"We know what the church teaches; we all want to preserve that."

He said that there was, however, a need to change the language the church uses.

"But we want to able to put it in such a way that people understand it."

Dew said that he also spoke about language last year at the extraordinary synod on the family.

"I said when we have documents, which talk about ‘intrinsically disordered' (as the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes same-sex attraction) or being evil, that's not going to help people."

"We have to find a way to express what the teaching actually says, but not putting it in ways that people feel they are being branded and they are being told that they are bad or evil."

In his speech to the Synod Dew quoted from a letter issued by the bishops of Oceania in 1994, which said that when families are struggling they need friends.

Dew said he told the assembly: "Surely, the church needs to realize that we are there to be friends to people who are struggling or are in difficulty in any way."

"And even if there is something there which is against church teaching, we put it in such a way that we're being friendly to them, we're being helpful to them and being supportive."

"It's not denying any teaching or any doctrine, but saying, ‘Look, we're here to help you, to work with you."

Source

• catholicphilly.com
• Image: catholicphilly.com

Cardinal George Pell should have stuck to playing Ozzie Rules. In that game, shirt fronting is the common tactic used to eliminate opponents.

It comes down to knocking out an opposing player usually with a side-on, full body smash that leaves the opponent flat on his back.

As a first ruck, Pell was so well known for this tactic that he aroused the interest of the scouts for the Richmond ALF club in suburban Melbourne.

They used to survey leading teams in Ballarat where, as first ruck for the Christian Brothers' St Pat's College, Pell made his mark.

Pell has never been any good at boxing - in the ring or with shadows. He always telegraphs his punches allowing his many critics and opponents to know the punch is coming and prepare their next moves.

He needs the surprise element he had in AFL. He so telegraphs his punches that when they arrive, they land with all the force of a wet sock.

His behavior at the Synod in Rome is yet another instance of failing to read the play and ending up giving his critics and opponents free kicks in abundance.

Never noted for his perceptiveness or his timing, this time he has excelled himself.

He led the composition of a letter signed by 13 or 14 participants in the current Synod in Rome - the number is unclear because five who were claimed to be signatories have denied they signed it - to be handed to the Pope before they Synod began.

Talk about missing the target and ahead of time too! The Pope has made it clear for over a year that the Synod is not convened to change doctrine.

Anyone who has done Theology 101 knows a Synod can't do that. The Pope's line in this as in many things is: guys, there's a thing called reality; it hits us in the face every day; what is the right pastoral response?

There is and always has been a difference between a pastoral response to a reality and what the Church declares in abstraction which for those of an Anglo Saxon heritage apparently means legal fundamentalism: legal universals derived from abstract doctrines.

Cardinal Pell outlawed in both Sydney and Melbourne during his time there what is the resolution of these sorts of issues in the time honored way they have been for almost a millennium.

My parents did what wasn't done

Ever since St. Thomas Aquinas proposed the best definition we have for conscience in the 13th. Century - the "internal forum" - it has been the common practice of the Church at an operational, pastoral level.

The internal forum is a person's conscientious facing of their choices, dilemmas and failures before God, seeking of forgiveness for the failures by the remedy offered by the Church (Confession) and getting on with your life as it presents itself.

The pastoral response is what happens on the ground.

For example, my parents who were divorced when that just wasn't done by Catholics - in 1968.

My mother proceeded with the divorce, as Catholics did in those days, "because the Parish Priest told me to."

The elderly Irish PP could see what a destructive relationship it was between my parents and that the only solution was to break it up which my father wouldn't do if the law of the land hadn't intervened.

There was a relationship breakdown where I learnt that apportioning blame in intimate matters is an absurd application of the analytic mind and the best thing to say was "it didn't work despite the best efforts of both" and that's that.

I find comfort in the knowledge that many others have benefitted from such sensitive and intelligent pastoral care in the Church.

It is disappointing beyond words when I meet couples not blessed with such care and believe expulsion from the community is a deserved result for a failure the Church can't forgive.

