{"id":19204,"date":"2014-04-23T12:33:53","date_gmt":"2014-04-23T17:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/?p=19204"},"modified":"2017-01-24T17:12:24","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T22:12:24","slug":"pope-francis-calls-a-divorced-lady-in-argentina-and-says-its-okay-for-you-to-receive-communion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2014\/04\/pope-francis-calls-a-divorced-lady-in-argentina-and-says-its-okay-for-you-to-receive-communion.html","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis Calls A Divorced Lady In Argentina And Says, “It’s Okay For You To Receive Communion?” UPDATED"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Luca Zennaro, PoolLUCA \u2014 AP Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

And she\u2019s remarried? Yeah, I\u2019ll believe it when I see the press conference. From across the pond, Damien Thompson shares the tale. Would you believe it involves a Facebook post?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pope Francis has phoned a divorced and remarried Catholic woman in Argentina to tell her that she could \u201csafely receive Communion\u201d,according to an extraordinary report in La Stampa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The woman\u2019s husband, writing on Facebook, claims that the Pope \u2013 introducing himself as \u201cFather Bergoglio\u201d \u2013 spoke to his wife, who\u2019d been divorced before marrying him and told her that men or women who were divorced and received Communion weren\u2019t doing anything wrong. He apparently added that this matter is under discussion at the Vatican. (Quick health warning: given the complexity of this subject, we needmuch more clarity<\/em>\u00a0on what Francis reportedly said. I find it hard to believe that he would make such an unqualified statement.)<\/p>\n

The conversation with Jacquelina Sabetta is supposed to have taken place on Easter Monday.<\/p>\n

Read the rest<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah. Just to be clear, divorced people can receive the Blessed Sacrament, go to Reconciliation, etc. The problem is only for the divorced who have remarried without an annulment. Even Catholics that have endured a divorce don\u2019t realize this oftentimes.<\/p>\n

You know something that has always struck me as amazing about the saints? They don\u2019t do things that contradict the teachings of the Church. Like St. Faustina, the disciple of the Divine Mercy, for example.<\/p>\n

O Eternal Truth, Word Incarnate, who most faithfully fulfilled Your Father\u201fs will, today I am becoming a martyr of Your inspirations, since I cannot carry them out because I have no will of my own, though interiorly I see Your will clearly. I submit in everything to the will of my superiors and my confessor. I will follow Your will insofar as You will permit me to do so through Your representative. O my Jesus, it cannot be helped, but I give priority to the voice of the Church over the voice with which You speak to me.<\/p>\n

Paragraph 497 of her diary<\/em><\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m not saying Pope Francis is a saint, but I take him at his word that he is \u201ca faithful son of the Church,\u201d and that he isn\u2019t going to get flagged for a false start before the council being called to discuss this issue<\/a> has presented its findings.<\/p>\n

Anyway, we\u2019ve dealt with the (in)accuracy of Italian journalism before<\/a>. It will be prudent to wait this story out.<\/p>\n

\u00a0UPDATE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Deacon Greg Kandra: \u201cColor me skeptical<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vatican Insider<\/em>, at La Stampa<\/em>,<\/p>\n

\u2026it is a misinterpretation because the person the Pope spoke with was not divorced as was originally believed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not me who\u2019s divorced,\u201d one of the female protagonists in this story said in an interview with Buenos Aires radio station La Red Am910. Lisbona said it was her husband, Julio Zabeta, who had divorced, but she never married in the Church. The two have been united in civil matrimony for the past nineteen years and have two daughters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to go to mass, not every day. Here at home, we pray every evening, turning to God always; when someone is in a difficult situation God is the first one they turn to. I wrote the letter spontaneously. I wrote to him because he\u2019s Argentinean, he listens to people and I believe in miracles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The woman also said she tried taking Communion again last year but not only did the local priest apparently say he could not give her Communion, he even said she could not access the sacrament of Confession either. \u201c[They told me that] when I went home, I resumed a life of sin,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The woman finally decided to write to Pope Francis to explain her situation to him. The letter was sent last September.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And so it goes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UPDATE II<\/p>\n

Fr. Lombardi responds to reports of Pope\u2019s call to Argentinian woman<\/a>,<\/p>\n

Several telephone calls have taken place in the context of Pope Francis\u2019 personal pastoral
\nrelationships.<\/p>\n

Since they do not in any way form part of the Pope\u2019s public activities, no information or
\ncomments are to be expected from the Holy See Press Office.<\/p>\n

That which has been communicated in relation to this matter, outside the scope of personal
\nrelationships, and the consequent media amplification, cannot be confirmed as reliable, and is
\na source of misunderstanding and confusion.<\/p>\n

Therefore, consequences relating to the teaching of the Church are not to be inferred from
\nthese occurrences.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Caveat emptor.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And she\u2019s remarried? Yeah, I\u2019ll believe it when I see the press conference. From across the pond, Damien Thompson shares the tale. Would you believe it involves a Facebook post?\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,232],"tags":[1690,155,31,1689,349,1007,72],"class_list":["post-19204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-learning","tag-divorce","tag-facebook","tag-in-the-news","tag-italy","tag-marriage","tag-pope-francis","tag-sacraments"],"yoast_head":"\nPope Francis Calls A Divorced Lady In Argentina And Says, "It's Okay For You To Receive Communion?" UPDATED<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"And she's remarried? Yeah, I'll believe it when I see the press conference. From across the pond, Damien Thompson shares the tale. 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