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Pope presides over 20 Vatican weddings

Pope Francis presided over the weddings of 20 couples at the Vatican on Sunday. The Head of the Catholic Church had asked to marry couples from different backgrounds who represented the modern family....

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Pope Francis appoints ‘streamlined’ annulments commission

Pope Francis has appointed an 11 member commission to discuss ways of making annulments easier for married Catholics to obtain. The Vatican announced the commission on Saturday in order make annulments...

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Catholic cardinal: gay couples ‘irresponsible’ for wanting children

A senior Catholic cardinal has called gay couples who wish to have children “irresponsible” and said they are undermining traditional families. Speaking at a meeting of bishops in Italy, Cardinal...

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Pope: Fear of divorce stops people getting married

Young people don’t get married because they are worried about divorce and the risk of failure, according to Pope Francis. Speaking in St Peter’s Square this week he said that the situation was...

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‘Divorce is sometimes necessary’ Pope declares

Pope Francis has signalled a shift from longstanding Catholic doctrine by declaring that divorce is sometimes “morally necessary”. During an address in St Peter’s Square earlier this week, the 78...

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Pope says Church should embrace the divorced and remarried

Pope Francis has called for the Catholic Church to accept and welcome divorced and remarried people, promising a Church of “no closed doors”. In a recent ‘General Audience’ speech at the Vatican, the...

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Catholics petition Pope over gay people and divorce

Half a million Catholics have signed a petition calling for Pope Francis to publicly denounce divorced and gay people. Signatories to the petition included archbishops and senior cardinals. It stated...

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Pope announces changes to annulment process

Pope Francis announced changes to the Catholic Church’s annulment procedures today. The church does not recognise civil divorce so if a Catholic couple want to end their marriage, they must first seek...

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Pope hints at disquiet over gay marriage in US speech

In a wide-ranging speech to the US Congress earlier this week, Pope Francis expressed worry for the future of the family, hinting at disquiet over the now widespread legalisation of gay marriage. The...

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Synod on the family starts this Sunday

The ‘Family’ is the focus of this year’s Synod of Bishops which begins in Rome this Sunday, October 3 and runs until October 25. The Synod is a gathering of bishops from across the world, representing...

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Slovenia votes down gay marriage

Voters in Slovenia have rejected gay marriage by a significant margin. In a national referendum, 63.5 per cent voted against a legal definition of marriage as a union of two consenting adults. Only...

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Pope on divorce: ‘no one can be condemned forever’

Pope Francis has called for the Catholic Church to be more compassionate towards those who have divorced and remarried. He said that “no one can be condemned forever” as that would go against “the...

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‘Families are in crisis’ claims pope

Modern families are “in crisis” claimed the Pope during a recent impromptu discussion with journalists. When flying back from a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, the Pontiff spoke to journalists...

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Pope: most marriages are ‘null’

Most marriages are “null” because the people who enter them do not know what they are doing, Pope Francis has claimed. During some impromptu remarks in Rome this week, the Pontiff claimed that we live...

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Ex-nuns enter civil union to protest Catholic stance on gay marriage

Two former Franciscan nuns have entered a ‘civil union’ in northern Italy after being forced to leave their convent. Following some controversy, Italy introduced unioni civili (civil unions) for gay...

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Pope wades into Mexico’s gay marriage debate

Pope Francis has publicly declared his support for priests and bishops fighting against the legalisation of gay marriage in Mexico. During his most recent weekly blessing in St Peter’s Square in...

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Church ‘must understand grey areas’ of divorce

The Catholic Church must strive to understand the “grey areas” of marriage the Archbishop of Dublin has declared. Speaking at a mass in the Irish capital for employees of the Catholic marriage advisory...

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Papal leniency on divorce ‘no danger to faith’

Expressions of compassion for divorced and remarried Catholics by Pope Francis do not pose a danger to the faith, a senior Cardinal has declared. Last year, the Pontiff courted controversy amongst more...

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Giving communion to divorcees ‘a threat to faith’

Granting holy communion to Catholics who have undergone a civil divorce and begun new relationships would be “devastating” to the former partners, a religious academic has claimed. Speaking to the...

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Catholic Church ‘remains firm on family teachings’

The Catholic Church has not changed its stance on a range of controversial family and social issues a senior cleric has declared. Cardinal Gerhard Muller is head of the influential Congregation for the...

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