FINAL WORD

Pope Francis: Divorce Still ‘an Evil’

And an OK on gay marriage isn’t coming anytime soon.

In highly anticipated documents released by the Vatican on Friday, Pope Francis issued a number of rulings and opinions to be observed by Catholics around the world. Despite his seemingly progressive views, it is clear the pontiff will never condone same-sex marriage as a sacrament blessed by the Catholic Church. And while divorce is “still an evil,” he wrote, Catholics should encourage non-remarried divorcees “to find in the Eucharist the nourish­ment they need to sustain them in their present state of life.” He added, “It is important that the divorced who have entered a new union should be made to feel part of the church.” The apostolic exhortation, a 256-page document called Amoris Laetitia (Latin for “The Joy of Love”), offers no new top-down edicts. And compared to exhortations past, it calls on Catholics to have “tolerance and understanding.”