VATICAN CITY (RNS) Anticipation is mounting for a series of closed-door discussions on Thursday and Friday, when the cardinals will hold what are expected to be frank talks about issues such as contraception, cohabitation, gay marriage and whether divorced and remarried Catholics can receive Communion.
(RNS) Pope Francis wants to know what rank-and-file Catholics think about gay marriage, divorce and birth control, but it's unclear whether U.S. bishops will poll their flocks or simply report their own thoughts.
When a marriage ends, the pain is palpable. It feels as though someone has died. Every first feels like a last: The first time we slept apart. The first time it hit me that we’ll never have children together. The first time we talked on the phone without saying I love you.
I finally learned about forgiveness at age 36, when my husband, the father of our then 4-year-old son, and our daughter on the way, left me for a young student of his. In the process he said and did many hurtful things. And over the years, he continued to do and say hurtful things. At first, I simply lived in pain — deep, emotional and spiritual pain.
Earlier this week, I came across a post on The Christian Left’s Facebook page that raised the issue of ‘easy divorce.’ I was pleasantly surprised, as this is a topic that liberal/progressive Christians tend to avoid. It was not surprising that within less than two hours The Christian Left had apparently received so much push-back (in nearly 400 comments) that they posted a new status with some backpedaling.