Pope Francis has published a document on love in the family - calling for greater acceptance.

While the pontiff says cohabiting and divorced people who remarry should be welcomed into the Church - he hasn't changed the rules on divorcees receiving communion as had been hoped.

In addition, the document reiterates Church teaching that gay unions are not equal to traditional marriages, and that IVF is an interference in nature.

Juliette Gash reports;
On gay marriage, the document is firm;

 “as for proposals to place unions between homosexual persons on the same level as marriage, there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family”. It is unacceptable “that local Churches should be subjected to pressure in this matter and that international bodies should make financial aid to poor countries dependent on the introduction of laws to establish ‘marriage’ between persons of the same sex”.

The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network says it's disappointed at the Pope's document on love and the family, saying it's a missed opportunity to tackle homophobia.

Pope Francis published Amoris Laetitia this morning, in which he repeated the Catholic Church's teaching that gay partnerships are not the same as traditional marriage.

Kieran Rose, the co-chair of GLEN, says it's a shame the pontiff wasn't more inclusive;