Cardinal: For remarried, Communion without annulment not possible

Published: 2005-10-27

ROME (CNS) -- While the Catholic Church seeks better ways to reach out to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, the fact that they may not receive Communion "is not disputed or disputable," said Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo. "They are in an objective situation that goes against the will of God and does not permit them to receive Communion," said the cardinal, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family. In an Oct. 27 interview with the Rome newspaper La Repubblica, Cardinal Lopez Trujillo said that while the Oct. 2-23 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist recognized the "painful and dramatic situations" of Catholics barred from the Eucharist "no modification of this doctrine is possible." The church's teaching that the marriage bond is unbreakable is based on the words of Christ, and the church has no authority to overturn that teaching, the cardinal said.

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