“I have heard of so many Catholics being rudely refused Eucharistic Communion because they are divorced persons and have remarried," said Bishop Thomas Dabre of Poona, India, during a February 25 conference of priests. "We need to be kind and compassionate in communicating the Church doctrine and dogma," he continued. "We should have polite dialogue with the faithful instead of rudely turning them away.”

The seventy-five priests had gathered in central India for a meeting on “effective ministry to families in the light of the Synod.” Bishop Dabre also criticized the "contraceptive mentality," especially the widespread availability of condoms. “Sexual morality has sharply and widely declined and has been trivialized. So many betrayals and crimes take place because of the easy accessibility of contraceptives,” he said. Dabre serves as a member of the Indian bishops conference Office for Doctrine.

Read the rest at Vatican Radio.

Grant Gallicho joined Commonweal as an intern and was an associate editor for the magazine until 2015. 

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