possibility that Catholics who are divorced and remarried may choose to live as brother and sister: the only circumstance under which Catholics in such irregular unions have traditionally been allowed to receive the Eucharist. However, the Argentine bishops say that there may be "other more complex circumstances" when that option "may not be viable." In such cases "a path of discernment is still possible," the bishops write. The document suggests that this further "discernment" could be appropriate if refraining from sexual intercourse would imperil a second union, "particularly when a person believes they would commit another mistake that could harm any children born into the new union."
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