Dear Father Angelo,

I am writing to you regarding Pope Francis’s latest words on communion for divorced and remarried people. 

The Pope, according to statements we read in the newspapers (but if those were not his words, he would have to publicly deny them), has cleared the way to offering communion to divorced and  remarried people even in circumstances where there is no abstinence from sexual intercourse.

Many newspapers report, “Communion for divorced people even without abstinence from sex”. But to be precise, the exact words reported appear to be the following (Vatican News):

The prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith responds to Cardinal Duka that Pope Francis maintains “the proposal of full continence for divorced and remarried individuals in a new union but admits that there may be difficulties in practicing it and therefore allows, in certain cases, after adequate discernment, the administration of the sacrament of Reconciliation even when it is not possible to be faithful to the continence proposed by the Church.” 

Now this statement seems to contradict the Magisterium of the Church, which has always maintained, as you also state in numerous responses, that it is possible “to give absolution and Holy Communion (obviously excluding scandal) to those who, while living in an objective state of disorder, cannot escape it, behave chastely, and live in God’s grace.“

But the Pope’s statement seems to go in a different direction (at least in some cases).

Always respecting the Supreme Pontiff, I ask you to kindly clarify this matter because I am deeply confused.

Best regards.

The priest’s answer

Dear friend,

1. What Pope Francis said should be interpreted as follows: these are people living in an irregular situation from which they are unable or not allowed to escape.

They have made the resolution to live as brothers and sisters, in perfect sexual abstinence. 

So far, this is fine, because they can receive the sacraments, although always in places where they are not known to be living in irregular situations.

2. It can happen, however, that despite the resolution to live in perfect abstinence, they sometimes fall. 

And then the Pope, as it has always been done and always been said, suggests giving absolution because there is the resolution to conform to God’s law, according to which no sexual relationship is licit outside of marriage.

3. However, the resolution must always be present. And with the resolution also the concrete commitment to strive for holiness of life. 

Otherwise, the confession is invalid and a sacrilege is committed. 

So much so that these people who confess are not told to omit the final words of the Act of Contrition: “I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.” 

But they are required to repeat them sincerely.

4. Cardinal Fernandez’s formulation that now “the Pope admits” is certainly incorrect.

Because it is not the Pope’s responsibility to admit to the Sacrament of Confession those who do not have the proper dispositions. 

The Pope, in turn, is governed by divine law, of which he must be the first diligent minister, because Christ said, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them; whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:23). 

Indeed, Jesus foresees the possibility that his ministers cannot forgive because there is no repentance and no intention of conversion. It would have been more correct for Cardinal Fernandez to write “recognizes” rather than “admits.” With the verb “admits”, it seems that the Pope can dispose as he wishes. Of course, he can dispose as he wishes regarding discipline, but the doctrine of the faith is not his; it rather belongs to the One who gave it to the Church, entrusting Her with the task of guarding it.

I bless you, I remember you in prayer, and I bless you.

Father Angelo

Questo articolo è disponibile anche in: Italian