Pope Francis Reaches Out to Divorced and Remarried Catholics

Pope Francis meets with newlywed couples in an audience in the Vatican

Photo courtesy: CNS photo via The Catholic Herald, London

Pope Francis, in his August 5 general audience in the Vatican, continued his catechesis [teaching] on the family, touching on the situation of the civilly divorced and remarried Catholics, reports the Vatican Radio.

"In these decades, in truth, the Church has been neither insensitive nor lazy. Thanks to the in-depth analysis performed by Pastors, led and guided by my Predecessors, the awareness has truly grown that it is necessary to have a fraternal and attentive welcome, in love and in truth, of the baptized who have established a new relationship of cohabitation after the failure of the marital sacrament; in fact, these persons are by no means excommunicated — they are not excommunicated! — and they should absolutely not be treated as such: they are still a part of the Church," he said. 

For further news on  and analysis of this topic, please visit the following:

• Pope: divorced and remarried people not excommunicated (Vatican Radio)
• Pope Francis on the divorced and civilly remarried (YouTube video) 
• Pope Francis: GENERAL AUDIENCE (Wednesday, 5 August, 2015) (w2.vatican.va) 
• Pope: Divorce and remarriage contradicts the sacrament, but Church always reaches out (Catholic News Agency)
• Pope: 'By No Means Excommunicated,' but Divorce and Remarriage Contradicts the Sacrament (National Catholic Register)
• Pope Francis: The Divorced and Remarried Are Not Excommunicated (aleteia.org)
• Pope: Divorced and Remarried Are Not Excommunicated, Should be Welcomed (America magazine) 
• Divorced and remarried Catholics are not 'excommunicated,' says Pope (The Catholic Herald)
• Francis: Divorced and remarried are not by any means excommunicated (National Catholic Reporter)
• Pope: "No closed doors" to divorced and remarried, they are part of the life of the Church (AsiaNews) 
• Pope Francis Urges Priests to Welcome Remarried Catholics (The New York Times)
  
• Pope Francis: Church Should Welcome Divorced, Remarried Catholics (TIME magazine)
• Pope Francis Says Remarried Divorced Catholics Still in Church (The Bloomberg News)
  
• Pope Francis Says Church must welcome divorced, remarried Catholics (Religion News Service)
• Pope Francis's embracing of divorced Catholics still needs to overcome divine law (CBC News)
  
• Stop shunning divorced Catholics, Pope Francis tells his flock (The Telegraph)
  
•  Pope Francis on the Divorced and Remarried: 10 Things to Know and Share (National Catholic Register)