OTTAWA – Pope Francis has deliberately avoided precise language on the issue of Communion for the divorced and remarried and welcomes the ongoing debate, says the Archbishop of Gatineau, Que.

COLOGNE, Germany – The German bishops have published their own guidelines on Amoris laetitia allowing, in certain cases, for divorced-and-remarried Catholics to receive Communion.

VATICAN CITY — Under certain circumstances and after long prayer and a profound examination of conscience, some divorced and civilly remarried Catholics may return to the sacraments, said the bishops of Malta.

TORONTO - Robert Mickens is expecting Pope Francis to “rattle cages” during the Synod of Bishops on the Family by challenging the world’s bishops to face and address the problems within the Church.

Speaking out on one of the most contentious issues of his papacy, Pope Francis issued a powerful call for the Church to embrace Catholics who have divorced and remarried, telling a gathering at the Vatican Aug. 5 that such couples “are not excommunicated, and they absolutely must not be treated that way.”

WARSAW, Poland - Poland's Catholic bishops pledged to resist changes to Catholic teaching on marriage and family life at October's synod on the family at the Vatican and rejected demands for reform by German-speaking Catholics.

On the solemn feast of Corpus Christi a counterintuitive thought occurs: Are too many people receiving Holy Communion too often?

VATICAN CITY - The presidents of the bishops' conferences of Germany, France and Switzerland decided their preparation for the Synod of Bishops on the family could benefit from listening to theologians, biblical scholars and canon lawyers from all three countries, said the spokesman for the German bishops.

ROME - Australian Cardinal George Pell expects the upcoming Synod on the Family in October will uphold traditional Church teaching.

ROME - Pope Francis' decision to hold two synods of bishops on the family with a year of consultation and reflection in between fits in exactly with this theological approach to pastoral planning, which emphasizes studying the reality, reflecting on it and, only later, taking action, said retired German Cardinal Walter Kasper.

NEW YORK - Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, a leading culture warrior in the U.S. hierarchy, says he was “very disturbed” by the debate over church teachings on gays and remarried Catholics at this month’s Vatican summit, saying it sent a confusing message and “confusion is of the devil.”

Public disagreements over whether the Roman Catholic Church can change its teachings on Communion for remarried Catholics are growing sharper on the eve of a major Vatican summit, with conservatives led by U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke making another push against loosening the rules.