
'They always belong to the church': Pope Francis speaks on remarried Catholics, makes controversial statements
FREE Catholic Classes
Pope Francis declared that divorced Catholics who remarry, as well as their children, deserve to receive better treatment from the church. He warned pastors against considering these couples as if they were excommunicated.
Highlights
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
8/6/2015 (9 years ago)
Published in Living Faith
Keywords: divorce, excommunicated, pope francis, church, catholics
MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - According to the Catholic teaching, divorced Catholics who remarry are living in sin and are barred from receiving Communion, leaving many of these people feeling eschewed by their church.
Pope Francis' focus on mercy in church leadership has encouraged hope among many "barred" Catholics that he might eliminate the Communion ban. Catholics who divorce after a church marriage, but don't take up a new union, such as a second marriage, can receive Communion. In Francis' latest statements on divorce, Francis didn't go that far. But he asserted that an attitude change in the church is needed.
"People who started a new union after the defeat of their sacramental marriage are not at all excommunicated, and they absolutely must not be treated that way," Francis told pilgrims and tourists during his first general audience after a summer break. "They always belong to the church."
He added that the church must always "seek the well-being and salvation of persons."
In his papacy, Francis has frequently suggested seeing situations through the eyes of others. "If we look at these new ties with the eyes of young children... we see ever more the urgency to develop in our community true welcome toward people living in these situations," he said.
Other than being widowed, the only possible way for Catholics, who marry in the church, to remarry is getting an annulment. That long, difficult process basically includes investigating whether the marriage never existed in the first place. Grounds for annulment comprise of refusal by a spouse to have children, for instance. Previous popes protested annulments in some areas, notably in the United States, where it was being granted too generously.
---
'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'
Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online
Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.
-
- Easter / Lent
- Ascension Day
- 7 Morning Prayers
- Mysteries of the Rosary
- Litany of the Bl. Virgin Mary
- Popular Saints
- Popular Prayers
- Female Saints
- Saint Feast Days by Month
- Stations of the Cross
- St. Francis of Assisi
- St. Michael the Archangel
- The Apostles' Creed
- Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony
- Pray the Rosary

One Nation Under God

Pope Leo XIV to Celebrate First-Ever “Mass for the Care of Creation”

Catholic Online AI Open Letter
Daily Catholic
Daily Readings for Monday, July 07, 2025
Bl. Ralph Milner: Saint of the Day for Monday, July 07, 2025
Prayer to God the Father: Prayer of the Day for Monday, July 07, 2025
Daily Readings for Sunday, July 06, 2025
St. Maria Goretti: Saint of the Day for Sunday, July 06, 2025
- Prayer to the Holy Trinity: Prayer of the Day for Sunday, July 06, 2025
Copyright 2025 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2025 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.
Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.