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(CNN) — As Catholic bishops in Rome began a major meeting on modern family life two weeks ago, Pope Francis encouraged them to speak candidly and “without timidness.”
He certainly got what he asked for.
Bishops bickered. Conservatives contemplated conspiracy theories. Liberals lamented their colleagues’ rigidity.
Through it all, the Pope stayed silent.
Even when a report emerged from the bishops’ meeting that welcomed gays and lesbians in strikingly open terms, Francis didn’t say a word.
Even when that welcome was watered down, not once, but twice, and then, on Saturday, largely scrapped, the Pope revealed nothing.
By the midpoint of the meeting — officially called the Synod of the Bishops on Pastoral Challenges to the Family — conservatives were complaining that Francis had “done a lot of harm” by not making his own views known.
But if Francis had spoken, it would have shut down the very debate he wanted to spark, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, a close ally of the Pope’s, told reporters.
“Roma locuta, causa finita,” Ravasi said. That’s Latin for, “Rome has spoken, the case is closed.” (The Pope is the bishop of Rome.)
Finally, as the meeting closed on Saturday afternoon, the Pope addressed the nearly 200 bishops he had summoned to Rome.
In a widely praised speech, he told them the church must find a middle path between showing mercy toward people on the margins and holding tight to church teachings.
What’s more, he said, church leaders still have a year to find “concrete solutions” to the problems plaguing modern families — from war and poverty to hostility toward nontraditional unions. A follow-up meeting is scheduled for next October in Rome.
All of this may raise a few questions in people’s minds. If the Pope is the head of the church, why can’t he just make changes on his own? Why are so many Catholics resistant to revising church teaching? And what does all of this have to do with Jesus?
Here are some things to keep in mind. Continue reading
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- Daniel Burke, CNN
Daniel Burke is co-editor of CNN’s Belief Blog.
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