Speaking ahead of the synod on the family in Rome, Bishop Peter Doyle of Northampton said "there is a bit of an issue".

"I thought I understood marriage and family life because I come from a family, because I've ministered for 37 years in a parish," Bishop Doyle said.

"When I got involved in marriage and family life, I suddenly realised that there was a whole world there that I didn't know."

Bishop Doyle was responding to a media question about concerns that a meeting focused on family is largely being conducted only by men.

Some 279 male priests and prelates have been appointed by Francis as the voting members of the synod.

While there is a small group of women taking part in the discussions as collaborators and auditors, they are not allowed to vote on any final documents or issues.

At the same media conference, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster said the synod " is not an exchange of opinion among male celibates".

"This is a period of prayer and reflection among the shepherds of the people."

The cardinal noted that there will be 17 married couples presenting testimonies to the synod, which has more time for small group discussions than in previous synods.

"There will be in every small group married people and women," Cardinal Nichols said.

Before the synod, former Irish president Mary McAleese said if she wanted expertise on the family, she wouldn't be calling hundreds of celibate prelates together.

"Let me repeat a question I asked last year when I saw the Vatican's lengthy pre-synod questionnaire, namely how many of these men have ever changed a child's nappy?" she said.

Sources

• Irish Times
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Catholic Women's League

The self-styled "Black Hermits" say they have been told they have until July 20 to leave the presbytery at St Patrick's, Millais Road, Corby, in Northampton diocese.

One of the members, Br Damon Kelly, has been arrested 10 times, had a bucket of water thrown over him and has been pushed over in the street.

He has travelled throughout the United Kingdom giving out leaflets condemning homosexuality and abortion.

Despite his arrests he has refused to stop putting leaflets through people's letterboxes, which, in some cases, may involve entering private property.

He told the Church Militant website: "At first I agreed to do no more leafleting."

"But I've wrestled with it, I've sought spiritual counsel. And I've decided I have to obey God's law and not the state's law."

Br Damon has been charged with harassment over two pamphlets.

He is reported to be due in Leicester Magistrates court on May 18.

If convicted he could receive a prison sentence.

The hermits - two brothers and one sister - claim the Bishop of Northampton, Peter Doyle, says they have brought him and the diocese into disrepute.

Bishop Doyle told The Tablet he understood that any communication between him and the hermits "would remain private".

The bishop reportedly invited the hermits to live in the presbytery four years ago, said the group's founder, former Capuchin novice master, Fr Stephen Joseph de Kerdrel.

Fr de Kerdrel said: "[The bishop] invited us into the diocese which was very kind of him.

"It's all very sad because it started off so well . . . The last thing we want to do is make the bishop's life difficult."

Members of the Black Hermits reportedly make personal vows to their bishop.

One of the hermits, Sr Collette Farrell-Roberts, wrote on their website last week: "We do not have anywhere to go . . . we just need somewhere for our cats!"

Sources

• The Tablet
• Catholic Herald
• Church Militant
• Image: Free Republic

Speaking at a Chrism Mass at Westminster Cathedral during Holy Week, Cardinal Nichols warned such hostilities can cause "collateral damage".

His comments came a week after he rebuked the 461 priests in England and Wales for going to the press about a letter they signed calling on the synod to resist changes to the Church's moral teaching.

According to The Tablet, the cardinal said in his homily: "It is wrong, in my view, to think or speak of this synod as a battle, a battle between contesting sides."

"Battles have winners and losers," he continued.

"And often ‘collateral damage' is the most tragic consequence of hostilities."

Last month, at the launch of a book about Pope Francis, German Cardinal Walter Kasper called for prayer ahead of the synod "because a battle is going on".

Debate on issues such as allowing Communion for those divorced and remarried to be raised at October's Synod on the Family has exposed tensions in the Church, another article in The Tablet stated.

Bishop Peter Doyle, of Northampton, who with Cardinal Nichols will represent England and Wales at the synod, said there is a "puzzle" facing the synod.

"It's about upholding the constant teaching of the Church while at the same time trying to find ways of meeting painful situations with the compassion of the Lord," Bishop Doyle said.

Meanwhile, another English prelate, Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster, has drawn controversy for refusing to meet local members of the reformist group A Call to Action (ACTA).

An ACTA spokesman said Pope Francis wants the synod to get the Church to catch up with the modern face of the family, whose issues included gay marriage as well as divorce and remarriage.

Bishop Campbell said the group had no recognition or approval by the Catholic Church in his diocese.

The bishop also strongly rejected any insinuation that he is in disagreement with Pope Francis.

Sources

• The Tablet
• The Tablet
• Catholic Herald
• Image: Catholic News Agency