[NEWS.YAHOO] Pope Francis said Wednesday that it may be "morally necessary" for some families to split up, marking a change of tone in the Catholic Church's attitude to troubled marriages."Marriage" and "cohabitation" aren't the same thing.
"There are cases in which separation is inevitable," he said during his weekly general audience, with a message hoping to encourage greater compassion in the Church ahead of a highly anticipated global meeting on family life in October.
"Sometimes, it can even be morally necessary, when it's about shielding the weaker spouse or young children from the more serious wounds caused by intimidation and violence, humiliation and exploitation," he said.
Francis said there were many families in "irregular situations" and the question should be how to best help them, and "how to accompany them so that the child does not become daddy or mummy's hostage".
That's not as big a change in tone as the writer imagines. The Church always has compassion for those who are suffering. "Split up" isn't the same as divorce. If and when the Pope says that divorced people can receive the sacraments and remarry within the Church, THAT will be a change in tone...
No word on climatic impacts ?