And as a priest, I've never come across a parish that doesn't have divorcees (and gays for that matter) numbered among the most outstanding contributors to the life of the parish.

Back to Cardinal Pell

Cardinal Pell has never been noted for his intelligent approach to issues.

He's demonstrated very visibly in his appearances before the Royal Commission into sex abuse that he's short on compassion.

His approach to theology and scripture leaves those of us who know a bit about them simply gobsmacked for his virtual illiteracy beyond his capacity to recite catechism answers and the Ten Commandments.

But this time he has excelled himself.

He's created a stir about something that isn't on the agenda - doctrinal revision - and attacked something central to the pastoral life of the Church: mercy and compassion.

And immediately the letter to the Pope from him and his entourage became public through the agency of a crank in the Italian media and ally of Pell - Sandro Magister - the well known choir of Pell acolytes chimed in: Tess Lawrence in The Australian, Tracey Rowland at the Australian Catholic University, his allies at the London Catholic Herald and all the fanatics on the Catholic Right in the US (who used to quote the last two Popes endlessly to justify their extreme views as authorized by a Pope).

Cardinal Pell has form in this approach.

When he was among the Australian bishops at their ad Limina visit to Rome in 1998, he played the hierarchy card and convinced the then Pope and his Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Joseph Ratzinger, that the Australian Church was off the rails.

They were surprised at the end of their visit to be forced to sign a statement of conclusions that simply dismayed all but a few who were in on the deal.

A list of shortcomings and failures were listed and a set of remedies proposed to which all were to comply.

This document served as the Roman background for the dismissal of the bishop of Toowoomba, Bill Morris, a decade later.

That time he won with secrecy and surprise.

To shift codes - from ALF to soccer - this time all we do is to congratulate Cardinal Pell on a masterful own goal!

His cosignatories have abandoned him and the reactions of other bishops at the Synod have been anger and dismay.

• Michael Kelly SJ is a Jesuit priest, journalist and the executive director of UCA News. First published in John Menadue - Pearls and Irritations. Republished with the author's permission.

According to a media briefing on Saturday, another prominent issue in the first week of synod discussions was the Church's vision on the indissolubility of marriage.

Vatican Radio journalist Romilda Ferrauto told the briefing that the bishops are broadly presenting two schools of thought.

One is to think that before judging others "you must judge yourself, because we are always people that accuse others of weaknesses while we are not able to see our own", Ms Ferrauto said.

The other is to speak clearly about negative aspects of modern life, she said.

Another spokesperson, Fr Thomas Rosica, said at the briefing that one synod prelate had said: "Mercy cannot be encountered unless it is measured against an eternal law."

"One must seek truth in order to experience mercy," Fr Rosica quoted that prelate.

Another synod prelate, Fr Rosica related, had said: "Unless we acknowledge openly people's situations, we will not be able to address those situations clearly."

"Mercy towards sinners is not a form of weakness, nor an abandonment of Church teaching," Fr Rosica quoted that prelate.

"We have to learn how to speak the truth in love in many situations, because in many situations people are completely powerless over what has befallen them," he said.

"And our communities of faith have to be communities that welcome people."

English Cardinal Vincent Nichols told The Tablet that finding practical ways to support families and discovering a new language for the Church to talk about marriage have emerged as themes at the synod.

Participants spent the first week discussing the synod working document's section titled "Listening to the challenges of the family".

The second week will focus on "Discernment of the family vocation".

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: America

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

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

Cardinal John Tong Hon of Hong Kong was not invited to participate in October's synod because he is older than 75, UCA News reported.

"Now I know that I am not going to the synod," the 76-year-old cardinal told ucanews.com in a late August interview.

The normal retirement age for bishops is 75.

The cardinal said he was told by a Vatican representative that the Vatican "does not want to make any exceptions" regarding age.

Cardinal Tong said he was unaware if another representative from Hong Kong was chosen in his place.

