Why It Matters That Pope Francis Just Made It Easier For Divorced Catholics To Get Communion

On Friday, Pope Francis unveiled a new apostolic exhortation that asks the Catholic Church to be more compassionate and welcoming, and articulated a pathway for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion.

...The most eyebrow-raising section of the document in Catholic circles, however, is where Francis discusses marriage counseling. In addition to calling on the Church to draw wisdom from Catholic priests who are married when counseling couples (some Catholic rites, such as Eastern Catholics, allow priests to marry, and male Anglican priests who convert to Catholicism are allowed to keep their wives), Francis appears to outline a way to allow Catholics who are divorced or remarried to participate in communion — something long forbidden by Church teaching....
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/04/08/3767853/pope-francis-divorce-exhortation/