Posted on 10/13/2026 5:58:45 PM PDT by ebb tide
A theologian on Monday lamented the exclusion of those living in adultery from Holy Communion in an address delivered at Pope Leo XIV’s Amoris Laetitia summit.
Professor Julie Hanlon Rubio on Monday delivered a talk titled “In the difficulties of life: accompanying and supporting — Walking with families in complex situations,” during the Vatican summit marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, which claimed the divorced and remarried may receive Holy Communion “in certain cases.”
After addressing the declining rates of marriage around the world, Rubio said, “Yet, I do not want to suggest that the problem of marginalization that concerned Pope Francis has been solved.”
“In preparing for this intervention, I heard heartbreaking stories. One person told me of his elderly mother suffering from dementia who, when offered Eucharist at Mass, shouted, ‘No!,’ and covered her mouth, because one thing she remembered was that, because her husband of fifty years had been previously married, she was not worthy to receive the Body of Christ,” said Rubio, clearly citing this as a case of “marginalization.”
READ: Bishop Schneider: Amoris Laetitia ‘must be corrected’
Those who are having sex with a partner other than their spouse, to whom they are married in the eyes of God, are living in adultery, and thus cannot receive Holy Communion if they have not repented of this grave sin. If a previous marriage has been declared annulled by the Church — that is, that a valid, sacramental marriage never existed — a Catholic may then marry another person and receive Communion.
In her talk, Rubio falsely referred to the divorced and remarried as living out a “vocation,” as if it was a calling from God or a path to holiness.
“Whether they are single or married, with or without children; whether they are divorced, widowed, or remarried, we can meet them at the door with open arms, tell them that theirs is a challenging and necessary vocation, and assure them they are not alone,” she concluded.
The Vatican’s ongoing summit, held from October 7 to 14, is designed to examine what the Church has “learned” from a decade of “trying to live” Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.
The gathering brings together roughly 248 bishops, including heads of Eastern Catholic Churches and presidents of bishops’ conferences worldwide, along with select families and lay experts. Out of the listed attendees, Pope Leo XIV personally selected 22 participants, including prominent American heterodox prelates such as Cardinal Blase Cupich (Chicago), Cardinal Robert McElroy (Washington, D.C.), and Cardinal Joseph Tobin (Newark).
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