A newly appointed archbishop in Belgium has said “mercy” seems somewhat condescending and he prefers terms like “respect” and “esteem for man”. Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Mechelen-Brussels reportedly told Kerknet that the Church should not be marking time after the synod on the family. “Mercy is an important word for me, but in one Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Synod’
Kasper says synod opened door but didn’t enter
Tuesday, November 10th, 2015
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
The Synod on the Family – success or failure?
Friday, November 6th, 2015
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
Pell says synod did not open doors for Communion access
Friday, October 30th, 2015
Cardinal George Pell has said the final report of the recent synod did not make an opening for the divorced and civilly remarried to receive Communion. Cardinal Pell said the text of the report has been “significantly misunderstood” and has no direct reference to the matter. Cardinal Pell said that “the discernment that is encouraged Read more
Gay former CDF official writes to Pope of ‘brutal’ Church
Friday, October 30th, 2015
A gay former official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has written a letter to Pope Francis in which the Church is accused of homophobia. Msgr Krzysztof Charamsa told Francis the Catholic Church is “full of homosexuals” despite being “frequently violently homophobic”. The Polish theologian called on “all gay cardinals, gay bishops Read more
St Thomas Aquinas: the relationship of mercy to justice
Friday, October 30th, 2015
We have heard a lot about (the new) mercy during the past months, and with respect to the (sometimes strange and surprising) topics discussed at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family. The remarks of some of the participants in the debates gave the impression that the insistence on truth—and on justice based on truth—is indicative Read more
Who won the Synod?
Friday, October 30th, 2015
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
Cardinal falls, breaks leg at synod final Mass
Friday, October 30th, 2015Pope Francis has paid a private visit to an elderly cardinal who fell and broke his leg at the final Mass at the synod on the family. Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 93, lost his balance and fell in St Peter’s Basilica on Sunday while the Pope was greeting prelates after the Mass. The injury was reported Read more
Top Vatican official expects family document from Pope soon
Friday, October 30th, 2015
The Vatican’s Secretary of State expects an apostolic exhortation on the family from Pope Francis reasonably soon. Cardinal Pietro Parolin told Italian news agency ANSA that the Pope will promulgate a document based in the conclusions of the synod of bishops’ recent meeting. Regarding the timing of any apostolic exhortation, he said: “This I do Read more
Pope closes synod warning against closed hearts
Tuesday, October 27th, 2015
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