He knew only that he was "disqualified by age", he said, laughing.

"They will find somebody . . . if they need somebody," the cardinal said.

Pope Francis is 78 years old.

Synod participants in general are elected by local bishops' conferences.

Hong Kong, a former British colony and the largest Chinese diocese in the world with a Catholic population of 560,000, remains a mission area and does not have its own bishops' conference.

Some Hong Kong Catholics expressed disappointment that the diocese may not be represented at the synod.

"It is a pity that no one from Hong Kong is going," said Francis Law, a member of a Chinese Facebook page called "Catholic Parents".

Mr Law said Hong Kong Catholics could contribute to discussions at the synod, expressing concerns about recent developments on same-sex unions around the world, particularly in the United States.

"These kinds of voices needs to be brought to the synod," said Mr Law, who is a member of the Diocesan Youth Commission.

Cardinal Tong participated in last year's extraordinary family synod.

The cardinal said he agreed family and marriage are the most fundamental issues facing the Church and believes the synod fathers will find ways to resolve outstanding issues in line with the Pope's vision.

Sources

• UCA News
• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic Hierarchy
• Image: South China Morning Post

The petition, launched by TFP Student Action, asks the Pope to take this action at the synod on the family in October.

Backed by 25 pro-family groups around the world, the petition is titled "Filial Appeal to His Holiness Pope Francis on the Future of the Family".

It was first posted on the TFP Student Action website in late January.

It has since been signed by five cardinals, 117 bishops and hundreds of civil leaders, in addition to the thousands of university students it was aimed at.

The cardinals who signed are Cardinal Raymond Burke, Cardinal Jorge Medina of Chile, Cardinal Ricardo Vidal of the Philippines, Cardinal Alexandre José Maria dos Santos of Mozambique, and Cardinal Janis Pujats of Latvia.

Other signatories include author Piers Paul Read, former US senator Rick Santorum and the Kigeli V, the exiled King of Rwanda.

John Ritchie, director of TFP Student Action, said: "This prayerful petition asks Pope Francis to clear up the moral confusion that's been spreading against natural and divine law."

Describing the Church as a "beacon of morality and stability in our godless culture", Mr Ritchie said that some statements from clergy that appeared to accept same-sex unions had caused confusion.

Mr Ritchie also urged the Church not to "go along with the liberal pressures to soften Church moral discipline".

If the Church stood by its view on traditional marriage and family, he said, "God's plan for marriage will win out against all attacks".

The goal is to hand deliver the petition to Pope Francis on September 29, the feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

By then, organisers hope to have 750,000 signatories for the petition.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• TFP Student Action
• Image: TFP Student Action

Speaking to the National Catholic Register, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna said "we have to speak about mercy and be merciful to the divorced and remarried, who often experience many sufferings and troubles".

"And if we speak about mercy for those who are remarried, we must also speak about those who are left alone," the cardinal said.

He said he always insists on the pastoral accompaniment of people who have divorced and remarried.

But pastoral accompaniment is also needed for those who remain alone after a divorce, "very often homeless, in great economic troubles and in solitude".

"They need the Church's attention."

Cardinal Schönborn, whose own parents divorced, said divorce inflicts "tremendous harm" on society.

"How many family businesses have collapsed through the divorce of the parents?

"What enormous economic damage comes from divorce.

"Therefore, I hope the synod will have very encouraging words to help Catholics overcome the temptation of divorce."

He also referred to the pain children can experience in divorce.

"If [parents] separate, something is always broken in the life of the child.

"Therefore, I fully agree we have to speak about mercy and be merciful to the divorced and remarried, who often experience many sufferings and troubles.

"But before speaking about the suffering of the parents, we must speak about the suffering of the children."

Speaking of his own experience of his parents' divorce, Cardinal Schönborn said he was sustained by his extended family and his strong religious faith.

Speaking at a US event, the cardinal said he is confident there will be no change in Church doctrine at the family synod.

