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THE Vatican\u2019s doctrine office published a letter on Thursday confirming that single mothers can receive Communion after going to confession.<\/p>\n
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The letter also stated the need for further \u201cpastoral work\u201d in parts of the world where single mothers might still face harsh judgment.<\/p>\n
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In the letter signed on Dec. 13, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fern\u00e1ndez underlined that women who chose life and face difficulties because of this choice should be \u201cencouraged to have access to the healing and consoling power of the sacraments.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cPastoral work should be done in the local Church to make people understand that being a single mother does not prevent that person from accessing the Eucharist,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez wrote.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAs for all other Christians, sacramental confession of sins allows the person to approach Communion. The ecclesial community should, furthermore, value the fact that single mothers welcomed and defended the gift of life they carried in their wombs and struggle, every day, to raise their children,\u201d the letter stated.<\/p>\n
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The prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote the letter in response to an email he received from a Latin American bishop, noting that Pope Francis had also received several letters from laypeople on the same topic.<\/p>\n
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Bishop Ram\u00f3n Alfredo de la Cruz Baldera expressed concern in the email to the prefect that some single mothers in his diocese in the Dominican Republic abstained from Communion \u201cout of fear of the rigorism of the clergy and community leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
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In his response, the head of the Vatican\u2019s doctrinal office cited a homily given by Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires in 2012 before he was elected pope.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere are priests who do not baptize the children of single mothers because the children were not conceived in the sanctity of marriage. They are the hypocrites of today,\u201d Bergoglio said in the homily in September 2012.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThey have clericalized the Church. They turn God\u2019s people away from salvation. And that poor girl who could have sent her child back to the sender but had the courage to bring him into the world goes on pilgrimage from parish to parish to have him baptized.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Fern\u00e1ndez also claimed that many in the Church emphasize Jesus\u2019 words to the adulterous woman, \u201csin no more\u201d (cf. Jn 8:1\u201311), when \u201cthis phrase does not constitute the central message of this Gospel pericope, which is simply the invitation to recognize that no one can cast the first stone.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cIndeed, there are \u2018difficult situations\u2019 that need to be discerned and accompanied pastorally. It can occur that one of these mothers, given the fragility of her situation, sometimes resorts to selling her body to support her family,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez wrote.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe Christian community is called to do everything possible to help her avoid this very serious risk rather than judge her harshly. For this reason, \u2018the Church\u2019s pastors, in proposing to the faithful the full ideal of the Gospel and the Church\u2019s teaching, must also help them to treat the weak with compassion, avoiding aggravation or unduly harsh or hasty judgments,\u2019\u201d the Argentine cardinal added, quoting Amoris Laetitia.<\/p>\n
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The letter is the second document published by the Vatican\u2019s doctrine office this week amid a flurry of letters and \u201cdubia\u201d responses put out by the dicastery in recent months following the installation of Fern\u00e1ndez as the new prefect in September.<\/p>\n
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The dicastery also published a letter by Fern\u00e1ndez on Tuesday stating that under certain circumstances, it may be permissible for a Catholic to keep a small portion of a deceased loved one\u2019s ashes in a personal place of significance if some conditions are met. CBCP News<\/p>\n
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