Pope Francis has declined to keep on the Vatican's conservative doctrine chief with whom he clashed over the issue of civilly remarried Catholics receiving Holy Communion.

The Vatican said Francis thanked Cardinal Gerhard Mueller for his service, and the pope is adopting the next in line in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Jesuit Monsignor Luis Ferrer, to succeed Cardinal Mueller.

Francis could have kept on Cardinal Mueller, whose five-year term ends this weekend and who turns 75 in December, which is the normal retirement age for bishops.

However, they disagreed over Francis' opening to allowing Communion for civilly remarried Catholics, with Cardinal Mueller insisting they cannot, given church teaching on the indissolubility of marriage.

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