Breaking With Tradition

"A divorcee who takes communion is not doing anything wrong. There are some priests who are more papist than the Pope."
"It is an issue we are discussing in the Vatican, because a divorcee who takes communion is not doing anything wrong."
Pope Francis -- Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio

"We would neither confirm nor deny that -- this was a private telephone call made by the Holy Father and we would not divulge the details."
Vatican spokesman

"One of the most wonderful things in my life has just happened -- receiving a telephone call from none other than Papa Francesco. We're Catholics, we believe in God, and though we don't go to Mass every Sunday, every evening we thank the Lord for our family and our work."
Julio Sabetta, pastry chief, Argentina

ALESSANDRO BIANCHI/REUTERS

An Argentinian woman concerned that if she took communion she would be "violating Church rules", wrote to Pope Francis to inform him she had been refused communion by her local priest. The priest "told me that every time I went home, I was going back to living in sin", explained Jacqui Lisbona.

She had married a divorced man, though they were both Catholic. Under existing church law divorce and re-marriage are simply not recognized. Jacqui Lisbona could not take communion because she had married a divorced man and because they were prohibited from marrying in church and arranged instead for a civil ceremony; twice a sinner.

The couple has been married for 19 years. They have two teenage daughters. This was not by any means the first time Pope Francis had directly responded personally to an appeal from an individual whose soul was in a troubled state. On this occasion, the pontiff telephoned Ms. Lisbona at her home on Easter Monday where she lived in the central region of Santa Fe, Argentina.

Her husband happened to answer the telephone from the individual who introduced himself as "Father Bergoglio", apologizing that it had taken him so long to get around to calling after he had received the letter from the troubled woman. Under church law, unless a marriage is annulled, Catholics who remarry are seen to be living in sin, committing adultery, and thus refused communion.

But this pope has stated that divorced and separated couples should not be excluded from church events, raising hopes that he may take it upon himself to overturn the ban on divorcees receiving communion. Priests should "ask themselves how to help (divorced couples) from feeling excluded from the mercy of God", he has previously stated.

This man is a long-overdue breath of fresh air battling absurd constricting social/religious convention in a fusty institution that has too long been infested with corruption and sanctimony.