The Pope has told Catholics who work in public life that they have a duty to introduce and support legislation based on the Church's teaching.

In a new exhortation published today, the Pope also told bishops that if they wish they can refuse communion to politicians who support abortion rights or gay marriage.

He called on "Catholic politicians and legislators... to introduce and support laws inspired by values grounded in human nature."

Describing such values as "not negotiable", the Pope said they they included “respect for human life, its defence from conception to natural death, the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one's children and the promotion of the common good in all its forms."

The long-awaited 131-page Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist was largely a reiteration of existing Catholic teachings.

Pope Benedict XVI, remaining true to the conservative values formed during his time as the Church's chief doctrinal enforcer as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, made it clear there will be no relaxation of traditional regulations, such as those governing celibacy for priests.

"Priestly celibacy lived with maturity, joy and dedication is an immense blessing for the Church and for society itself," he said. "I reaffirm the beauty and importance of a priestly life lived in celibacy as a sign expressing total and exclusive devotion to Christ, to the Church and to the Kingdom of God, and I therefore confirm that it remains obligatory in the Latin tradition."

Also standing unchanged is the Church's ban on communion for divorced Catholics who remarry without first obtaining an annulment. Such couples should live "as friends, as brother and sister," the Pope wrote, adding that non-Catholics and members of other faiths must not be admitted to communion at wedding celebrations, funerals and other similar occasions.

The exhortation made it clear that watching church services on television or the internet is no substitute for actual attendance and told on priests throughout the Church to sharpen up their preaching.

"Given the importance of the word of God, the quality of homilies needs to be improved," he says. "Generic and abstract homilies should be avoided."

The document is the fruit of a meeting at the Vatican of bishops from around the world in October 2005, just months after Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's election in April that year. It is the first Apostolic Exhortation from John Paul II's successor.

Among the Pope's traditional recommendations was the sound practice of granting "indulgences" for the living and the dead. Indulgences, often criticised by the Church's critics as sanctioning sin, consist of remission of punishment due for sin deemed to have been forgiven.

The document, second in importance only to an encyclical, comes amid growing speculation that the Pope will soon authorise the return of the 16th-century Tridentine Latin Mass to more common use. A pronouncement allowing its use without first having to get prior permission from the local bishop is understood to have been prepared and under consideration for publication soon.

In the Apostolic Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict made clear where his sympathies lie in regard to the liturgy, criticising modern forms of music and calling for a return to Gregorian chant. "Generic improvisation or the introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided," he says. "While respecting various styles and different and highly praiseworthy traditions, I desire... that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy."

He also said that where large celebrations take place with many priests concelebrating at international gatherings, such services should always be held in Latin.

Explore World News

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• Red Cross: Israel guilty of 'unacceptable' conduct
• Mobster Gotti 'dipped neighbour in acid bath'
• Hollywood wakes up to the British breakfast