Sources

• National Catholic Register
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

Preaching at a Mass on Monday at Guayaquil, the Pope said the point of the synod is "to mature a true spiritual discernment and find concrete solutions to the many difficult and important challenges families must confront in our times".

"I ask you to intensify your prayer for this intention so that what still seems to be impure to us, to scandalise us, or frighten us, God ... can transform it into a miracle," he then exhorted the people.

"Families today need this miracle," he said.

The Pope is on a three nation, week-long visit in South America. He is visiting Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay.

At the Mass on Monday, Francis spoke directly to struggles faced by Ecuadorean families.

The Pope connected the Gospel reading of the day - the wedding feast at Cana - with miracles that he said people witness every day.

He called on those present to believe that things can always get better.

"This is the good news," Francis told the crowd. "The best of the wines are yet to be drunk; the nicest, most profound and beautiful things for the family are yet to come."

The best "will come in spite of all the variables and statistics which say the opposite," the Pope continued.

"The best wine is yet to come for those who see everything crumbling down."

"Mumble it until you believe it," he told the crowd.

"The best wine is yet to come, and whisper it to the desperate or unloved. Open your heart for the best of wines that will come."

"God always moves out to the peripheries, to those who have run out of wine, those who drink only of discouragement," Francis said.

"Jesus feels weakness to squander his best wine with those that for one reason or another already feel that their jars have been broken."

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Reuters
• Image: Catholic News Agency

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

In a preparatory meeting in Accra, Ghana ahead of October's synod on the family, the bishops stated "we must begin from the faith, reaffirm it and live it for the sake of evangelising cultures in depth".

According to one report, the bishops appear to have heeded the warnings of theologian and anthropologist Edouard Ade, from the Catholic University of Western Africa.

In a presentation, Professor Ade focused on what he called "the strategy of the enemy of the human race".

The professor said the desired goal of some is that the synod approve the blessing of second marriages and homosexual couples, but this appears to be out of reach.

Rather, their strategy will involve opening "loopholes" that could be widened later.

At the same time they will affirm that there is no intention to change doctrine.

Such loopholes could involve particular cases illustrated by proponents, who know they would not remain isolated cases.

Another strategy is to present changes as a balance between the impatience of those who want immediate change on divorce and same-sex marriage, as against a rigorism devoid of mercy.

Professor Ade also warned against "Trojan horses" proposed by activists for change.

These include always attributing a positive value to life arrangements outside of marriage, considering indissolubility an "ideal" that cannot be achieved by all, as well as new language that ends up changing the reality.

In remarks at the start of the meeting, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah encouraged the bishops not to be afraid of "reiterating the teaching of Christ on marriage".

In an interview this month with French magazine Famille Chretienne, Cardinal Sarah expressed his hopes for the synod.

"At the synod next October we will address, I hope, the question of marriage in an entirely positive manner, seeking to promote the family and the values that it bears.

"The African bishops will act to support that which God asks of man concerning the family, and to receive that which the Church has always taught."

Sources

• L'Espresso
• Image: The Dialog

Cardinal Reinhard Marx told a German newspaper the German Church "cannot wait" for synodal statements, as marriage and family ministry has to be undertaken now.

The German bishops therefore want to publish their own pastoral letter on marriage and family after the synod, the article stated.

"We are not just a subsidiary of Rome," Cardinal Marx said.

"Each episcopal conference is responsible for the pastoral care in their culture, and has to proclaim the Gospel in its own unique way.

"We cannot wait until a synod states something, as we have to carry out marriage and family ministry here."

As far as doctrine is concerned, the German episcopate remains in communion with the Church, the cardinal said.

But on individual issues of pastoral care, "the synod cannot prescribe in detail what we have to do in Germany".

Cardinal Marx and the majority of German bishops favour German Cardinal Walter Kasper's proposal to allow some divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion after a period of penance.

