Irapuato
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Pope Francis 'phones divorced woman' to say she can receive Communion?????

Pope Francis has phoned a divorced and remarried Catholic woman in Argentina to tell her that she could "safely receive Communion", according to an extraordinary report in La Stampa.
The woman's husband, writing on Facebook, claims that the Pope – introducing himself as "Father Bergoglio" – spoke to his wife, who'd been divorced before marrying him and told her that men or women who were divorced and received Communion weren't doing anything wrong. He apparently added that this matter is under discussion at the Vatican. (Quick health warning: given the complexity of this subject, we need much more clarity on what Francis reportedly said. I find it hard to believe that he would make such an unqualified statement.)
The conversation with Jacquelina Sabetta is supposed to have taken place on Easter Monday. She had written to the Pope asking if, after 19 years of a marriage that had produced two daughters, she could be readmitted to Communion. He rang her directly – as is his habit – and during a 10-minute conversation apparently gave her a clear "yes".
Or so we're told. We need to investigate this story – but, if it's true, the implications are huge. In most cases, divorced and remarried Catholics are currently barred from receiving the Sacrament – but for how much longer?
PS: Read this post by Fr Z, in which Francis seems completely orthodox: divorced people can receive communion, divorced and remarried can't. We really need to discover the full truth about this phone call.
blogs.telegraph.co.uk/…/pope-francis-ph…
Irapuato
Fr. Lombardi has issued a statement setting the record straight on the news frenzy over the Argentinean woman who was denied communion: “consequences relating to the teaching of the Church are not to be inferred from these occurrences”
“That which has been communicated in relation to” the Pope’s private telephone conversations “outside the scope of personal relationships, and the consequent media …More
Fr. Lombardi has issued a statement setting the record straight on the news frenzy over the Argentinean woman who was denied communion: “consequences relating to the teaching of the Church are not to be inferred from these occurrences”
“That which has been communicated in relation to” the Pope’s private telephone conversations “outside the scope of personal relationships, and the consequent media amplification, cannot be confirmed as reliable, and is a source of misunderstanding and confusion.” No consequences relating to the Church’s teaching can be inferred from these “media amplifications”. The director of the Holy See Press Office stressed this in a statement issued this morning, in reference to the telephone call Francis made to an Argentinean woman who was denied communion for marrying a divorced man.
vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/…/francesco-franc…
Irapuato
The news from Argentina spread fast but should be handled with great care because one wrong title could have been disastrous for media around the world
“There are priests who are more papist than the Pope.” A set phrase like any other. Only this time, the lips that uttered it were those of Francis himself, during a conversation with fellow Argentinean, Jakelina Lisbona. A woman who married a divorced …More
The news from Argentina spread fast but should be handled with great care because one wrong title could have been disastrous for media around the world
“There are priests who are more papist than the Pope.” A set phrase like any other. Only this time, the lips that uttered it were those of Francis himself, during a conversation with fellow Argentinean, Jakelina Lisbona. A woman who married a divorced man. Bergoglio advised her to take Communion regardless of her personal situation. This little detail ended up as a news story that made it half way around the world.

“Pope assures there’s no harm in a divorced person taking Communion”. This is the title that has been causing a buzz in the media in the last few hours. But it is a misinterpretation because the person the Pope spoke with was not divorced as was originally believed.

“It’s not me who’s divorced,” one of the female protagonists in this story said in an interview with Buenos Aires radio station La Red Am910. Lisbona said it was her husband, Julio Zabeta, who had divorced, but she never married in the Church. The two have been united in civil matrimony for the past nineteen years and have two daughters.

“We used to go to mass, not every day. Here at home, we pray every evening, turning to God always; when someone is in a difficult situation God is the first one they turn to. I wrote the letter spontaneously. I wrote to him because he’s Argentinean, he listens to people and I believe in miracles,” she said.

The woman also said she tried taking Communion again last year but not only did the local priest apparently say he could not give her Communion, he even said she could not access the sacrament of Confession either. “[They told me that] when I went home, I resumed a life of sin,” she added.

The woman finally decided to write to Pope Francis to explain her situation to him. The letter was sent last September.

“The phone rang and my husband answered. It was Fr. Bergoglio calling. The father asked to speak to me and my husband asked: ‘who’s calling?’, to which the voice replied ‘Fr. Bergoglio’. I asked him if it was really him, the Pope, and he said it was and that he was calling in response to my letter dated September,” he explained.

Lisbona did not want to give too many details during the radio interview but she revealed the piece of advice Francis apparently gave her and that was that there was no problem in her approaching the sacrament of Communion. “This received too much public attention. He told me to go and take Communion in a different parish, but now I won’t be able to go anywhere.”

She also revealed an interesting fact: the priest who apparently refused to administer Communion to her, no longer exercises his ministry. He asked to be dispensed from his obligations as priest so he could get married.

According to the woman, Pope Francis also said he is “dealing with the issue” of remarried divorcees; a clear reference to the next two assemblies on the pastoral challenges of the family which the Synod of Bishops is due to hold in 2014 and 2015. “He said my letter was useful in helping him address this issue,” she added.

“Then he told me there are some priests who are more papist that the Pope. He was completely normal with me on the phone and I tried to speak to him with the utmost respect. Now I am overwhelmed by the enormous effect this story has had and I feel moved by the fact that I spoke to Francis. I told him I would write to him again when I take Communion again,” she said.

The Holy See did not wish to comment on whether Bergoglio really did make the call to Jakelina Lisbona or not. But it has not denied the news either. As far as the Vatican newsroom is concerned, the Pope’s communication was private and so there is no comment to be made.
vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/…/francesco-franc…
One more comment from Irapuato
Irapuato
www.ncregister.com/…/did-pope-franci…
3) Is this story true?
Who can say?
If I wanted, I could post on Facebook that I got a call from the pope, and then, when contacted by the press, I could say anything I like.
I could say that the pope told me that I could consecrate the Eucharist even though I’m not a priest, or that, over the phone, he secretly ordained me a bishop, or that the George Noory …More
www.ncregister.com/…/did-pope-franci…

3) Is this story true?
Who can say?
If I wanted, I could post on Facebook that I got a call from the pope, and then, when contacted by the press, I could say anything I like.
I could say that the pope told me that I could consecrate the Eucharist even though I’m not a priest, or that, over the phone, he secretly ordained me a bishop, or that the George Noory crowd is correct and the Vatican is in contact with extraterrestrials.
We already know that there are a lot of false rumors about Pope Francis and things he has said and done (that happens with every pope).
With no offense meant to Mr. Sabetta, there are multiple elements that the public has no way to verify: whether such a phone call took place, what the pope said, and whether the pope was correctly understood and represented by Mrs. Lisbona, Mr. Sabetta, and the chain of reporters conveying the story to us.

4) If the pope did call Mrs. Lisbona and did tell her that she could receive Communion, would this mean that the Church’s current discipline on this question is about to be overturned?
No. I can imagine several scenarios in which Pope Francis might have made an individual determination in her case that would not have broader implications.

Read more: www.ncregister.com/…/did-pope-franci…