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.

OTTAWA – Pastoral guidelines issued by the bishops of Alberta and Northwest Territories have affirmed Church teaching that precludes divorced and remarried Catholics from receiving Communion unless their previous marriage has been formally annulled.

There is intense anticipation in the Catholic Church — and no small amount of anxiety for traditionalists — over what Pope Francis will say about Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics in a key document expected in the coming weeks.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican spokesman described as obviously "unreliable" an Italian journalist's claim that Pope Francis told him that following the Synod of Bishops on the family, "all the divorced who ask" will be admitted to Communion.

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.

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 - 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.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis said the Catholic Church must find new ways to integrate the divorced and civilly remarried in the life of the church and to make it easier for Catholic families to accept their homosexual members.