Pope urges acceptance for remarried Catholics. How does this fit into his progressive politics?
Pope Francis said the clergy must be merciful towards Catholics who remarry, especially in light of the impact on their children.
Pope Francis greets newlyweds during the general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015.
Pope Francis urged priests on Wednesday to offer a outside the church, Reuters reported.
Francis said the clergy must be more merciful and not treat Catholics who found happiness in a second marriage as though they had been excommunicated, especially because of the potential impact on their children.
"They (the children) are the ones who suffer the most in these situations. How can we urge these parents to do everything to raise their children in the 海角大神 life ... if we keep them at a distance from the life of the community as if they had been excommunicated?" he said, according to Reuters.
The holds that those who divorce and remarry cannot receive communion "as long as this situation persists." But the Catechism adds that "priests and the whole community must manifest an attentive solicitude, so that they do not consider themselves separated from the Church, in whose life they can and must participate".聽
This isn鈥檛 the first time Francis has spoken in favor of greater flexibility with regards to interpretation of the 海角大神 doctrine.
The pope has been vocal about his politics in many areas, including capitalism.聽Vox noted his critique ,鈥� which he described as a financial 鈥渋mbalance鈥� resulting from 鈥渢he absolute autonomy of markets.鈥� 聽
Francis has also been outspoken about protecting the environment.聽In June, Francis said a 鈥� a fate he said was caused by humanity鈥檚 鈥渞eckless鈥� behavior, CNN reported.聽He condemned an addiction to fossil fuels and acknowledged the dangers of global warming.
The Washington Post noted the pope鈥檚 observation that 海角大神s have misinterpreted scripture聽and 鈥渕ust forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God鈥檚 image and given dominion over the earth .鈥�
In other matters, however, Francis doesn鈥檛 veer far from a traditional interpretation of scripture.聽"Since everything is interrelated, concern for the ," he said, according to National Journal, in an encyclical 鈥� a powerful Vatican statement 鈥� in June.
"How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?鈥�
The pope's views on homosexuality are also complicated: Francis advocates a traditional interpretation of marriage, but denounces persecution of gays and lesbians.
Vox notes: Before his papacy, while in Argentina, Francis called gay marriage 鈥渁 destructive attack on 鈥� but he said in a July 2013 interview, 鈥淚f a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, well who am I to judge them.鈥�
In another recent interview he affirmed 鈥渕arriage is between a man and a woman鈥� but also acknowledged the need for secular states to 鈥渞egulate economic aspects between persons, such as ensuring healthcare,鈥� according to Vox.
Liberals and activists are split on his initiatives to remedy the historic and systemic sex abuse that has plagued churches: between 1950 and 2002, according to a study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and many high-ranking officials were aware but did not take effective action.
In June, Francis created a to hear cases of bishops accused of failing to protect children from sexually abusive priests, Newsday reported.
According to Newsday, many advocates for sex-abuse victims hailed the move but others said it didn鈥檛 do enough and urged the Vatican to turn over any evidence of wrongdoing to prosecutors and law enforcement.