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Pope tells unmarried woman to take Communion after she was denied

Pope Francis’ personal phone call to an unmarried Argentinian woman living with a divorced man encouraging her to take Communion won him new legions of fans – but is driving Vatican officials batty.

Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, said Thursday the call was part of Francis’ “personal pastoral relationships” that did not reflect a change in the church’s long-standing ban on unmarried women living with divorced men receiving Communion.

“Several telephone calls have taken place in the context of Pope Francis’ personal pastoral relationships,” said the harried priest, who has been besieged with media inquiries since the woman’s common-law husband made the call public.

“Therefore, consequences relating to the teaching of the Church are not to be inferred from these occurrences,” Lombardi insisted, according to Vatican Radio.

The woman, Jaquelina Lisbona, had written to the Pope months ago after she was denied Communion by her parish priest in San Lorenzo, Argentina.

Pope Francis called her on Easter Monday and reportedly told her that she may receive Communion despite living with a man who is divorced and the father of their two children – a position hailed by many Catholic women.

The Catholic News Agency said Julio Sabetta, Lisbona’s common-law husband, was married in the Catholic church in 1985, but got legally divorced in 1992.

In 1994, he was re-introduced to Jaquelina – they had dated in their teens – and the two shacked up. Since then, they had two kids, 17- and 14-year-old girls.

A few years ago, preparing for her youngest daughter’s confirmation, Lisbona was told she could not take Communion because of church rules banning unmarried mothers from receiving the sacrament.

She wrote to the Pope for advice last fall, leading to his call last week, her husband wrote on his Facebook page, the news agency said.

“Today one of the most beautiful things happened to me since the birth of my two daughters, I got a call in my home from none other than Pope Francis, it was a big emotion … and I can assure you that we he talks, he gives you total peace. Thanks God for this blessing!” Sabetta wrote.

Lisbona later told Argentine media the Pope told her to “go to confession and start taking communion at a different parish.”

But the pastor of San Lorenzo’s church, Father José Ceschi, said late Wednesday that the story was “absurd,” the agency said.

“The Pope would never do that, is impossible. If he is coming from a previous sacrament and they are living together is absolutely impossible,” Ceschi told a local radio station.

The Pope has previously made comments that appeared to soften the church’s position on homosexuality, winning praise from more liberal Catholics who bristled under Rome’s conservative bent under previous pontiffs.