They weren’t even to know we had the document. “It’s not a closed issue”, he explained. “His pastoral instincts are leading him in one direction, but his respect for collegiality is stopping him from getting too far out in front of the bishops”. They are often painted one way and the images are bad.
Advertisement
The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
First of all, in the intensity of the commitment of all the bishops, the observers, the fraternal delegates, the workers and even the translators.
We want to hear from you.
“That’s why I said we won’t have the answers, because the answers won’t be acceptable to everybody”, said Gracias. “We need to walk with them and help them”. “Are we going to be wiser than Christ or more merciful than Christ?” He said that the Church had to deal concretely with situations.
“If you say that an act is disordered … you’re saying that I am intrinsically disordered”.
As the synod’s end nears, there has been a last-ditch push to find common ground that could at least open the door to policy alterations.
Paul: A word comes to my mind, and it’s counter-culture… They’re good people. I know them.
I told the inquiring bishop that my views on Olympic sports or Johnny Cash or the Prince of Wales really should not be thought of as representing the pastors of the Church. I think there would be an acceptance of saying: “Let’s use gentler language, not judgemental language”.
“People shouldn’t bend to external influence and pressure with excuses like: “‘They told me… I see that in my diocese.
How did the lay auditors contribute to your small group?
They’re not mutually exclusive, but a lot of people think that it has to be all about love and compassion. He had lots of interesting things to say. And in this I saw the importance of contact with the family, and as the Pope he underlined the role of the family in the life of the Church and in the life of society.
“I don’t think in any of our families it’s flawless”, said Canadian Cardinal Gerald Lacroix.
Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah linked the push for gay rights to abortion and Islamic extremism, comparing them all to what “Nazi-Fascism and Communism were in the 20th century”.
But taken together and shaken, not stirred, does that necessarily mean that the “media Synod” will trump the real Synod in the public mind?
The group also emphasized a pastoral approach to responsible parenthood that promotes the teaching of “Humanae Vitae” on openness to children and asked that the synod’s final document include a clear statement of church teaching that same-sex unions are in no way equivalent to marriage.
One of the ways I have been changed is a much greater appreciation for the complexity of a few of these issues.
“It seems to me that no one here wants to be in opposition or bring confrontations”, he said in an interview with Rome Reports. They said: Is it a question of discipline or doctrine? “As a bishop, can I say, ‘No, no, you can’t do this.’ I don’t know”.
The differences between more liberal Western bishops and conservative bishops is believed to be the most divisive since the 1960s when the Catholic church adopted reforms.
What inspired and informed your intervention about domestic violence and the role of women in the church? Watering down Christ’s explicit Word will not help me. A two-thirds majority will be required for passage. “Some bishops would say we have the answer to this problem, others would say no”. And in a few situations I had to intervene. I find that statistic just abominable. We don’t own the church. “Despite the problems we have, we are still enormously blessed”, he said.
That’s not true. That’s not fair. “A hundred years ago, less than 1 percent of global Catholics were in Africa”.
Did you receive a backlash or criticism for your stand? We could celebrate them and give them a chance to speak about their work.
And among bishops at the regional level? “That’s a very crucial decision for every church and bishops’ conference”. “We can not wait until a synod states something, as we have to carry out marriage and family ministry here”.
Offering another perspective was Maria Harries, chair of Catholic Social Services Australia, who quoted an aboriginal leader on the lack of female participation in the church. It’s a question about how we exercise priesthood within the church. But the value of life, and the goal of a man and a woman, the objective of marriage, the goal of the Temple of the Holy Spirit being our body, those things aren’t changing. Right now you are busy with the synod on the family.
“We hope that gradually there will be consensus”, he said. Well, what kind of ministries are we talking about? This is because it is so easy to reaffirm what we have always professed; to profess what we have always believed, and to defend what we have always lived.
The first is assigning positions that are presently open within diocesan curias and the Roman Curia to women.
The synod’s rules make life hard for the spokesmen, though.
So I threw those three out as possible avenues to explore, and there are others. “It doesn’t get into very, very specific points in that sense”.
How can the church move forward with these suggestions? They can receive sacraments, like communion, and take part in church ceremonies. “Are you telling me that I have to go an entire lifetime without sexual intimacy?” And when they do, the church will officially refuse to recognise their new families.
Advertisement
These bishops generally argue that a certain suspiciousness is warranted in light of what they perceived as a stacked deck at last year’s Synod of Bishops on the family. At Thanksgiving, we think about the blessings we have as individuals, as a community and a country. Next year: accompanying. And then: inviting.
