New Zealand’s Cardinal John Dew has been named to a 10-member committee responsible for drafting the final document from the synod on the family. The synod, which runs from October 4-25, has as its theme: “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the contemporary world.” Its final document is expected to Read more
A South African cardinal has objected to people trying to pigeonhole synod fathers as conservatives and liberals. Writing in the Catholic Herald, Cardinal Wilfred Napier stated: “I am never at ease where people are busy fitting everyone into one or other pigeonhole, camp or category in order to predetermine what they are going to say Read more
Many Catholics in England and Wales are concerned at a legalistic and punitive response by the Church to those who cannot live up to the ideal of marriage. That was one of the conclusions of a report summarising responses to consultation by the England and Wales bishops ahead of next month’s synod on the family. Read more
A global network of Catholic women has called on male prelates to include more female experiences and voices in discussions at the synod on the family. A collection of 40 short essays by Catholic women, titled Catholic Women Speak: Bringing Our Gifts to the Table, is to be launched in Rome on October 1. Pope Read more
A German bishop going to the synod on the family has proposed that the Catholic Church might offer ‘private blessings’ to same sex couples. Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabruck said it was possible to see strengths as well as weaknesses in both gay relationships and in those of cohabiting heterosexuals. He said that the Catholic Read more
A cardinal says the Church must look for the good in relationships that don’t conform to a marital ideal, citing an example of a stable gay relationship. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna said in an interview with La Civilta Cattolica that the bishops at next month’s synod on the family should not take a stance Read more
Since the 2014 Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops a growing theological divide has become apparent. This divide, evident among a small minority of cardinals and bishops present (and not present) at the Extraordinary Assembly, has been recognized through their views on how to “pastorally” apply Catholic teaching regarding marriage, family and sexual Read more
A Maltese bishop has appealed for pathways for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics who want to experience God’s mercy. In a pastoral letter, Bishop Mario Grech of Gozo wrote that “God’s mercy is not only a doctrine alongside the doctrine of marriage and the family, but is at the heart of Christian doctrine”. The pastoral Read more
The pro-life coalition Voice of the Family has warned the working document for the synod on the family threatens elements of Church teaching. An analysis by Voice of the Family critiqued the Instrumentum Laboris for omissions and ambiguity in wording. The document “threatens the entire structure of Catholic teaching on marriage, the family and human Read more
In preparation for the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2015, Pope Francis has encouraged bishops around the world to undertake wide consultation on the topic ‘The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World’. The New Zealand Conference of Bishops invited people to add their Read more