Catholics who divorce, live together focus of revised Vatican doctrine

Roman Catholic bishops meeting at the Vatican called Saturday for a more welcoming church for couples who live together but aren't married, and for Catholics who have divorced and remarried in civil ceremonies.

Bishops from around the world adopted a final document at the end of a three-week synod that exposed the split between conservatives and progressives.

Conservatives had resisted offering any wiggle room on whether civilly remarried Catholics can receive communion, since church teaching says they are committing adultery and are therefore barred. The document opens the door to considering case-by-case exceptions.

"We are so happy that we could give this to the pope," said German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who spearheaded the progressive camp on the issue.

Barely passes

The three paragraphs dealing with the issue barely reached the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

In a final speech to the synod, Pope Francis took some clear swipes at the conservatives who hold up church doctrine above all else.

"The synod experience also made us better realize that the true defenders of doctrine are not those who uphold its letter, but its spirit; not ideas but people; not formulas but the free availability of God's love and forgiveness," he said.

The document was the culmination of a two-year process launched by Francis.

On the issue of gays, the synod document repeats church teaching that gays should be respected and loved and says families with gay members require particular pastoral care.

The document omits references to church teaching that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered," but it strongly rejects gay marriage.