Pope Francis on Monday called for "another way" of treating divorcees who remarry - a thorny issue since Catholics who wed a second time are currently not allowed to receive Holy Communion at mass.
Catholic faithful should "feel at home" in parishes and those who have remarried should be treated with "justice", the pope was quoted as saying by Romasette, the local newspaper for the diocese of Rome.
"Our duty is to find another way in justice," he said.
Francis was meeting with hundreds of Rome priests in the Basilica of St John Lateran and he reminded them that his predecessor Benedict XVI had already addressed the issue of Catholic divorcees.
This was not the first time Pope Francis addressed a controversial topic. In July he said that gay people should not be judged, speaking on the way back from a trip to Brazil.