ROME, August 6, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis called for greater welcome in the Church for divorced and remarried families in his August 5 Wednesday general audience, saying that God excludes no one.
The pope said the unions of those divorced and remarried outside the Church “are contrary to the Sacrament of marriage, but that the Church, as a Mother, seeks the good and salvation of all her children.”
In his first address since a month-long summer hiatus the Holy Father resumed his teaching on the family, and while he did not mention the forthcoming Ordinary Synod on the Family, Pope Francis spoke pointedly about one of the most contentious issues surrounding the Synod, the pastoral care for families in irregular situations.
Some prelates lobbied at the 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family for the Church to remove the prohibition of Communion for Catholics who are divorced and remarried without having had their first marriage annulled. The Holy Father has not officially weighed in on one side or another.
In his Wednesday audience the pope emphasized that the divorced and remarried are still part of the Church, that they are not excommunicated and should not be treated as though they are.
Pope Francis also focused on the children of the divorced and remarried in his address, saying that not welcoming these families especially hurts their children.
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“As these situations especially affect children, we are aware of a greater urgency to foster a true welcome for these families in our communities,” he said. “For how can we encourage parents to raise their children in the Christian life, to give them an example of Christian faith, if we keep them at arm's length?”
Pope Francis commended pastors in his address who were already working to welcome divorced and remarried families, and referenced his predecessors, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who had called for careful discernment and wise pastoral accompaniment, at the same time recognizing there are no simple solutions to the difficulties faced by these families.
“I am especially grateful to the many pastors, guided by my predecessors, who have worked diligently to let these families know they are still a part of the Church,” Pope Francis said.
“There is no easy solution for these situations,” he continued, “but we can and must always encourage these families to participate on in the Church's life, through prayer, listening to the Word of God, the Christian education of their children, and service to the poor.”
The Pontiff concluded by saying the doors of the Church are always open, and appealed to Christians to mirror Christ in rejecting no one.
“As the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep, I know the Church as a Mother gives her life for all her children, by being always the “house of the Father, with doors wide open,” Pope Francis said. “May everyone, especially Christian families, imitate the Good Shepherd, who knows all His sheep and excludes no one from His infinite love.”