Cardinal Marx hopes the synod will result in "a further discussion", and said that it must find a text that "would lead to further progress" towards finding a common theological position on fundamental issues.

But he said theological questions regarding marriage, the family and sexual morality could not be answered during the three weeks of the synod.

Recently, in a book-length interview, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, said detaching the Church's Magisterium from pastoral practice amounted to a form of heresy.

"The idea of placing the Magisterium in [a] jewellery box and detaching it from pastoral practice, which could evolve at the mercy of circumstances, fashions and passions, is a form of heresy, a dangerous schizophrenic pathology," Cardinal Sarah said.

"So I say solemnly that the African Church will strongly oppose any rebellion against the teaching of Jesus and the Magisterium."

Sources

• National Catholic Register
• The Tablet
• Image: John Thavis

"Remaining in the Truth of Christ" contained contributions from the Vatican's doctrinal chief Cardinal Gerhard Müller, church historian Cardinal Walter Brandmüller and American Cardinal Raymond Burke.

The book aimed to counter arguments put forward by German Cardinal Walter Kasper who had proposed a way to that could see divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to Communion.

The book was mailed to all the fathers at the extraordinary synod on the family. Some received it.

Vatican sources allege the head of the synod's secretariat, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, ordered the books be intercepted.

This is because they would "interfere with the synod".

Continue reading

According to a Breitbart report, their letter to the Pope focuses on the synod on the family in October.

It expresses the signatories' "fears and hopes regarding the future of the family".

Those who signed include princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses, counts and countesses, barons and baronesses, descendants of storied European royal families and one exiled African king.

Their numbers include Kigeli V, exiled King of Rawanda, the heads of the Imperial House of Portugal and Brazil, Prince Armand de Merode of Belgium, Duke and Duchess Antonello Del Balzo di Presenzano of Italy, Princess Monika of Lowenstein-Werthheim-Rosenberg, Baron Rudolf Pfyffer von Altishofen of France and many others.

The letter says: "Our fears arise from witnessing a decades-long sexual revolution promoted by an alliance of powerful organisations, political forces and the mass media that consistently work against the very existence of the family as the basic unit of society."

The signers trace the ongoing sexual revolution to the May 1968 "Sorbonne Revolution" in France and "morality opposed to both divine and natural law".

The letter "notes with anguish that, for millions of faithful Catholics, the beacon seems to have dimmed in the face of the onslaught of lifestyles spread by anti-Christian lobbies".

Specifically, the signers believe "a breach has been opened within the Church that would accept adultery-by permitting divorced and then civilly remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion-and would virtually accept even homosexual unions".

The signers ask the Pope to clarify Church teaching ahead of the synod.

Among the signatories is American Cardinal Raymond Burke and English novelist, historian and biographer Piers Paul Read.

More than 100,000 people have added their signatures to the letter, using an online device, according to Breitbart.

Sources

• Breitbart
• Filial Appeal
• Image: The Guardian

The surveys come ahead of October's synod on the family.

The concise survey has been produced by Strong Catholic Families, a group made up of four organisations which minister to families and youth.

Its results will not form part of the official feedback to the Vatican.

But they will be published at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress on March 14.

Responses to the Strong Catholic Families survey will be used in the initiative's future presentations, resource materials and discussions with Church leaders in the United States.

On its first day, the survey had 400 responses.

Continue reading

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops are inviting people to use the questionnaire as an opportunity to add their "voice" to the global discussion which began last year.

Completed questionnaires must be returned by 9 March.

Responses may be made by individuals or by groups.

Click here for the online questionnaire. Follow the instructions on the Bishops' Conference website.

A Word version of the questionnaire is also available on the Bishops' Conference website.

This hard copy version can also be used to respond to the questionnaire. The completed questionnaire can be emailed to Simone Olsen, Communications Adviser, communications@nzcbc.org.nz

The fourth session of the Synod takes place October 4-25, 2015.

