Pope Frances has responded to five conservative cardinals who asked him to take a stand on certain questions of doctrine, most notably blessings for homosexual couples, in a so-called Dubia Letter made public ahead of a major synod in the Vatican.
In such a letter, "dubia," or doubts, are put to the pope with the expectation they will be answered in a Yes or No format.
It was signed by Walter Brandmüller from Germany, Raymond Burke from the United States, Juan Sandoval from Mexico, Robert Sarah from Guinea and Joseph Zen from Hong Kong.
Francis is seen by church conservatives as pushing a reform agenda out of line with traditional teachings.
The pope's answer on blessings for homosexual couples was particularly striking, as he did not fundamentally reject the practice.
Francis reiterated that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. But he said that perhaps a way could be found to bless homosexual unions without going against basic church teachings about the nature of marriage.
He said he was opposed to establishing official church regulations on the matter of the blessings, implying that it was best for decisions to be made at the parish level.
In Germany, for instance, blessing services for LGBTQ couples have been held in many congregations. However, a Catholic same-sex couple cannot demand such a blessing - it depends entirely on whether the priest in question is willing to do so.
The cardinals sent the letter to the pope in July. They did receive a response from the pope, although not in the usual Yes or No format.
Those answers were released by the Vatican only on Monday, although the response actually came in July.
The cardinals had also sent a rephrased letter to the pope in August, in an attempt to elicit the the Yes or No answers. They did not receive a reply to that letter.
The fact that the Vatican published the pope's response is seen by church experts as a remarkable step.
The back-and-forth between the conservative cardinals and the pope went public days before the start of the World Synod, at which clerics and non-clerics, both men and women, will debate the church's future.
