Catholics who remarry should be banned from Communion unless they agree never to have sex

Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo (pictured, right, with Pope Francis

Catholics who remarry should be banned from Communion unless they agree to never have sex, a Cardinal has declared at a meeting of the world's bishops.

Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo, in a keynote speech addressing the main themes for the synod on family issues, made clear that Communion for civilly remarried Catholics is effectively impossible unless they abstain from sex – as the church's teaching currently states.

Erdo said his remarks were informed by responses from bishops around the world who had gotten in touch even after the Vatican drafted the working paper for the meeting, suggesting a hardening of positions against any change in pastoral practice. 

Catholics who divorce and want to remarry in the church must first obtain an annulment, a ruling from a church tribunal that their first marriage was invalid. 

Otherwise, those who remarry in civil ceremonies are considered to be committing adultery and cannot receive Communion, a condition that has led generations of Catholics to feel shunned by their church.

Pope Francis has upheld church teaching on marriage but has sought a more merciful approach, insisting that these remarried Catholics be fully part of the life of the church.