In an invitation sent to parishes the Bishops said, "We are acutely aware of the many people who in their hearts consider themselves Catholic but are not regularly at Church."

"Please encourage these family members and friends to participate."

"Also of particular interest to us are those who see themselves as beyond the Church: perhaps some divorced and remarried, or gay women and men."

"We urge you to share your experiences through the questionnaire. No-one walks beyond the reach of the Good Shepherd."

• Click here to read the Bishops' press release.
• Click here for a full copy of the Document from the Holy See
  [THE VOCATION AND MISSION OF THE FAMILY IN THE CHURCH AND CONTEMPORARY WORLD 2014]

Source

• Supplied: NZCBC
• Image: catholicexchange.com

Wellington-based Catholic moral theologian John Kleinsman describes the statement as "momentous" and says it's an exciting time to be Catholic.

Peter Lineham, Massey University historian. says "What Pope Francis is doing is bringing about a change of the guard and the voices that represent a willingness to represent change are moving into key positions in the Vatican."

Father John O'Connor, from the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, said the Synod's comments were welcome but unlikely to change the church's stance.

"The shift is significant but it's in terms of language rather than doctrine.

"The problem with what the church presents is not the doctrine itself, but we have often been very poor communicators."

Lyndsay Freer, a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Auckland, said most clergymen she knew welcomed that shift in wording, but some were struggling with the change.

She agrees with O'Connor, saying some deeply-held catholic beliefs were not going to shift.

"There certainly won't be any change in the gay marriage because the church teaching will always remain that marriage is that union between a man and a woman," she said.

The Catholic lobby group Family Life International said it was shocked by the Vatican's comments.

Spokesperson Michelle Kaufman said the message that came out was not the viewpoint of all Catholics.

"There are concerns that certain people have garnered control of the Synod and what comes out," she said.

"There are lots of people I know within the Synod that are speaking very strongly for things to stay the way they are."

Dana Micklin, a Catholic and a lesbian, said her religion and sexuality sometimes did not gel, but hoped the Vatican's latest comments would help change that.

"I think it's really important for Catholics to be taught how to welcome us," she said.

"Having that attitude, that permission, to be welcoming and not to try and judge us and not feeling that they have to correct us."

Source

• TVNZ
• Radio New Zealand
• Image: blogs.spectator.co.uk

Ron and Mavis Pirola, who have been married for more than 50 years, told the synod how friends of theirs welcomed their gay son and his partner one Christmas.

"The Church constantly faces the tension of upholding the truth while expressing compassion and mercy. Families face this tension all the time," the Pirolas of Sydney told the synod on October 6.

"Take homosexuality as an example. Friends of ours were planning their Christmas family gathering when their gay son said he wanted to bring his partner home, too.

"They fully believed in the Church's teachings and they knew their grandchildren would see them welcome the son and his partner into the family. Their response could be summed up in three [sic] words, 'He is our son'."

"What a model of evangelisation for parishes as they respond to similar situations in their neighbourhood," the Pirolas said.

The couple, who are participating in the synod as non-voting auditors, are former members of the Pontifical Council for the Family, and run the Australian Catholic Marriage and Family Council.

Married with four children and eight grandchildren, the couple spoke about how important faith had been to their marriage.

But they said that Church documents on the matter seemed to be from "another planet" and were not relevant to their experiences.

The couple called for emphasising the positive dimensions of Catholic teaching on sexuality.

On Humanae Vitae ­­- Pope Paul VI's encyclical that re-iterated the Church's ban on artificial contraception - the couple said there was a need for married couples to connect sexual intimacy with spirituality.

"We believe that until married couples come to reverence sexual union as an essential part of their spirituality it is extremely hard to appreciate the beauty of teachings such as those of Humanae Vitae.

"We need new ways and relatable language to touch people's hearts," they said.

The couple told the synod members that sexual attraction brought them together 57 years ago and sex had helped keep them married for 55 years.

