Pope’s phone call on divorce, Communion confuses

Reports that Pope Francis had advised a woman that she should receive Communion, despite a divorce and remarriage, have caused a flurry of corrections and clarifications, including a cautionary note from the Vatican press office.

May 02, 2014

VATICAN: Reports that Pope Francis had advised a woman that she should receive Communion, despite a divorce and remarriage, have caused a flurry of corrections and clarifications, including a cautionary note from the Vatican press office.

The Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis did indeed place a telephone call to Jaquelina Lisbona, an Argentine woman who had written to ask him questions about her marital situation and her ability to receive Communion. But the Vatican statement emphasized that reports about that conversation “cannot be confirmed as reliable.”

Lisbona—who had initially expressed dismay about the international attention given to the story—told an Argentine radio station that she is not divorced. However her husband, Julio Sabetta,was divorced and remarried. Because their marriage is not recognized by the Church, Lisbona said, her pastor had told her that she is barred from the sacraments.

It was Sabetta, the woman’s husband, who originally broke the story by reporting on his Facebook page that the Pope had told his wife “that she should go to confession and start taking Communion at a different parish.” In his 2nd-hand account of the conversation, Sabetta claimed that the Pope had assured his wife that “a divorced person who goes to Communion is not doing anything wrong.” (In fact, the Church allows divorced Catholics to receive Communion, provided that they do not attempt a 2nd marriage.)-- CWN

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