Communion should not be denied to those separated but not remarried, says Argentinean bishop

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct 8, 2006 / 22:00 pm

Archbishop Emeritus Carmelo Gianquinta of Resistencia said last week persons who are “separated from their spouse but have not remarried and are living chastely can absolutely receive Communion.”

The bishop indicated that excluding such individuals from Communion “will always be contrary to the norms established by the Church,” and he warned that faithful followers of Christ should never be excluded because such an action goes against Church teaching and “is never correct.”

Archbishop Gianquinta also noted the duty of the Church to educate children, no matter where their parents stand in relation to the Church.  “There is no right to exclude any child from catechism just because his parents do not always come to the meetings or because they can’t or don’t want to participate.  The Church, as spiritual mother of Christians, cannot abandon her children because their biological parents do not fulfill their duty to educate them in the faith,” the bishop said.
 
He also called on the faithful to reflect on their mistreatment of others and he lamented that “a pastoral subjectivism, which ruptures ecclesial communion and leads to the mistreatment of one’s neighbor, is increasingly widespread in the Church.”