"No Closed Doors! No Closed Doors!" (Pope Francis, August 5 2015)

Just Thoughts: “No Closed Doors! No Closed Doors!” (Pope Francis, August 5, 2015)

Last  week Pope Francis, speaking about Catholics who divorced and then remarried, said, “These persons are not by any means excommunicated.” The pontiff then repeated: “They are not excommunicated.” This is indeed good news to the thousands of divorced people who love the Church and want to remain in communion with the Church.

The Pope’s remarks are right in line with his compassionate and welcoming approach to all people--like Jesus, he welcomes the flawed, those who have stumbled,  and those who have sinned. He welcomes them back to the Church.

Many of us still recall from our youth how divorced Catholics were almost shunned. Yet today, how many families have had some experience with divorce? Few have been untouched!

A Catholic news service reports it this way: “Quoting from his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (‘The Joy of the Gospel’), the pontiff said: ‘The church is called to always be the open house of the father. No closed doors,’ he told the audience, repeating: ‘No closed doors!’”

Hopefully this becomes a rallying cry for the Church in the 21st Century. It echoes Saint Pope John XXIII’s call in early 1959 to “throw open the windows of the Church.” Gather all in to this good, loving,  and nurturing community--our Church.

[Above is the "Just Thoughts" column for St. Mary's Painesville--August 16, 2015]