General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Leftist priests: Francis can fix church 'in ruins' [View all]Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Letting a homosexual or abortionist or some other supposed sinner get communion...that's a rule, is my understanding.
The sinner definitions...that supposedly comes directly from God. Dogma. Can't be changed. No one can change "the word of God," according to the Catholic Church. Only its rules that the humans drafted.
So the Pope will, by definition, represent the "word of God" as seen by the Church. That's his job. He has discretion in the rules that were drafted by Church leaders. Such as whether the Priests have to be celibate. That's not a "sinner" definition from the Bible/God.
This Pope has expressed things that lead to the guess that he may relax the celibacy requirements of priests. He has that discretion. Even then, he might meet with resistance.