The final communiqué, while a significant bellwether of the hierarchy’s thinking, nevertheless amounts only to a recommendation to Francis.
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Asked to clarify the pope’s message, Vatican spokesman Thomas Rosica only said, “Once again, Pope Francis used the homily at Mass to bring together the major themes of the Synod of Bishops and to put the powerful ecclesial experience into perspective”.
The synod, which was a continuation of another meeting convened last fall, included bishops from vastly different social contexts discussing everything from polygamy to parenthood.
Expectations – and accusations – ran high as bishops attempted to grapple with competing priorities, including the tricky theological terrain of how to balance mercy with judgment. One of the principal sticking points is over Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics who do not have an annulment.
Catholics who divorce and are remarried outside the church are now not allowed to receive communion, but bishops opened the door to change by stating that divorcees should be “more integrated into Christian communities”. They also rejected the pressure exerted on local churches by those who are pushing for the acceptance of gay “marriage”.
But it also leaves Francis with room for maneuver should he wish to defy his conservative opponents and push on with his attempt to make the Church more relevant and more welcoming toward believers who find themselves in breach of its rules.
The emphasis contrasted sharply with first drafts previous year that spoke of recognizing the value of loving same-sex relationships, to the outrage of those opposed to any dilution of Church teaching that homosexuality amounts to a kind of disorder.
Even before it began, there was the bombshell announcement by a Vatican monsignor that he was a proud, gay priest, had a boyfriend and thought the Catholic Church was homophobic. Australian Archbishop Mark Coleridge had said such language is alienating.
“Some will be disappointed”, he told journalists in Rome. “But… the diversity of political and cultural situations must be respected”.
However, Pope Francis also warned that the Gospel shows two temptations that face those who follow Jesus when confronted with people who are suffering.
The Catholic Church ended its synod on the family on Saturday without clear progress on inclusiveness of gays and lesbians, or divorced parishioners, and Pope Francis says it exposed those with “closed hearts”.
“Many have labeled Francis as a liberal or progressive, and so imagine that they know his mind even when his words say something else”.
In effect, the synod agreed to disagree – leaving it to Francis to address such delicate questions.
“The World Meeting of families in Philadelphia formed the real framework within which to place the synod’s work”, Paglia said.
The most contentious, dealing with whether divorced and remarried believers should be allowed to play a full role in the church, only just passed.
But early in the synod, many bishops seemed reluctant to budge.
“By not having women visible on the altar and in the life of our church, we are concealing our mothers, our sisters and our daughters from view”, she said.
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“But to me the more important overall message that emerged was that we must exclude nobody and include everybody in the life of the Church”, he said, adding this applied even to those who felt they were at the margins of society.
