VATICAN (CNS): “Pope Francis appreciates the ecumenical commitment of the German bishops and asks them to find, in a spirit of ecclesial communion, a result as unanimously as possible,” said a statement from the Vatican as the pope called for the bishops of Germany to continue working together to find broader consensus on guidelines for allowing a Protestant married to a Catholic to receive the Eucharist.
 

VATICAN (Agencies): The National Catholic Register reported on April 4 that a recent proposal by the German Bishops Conference to allow some Protestant spouses of Catholics to receive Holy Communion under certain conditions is meeting serious resistance in Germany, as well as opposition from some Church leaders elsewhere.
 
On April 4, the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper reported that seven German bishops, among them Rainer Cardinal Woelki of Cologne, issued an urgent appeal to the Vatican in protest against the proposal.

BERLIN (CNS): The German Bishops’ Conference continues to develop its recent decision to allow non-Catholic spouses in mixed denomination marriages to receive Communion in limited cases.
 
The document, primarily addressed to pastors, contains specific guidance about whether Communion is possible in particular cases for married couples of different Christian denominations.