"Gradually we came to see that the only feature that distinguishes our sacramental relationship from that of any other good Christ-centred relationship is sexual intimacy, and that marriage is a sexual sacrament with its fullest expression in sexual intercourse."

Sources

• The Tablet
• National Catholic Reporter
• The Guardian
• Image: LifeSiteNews

Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, the secretary general of the synod, said that married couples will address the gathering immediately after each topic is opened by a bishop.

The synod runs from October 5-19 in Rome and Pope Francis has streamlined its operation.

Each day will deal with a theme from the Instrumentum Laboris, a working document on the synod that was published on June 26.

Topics will include polygamy and abandoned women, but are also expected to cover the challenges posed by the Church's teaching on contraception and abortion in modern society.

The cardinal told the agency Rome Reports: "We will discuss the problems that have also been highlighted by the media, regarding failed marriages, separations, divorces, etc.

"The topics that are relevant to the West, are much more sensitive without a doubt.

"But I would like to point out that each continent has its own specific issues."

Speeches by bishops will be limited to a maximum of four minutes.

At the end of each day, there will be one hour of open debate, but each participant will be allowed to speak only once a day.

Small group sessions will make up most of the second half of the synod and are meant to be the heart of the gathering.

National Catholic Reported editor Dennis Coday expects Pope Francis will be actively involved as president of the synod.

"When Pope John Paul II attended synod assemblies, he was known to pray his breviary," Coday wrote.

"Pope Benedict XVI was a quiet observer. Francis, on the other hand, at meetings likes to engage speakers with questions, jokes and comments."

Coday wrote that this synod will discuss the lived experiences of families today.

It is expected to produce a summary report be sent to dioceses around the world in preparation for another synod next year.

"Any changes to Church practices on marriage and family life will come not this year, but next," Coday wrote.

He quoted Rome reporter Robert Mickens who stated: "Francis has repeatedly said he wants to develop the Synod of Bishops as one of the major components for the governance of the universal Church".

Sources

• The Tablet
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: CathNews USA

In a letter reported by The Tablet, Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp said there is a gap between the moral teachings of the Church and the moral insights of the faithful.

He ascribed this partly to the failure to develop the collegiality between bishops and the Vatican decided virtually unanimously at the Second Vatican Council.

Bishops found themselves caught between their desire to minister to the faithful in the new pastoral manner and loyalty to popes who stressed the primacy of the magisterium, he said.

The Church must "dare once again to start with ‘life' and then move on to ‘teaching'", the bishop argued.

This is at a time when many lay people ignore or reject some doctrinal or moral decisions coming from Rome, he added.

"The Church has nothing to lose in this regard," the bishop noted.

"The Church must step away from its defensive, antithetical stance and seek anew the path of dialogue" on moral issues, he wrote.

Vatican II had also stressed the importance of personal conscience, but since the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae banning artificial birth control, it had been sidelined, his letter said.

The synod should "restore conscience to its rightful place in the teaching of the Church".

The 5-19 October meeting should not be a "platonic synod" focused on safe doctrinal debate and "bipolar thinking" in terms of regular and irregular situations.

Instead, it should try to accompany people like unwed mothers, same-sex unions, cohabiting couples or couples who resort to IVF after failure to conceive.

Bishop Bonny also said the Church must ask itself if the ban on Communion for the divorced and remarried properly reflects what Jesus intended with the Eucharist.

"We have to bear in mind that a large company of publicans and sinners were at table with Jesus," he wrote.

Vatican commentator Sandro Magister noted that Bishop Bonny had a close collaboration with Cardinal Walter Kasper when the latter was head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

At a meeting of cardinals earlier this year, Cardinal Kasper asked that ways be found in which divorced and remarried Catholics could receive communion.

Weighing the evidence, Magister concluded that Pope Francis leans towards the views of theologians like Cardinal Kasper on this question.

Sources

• The Tablet
• La Repubblica
• Image: National Catholic Reporter