The Vatican has found itself in hot water after a divorced woman claimed that Pope Francis called her to inform that it's acceptable for her and her second husband to take communion on Monday, Agence France-Presse reported.
In what would amount to a break from Catholic doctrine, Jacqui Lisbona and her husband, Julio Sabetta, were allegedly told by the pontiff that there was nothing wrong with them taking part in the Lord's Supper, Fox News reported.
Catholic doctrines state that divorcees are banned from participating in Holy Communion, one of the Catholic Church's most important sacraments, unless the marriage has been annulled.
However, spokesman Federico Lombardi defended the Pope's calls on Thursday and said they were part of the pope's "personal pastoral relationships" and "do not in any way form a part of the pope's public activities".
"Pope Francis has made several phone calls in the realm of pastoral relationships. Since it is not a public activity, we should not expect any information or comments from the [Vatican's] Press Office," Lombardi said in a statement quoted by the Argentinian newspaper La Nación on Thursday.
"As the news reported on the issue belongs to the realm of personal relationships, their media amplification has no confirmed reliability and is a source of misunderstanding and confusion. Therefore, it should be avoided to deduct from this circumstance any consequences related to the teachings of the Church," he added.
"Consequences relating to the teaching of the Church are not to be inferred from these occurrences," he said.
Dubbed as "the cold call pope," the Vatican usually relies on the person in question saying that they have been called by the pope to make official comments.
"The pope has previously been reported making calls from the practical to the intense, including calling his newsagent in Buenos Aires to cancel a subscription and comforting a mother grieving over her murdered daughter," AFP reported.
