(2 of 2)
Kelleher's solution, which he calls the "welcome home" alternative, amplifies the "good conscience" approach to second marriages (TIME, Oct. 2, 1972), which allows some persons remarried in good faith to return to the sacraments of the church. Though the Vatican has ruled out this procedure, it operates quietly in a number of U.S. parishes.
Kelleher feels that the sub rosa aspect of that approach, however, leaves too many people with uncertain consciences. He suggests that the church should simply "welcome home" those who have suffered failed first marriages to "the central act of Catholic worship, the Eucharist," and to the "protective love of a genuinely Christian community." For U.S. Catholics, whose divorce rate is nearing the national average of one out of four marriages, that kind of compassion could be welcome indeed.