Pope Benedict XVI has made an attempt to appease remarried Catholic divorcees by calling on parishes to integrate them, but he is a long way from changing the rules, Vatican watchers said today.
Amid increasing calls from reformist Catholic groups to change Church attitudes towards divorcees and allow them to take communion, the pope Sunday acknowledged there was an issue but refused to budge from the doctrine.
"The Pope does not want to risk opening up on the principle that people living in sin cannot take Communion," said Vatican expert Bruno Bartoloni.
While "the Church's position could change in the future," the conservative pontiff is a stickler for doctrine and will not risk sparking calls for widespread reform by easing on some issues, he said.
From Austria and Germany to France and Brazil, there have been increasing demands for a rethink and some priests have broken the rules by allowing local church-going remarried divorcees to receive the Eucharist.
Germany's "We are Church" movement and Austria's "Priests' Initiative" -- which issued a "Call to Disobedience" last year -- are among those calling for everyone who approaches the altar in good...
↧