When the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops opened with a concelebrated Mass at the Altar of the Confession in St. Peter’s Basilica on October 4, it was already clear that there would be three synods: the real synod, the mainstream media synod, and the blogosphere synod. The first and third would Read more
Although the October 4-24 synod on the family was the best-run synod of bishops since its institution by Pope Paul VI after the Second Vatican Council, there are still ways that the synod process could be improved. First, what went well? The most important improvement instituted by Pope Francis was open and free debate. Earlier synods were Read more
The recent synod opened, but didn’t enter, a door on the issue of civilly remarried people being admitted to the sacraments, says Cardinal Walter Kasper. Speaking in Germany on October 29, Cardinal Kasper said the synod “stated the general principle, but not the possible consequences”. “That was the only way to achieve the necessary two-thirds Read more
“Ready for the marriage apocalypse?” challenges CNN. “Young couples shun marriage over divorce fears,” booms the Telegraph. Headlines like these give the impression that marriage has all but died among millennials – but this isn’t the whole picture. It is true that marriage among young people in the UK is on the decline. In 2012, Read more
I was talking recently about the Synod with a very experienced parish priest. He said that if the bishops thought we were all waiting with bated breath for their decision regarding the divorced remarried receiving Communion, then they really do live in cloud cuckoo-land. Nowadays divorced Catholics don’t just hang around waiting for a bevy Read more
Nobody, of course, because there weren’t two “sides” or camps or (heaven help us) factions or anything so nasty as all that. It was all a dialogue, a moment of encounter and discernment, an opening to the Holy Spirit that set the Roman Catholic Church free to be church in a new way for the Read more
In his closing address to the synod of bishops meeting about the family, Pope Francis said the gathering has been about overcoming closed hearts. Pope Francis said that the synod was not about settling all the issues to do with the family, but rather to see them in the light of the Gospel. He said Read more
Pope Francis has announced the creation of a new Vatican department for laity, family and life. He made the announcement on Thursday evening’s session of the family synod in Rome. The new dicastery was proposed by the Council of Cardinals, the Pope’s closest cardinal-advisers. It is unclear if the new department will be called a Read more
The final document of the synod of bishops on the family has stressed that the Church must involve the divorced and civilly remarried in all ways possible. While the document does not mention Communion for such people who are baptised, it calls for their integration into the Church community, while “avoiding every occasion of scandal”. Read more
An Australian archbishop has called for a new pastoral creativity, not an all-or-nothing approach, to families in situations the Church sees as problematic. Speaking a news conference at the synod on the family, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane said he was concerned an “all-or-nothing” approach tended to dominate discussions before and, at times, during the Read more