Vatican reporter Edward Pentin has written "The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation of Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family".

The Relatio post disceptationem, or interim report, released half-way through the synod discussions sparked furious debate.

Pentin wrote that at issue were "three controversial paragraphs the contents of which had been barely, or not at all, discussed by the synod fathers".

"One of these paragraphs referred to proposals for readmission of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to Holy Communion, and two other paragraphs dealt with the pastoral care of homosexuals and cohabiting couples."

Pentin wrote that Archbishop Bruno Forte, the synod's special secretary, was widely considered to have been the main author of the document.

"The Italian theologian, together with all the members of the drafting committee, drew on the lengthy written speeches of each synod father submitted prior to the meeting.

"Apparently, certain points from these written speeches found their way into the draft report, even if the bishops had not mentioned them during the four minutes allotted to each speaker.

"Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said he recalled only one speech out of about 265 that discussed homosexuals during the debate.

"Defenders of the report, therefore, say it is not surprising that much did not seem familiar in the interim report because the written submissions were not made public or distributed to the bishops themselves.

"The oral presentations only reflected a summary or particular point that a bishop wanted to make.

The defenders also noted that the interim report had to be produced quickly, and that there were no transcripts available of verbal interventions.

In a response to published excerpts of Pentin's book, National Catholic Reporter columnist Michael Sean Winters took issue with many of the points made.

Winters described as "pernicious" Pentin's suggestion that the interim report was given to the press in an effort to sway the synod towards its purportedly more "liberal" views.

Sources

• Catholic World Report
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: International Business Times

Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego told the National Catholic Reporter that the "theology of mercy is saying is that the essential attribute of God in relation to us - and for us to understand who is God - is that of mercy".

"And that God is innately merciful and can do no other than to be merciful, because that's at the core of who God is."

That understanding of God, Bishop McElroy said, "will be the prism through which so much of the discussion occurs" at the synod.

But the bishop said there will also be a tension at the synod between mercy and a kind of "cheap grace" that "leads to a sense of complacency and not trying to struggle with, wrestle with, the challenge of the Gospel in our lives".

"I think that is the central dilemma that this synod is going to have to deal with, in terms of diverse opinions," he said.

"How do you emphasise the mercy of God at every key point and at the same time not let it become a distorted sense of mercy that legitimates and supports complacency?"

Bishop McElroy noted a desire among many US Catholics for the Church to "banish judgmentalism" of people.

Something that may help bishops at the synod in their discussions, Bishop McElroy said, is the theological notion of graduality.

"What that says is that many times, people in their lives cannot embrace the fullness of the Gospel at a given moment," the bishop said.

"They need to take steps toward it."

The synod's special secretary, Archbishop Bruno Forte, last month said: "We want to be a Church" that "does not hurl anathemas, but stays at the side of the people . . . We want to innovate the modes of proclamation, not its content."

One of several key issues for the synod, he said, will be a discussion of allowing those who have divorced and remarried outside the Church to become "godfathers or godmothers, catechists, extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist".

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic World News
• Image: Huffington Post

The Instrumentum Laboris was released by the Vatican on June 23.

It includes portions of the final document from the 2014 synod and is also informed by responses from bishops' conferences and others to questions about marriage and family.

The working document tries to balance a sense of openness and mercy with criticism of modern societies and ways of life.

It calls for a style of communication open to dialogue and free from prejudice toward Catholics who do not appear to be living in accordance with Church teaching.

The Church's role, it says, is to accompany families as Christ did with the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

"For the Church it's about starting from the concrete situations of families of today, all are in need of mercy, beginning with those who suffer most."

It acknowledges there was a "common agreement" among bishops for the discussion of some sort of new process to welcome divorced and remarried people.

The 78-page document mentions suggestions that there could be some sort of "penitential path" for people who have been divorced and remarried without first obtaining annulments, in order to allow them access to the sacraments.

But the document notes other opinions that such a path would require such people to refrain from having sex in their new relationships before they could take Communion.

Archbishop Bruno Forte, special secretary to the synod, said the gathering's role is not to give a "yes or no" answer to the question of whether divorced and remarried Catholics should be allowed to receive Communion.

Rather, it is to reflect on the questions as bishops.

Elsewhere, the text says that diocesan pastoral plans should offer "accompaniment" to homosexual Catholics and their families.

While reaffirming the Church's opposition to same-sex marriage, it says that people with homosexual tendencies must be treated with respect and sensitivity.

The working document covers a wide range of areas affecting family life.

Sources

• The Tablet
• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic World News
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Newvision