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April 23rd, 2014
03:46 PM ET
Pope stirs Communion debate with call to womanBy Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-editor (CNN) - Pope Francis called an Argentine woman married to a divorced man and reportedly told her that she could receive the sacrament of Communion, according to the woman's husband, in an apparent contradiction of Catholic law. Julio Sabetta, from San Lorenzo in the Pope's home country, said his wife, Jacqueline Sabetta Lisbona, spoke with Francis on Monday. Jacqueline Sabetta Lisbona wrote to the pontiff in September to ask for clarification on the Communion issue, according to her husband, who said his divorced status had prevented her from receiving the sacrament. "She spoke with the Pope, and he said she was absolved of all sins and she could go and get the Holy Communion because she was not doing anything wrong," Sabetta told Channel 3 Rosario, a CNN affiliate. A Vatican spokesman confirmed the telephone call but would not comment on the conversation's content. "It's between the Pope and the woman," said the Rev. Thomas Rosica, a consultant for the Vatican press office.
November 17th, 2013
06:00 AM ET
When Pope Francis was put on laundry dutyOpinion by Chris Lowney (CNN) - Every day, millions of Americans perform a task that epitomizes Pope Francis’ leadership style: They do the laundry. I came to that somewhat surprising conclusion while talking to Jesuit priests who lived with the future Pope, then known as the Rev. Jorge Bergoglio, during the early 1980s. At the time, they were young Jesuit seminarians, and he was their “boss,” the rector of their 100-member community. “He was very demanding when it came to studies,” one of them told me. “Do what you’re doing and do it well,” he used to say. But the rector wanted the budding Jesuits to learn from people, not just from books. “He used to send us to the opera and also have us clean the seminary bathrooms, because he wanted us to be adaptable to all kinds of situations.” The seminarians all did volunteer work in poor communities, and one of them remembers Bergoglio telling them that “closeness to the poor is important for the formation of a priest’s heart.” His mantra at the time was: “You’re going to learn from these people before you teach them anything,” the young Jesuits recall.
August 2nd, 2010
02:22 PM ET
Chilean archbishop criticizes Argentina's same-sex marriage lawThe battle over same-sex marriage in Latin America has moved to Chile, where the nation's Roman Catholic archbishop said this weekend such unions are an "aberration." The comments by Monsignor Francisco Javier Errazuriz came just days after a same-sex marriage in neighboring Argentina, where a law approving the unions nationwide went into effect in mid-July. A Chilean senator said in June he will introduce a bill that would recognize civil unions among gay couples. Passage of the bill is far from certain. |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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