ONE CARDINAL described it as “incomprehensible”. An anonymous church source was quoted as saying that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has been “reduced to the role of a postman”.

These were some of the reactions following a summit here between a delegation of German bishops and a group of senior Vatican officials over the bishops’ plans to loosen the restrictions on Protestant spouses of Catholics being admitted to Communion when they attend Mass together. The critics were unhappy because Pope Francis had not issued a clear “Nein” to the German hierarchy’s proposal. Instead, Francis urged the bishops to seek an agreement that would be as “unanimous as possible”.