Confusion swirls around Pope's phone message on divorce and Communion

April 24, 2014

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, is 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.)

The Vatican press office indicated that it would not comment on the Pope’s telephone call, emphasizing that any such conversations would “not in any way form part of the Pope’s public activities.” The Vatican statement added that “consequences relating to the teaching of the Church are not to be inferred from these occurrences.”

 

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Further information:

• Dichiarazione del Direttore della Sala Stampa della Santa Sede, P. Federico Lombardi (Holy See Press Office)
• 'Pope says nothing wrong with Communion after divorce' (ANSA)
• Pope Francis tells divorced woman she should be allowed Communion (Daily Telegraph)
• Pope’s telephone call re-opens debate over communion for remarried divorcees (La Stampa)
• Relax; the Pope didn't change Church teaching with a phone call (City Gates, 4/24)