German-speaking bishops made their displeasure official by starting off their final, written set of amendments with a public dressing down of Cardinal George Pell, the Australian who spearheaded the conservative charge.
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“The conversation with the priest, in internal forum, contributes to the formation of a correct decision on what is blocking the possibility of a fuller participation in the life of the church and on steps that might foster it and make it grow”, stated the document.
On the final document, drafted by 10 cardinals and voted on by the bishops on Saturday, Paglia said that seeing that it was approved by a majority [every one of the 94 proposals had a 2/3 majority approval], “indicates that everyone recognized themselves in the document”. “But its encouragement by the synod is notable, and should be seen as a welcoming gesture”, he said.
Outlining the second temptation, Francis said that temptation occurs when “we are able to walk with the People of God, but we already have our schedule for the journey, where everything is listed”.
Further said Williams, Francis has never added to what his predecessor Saint John Paul II said when referring to the best ways to reach out to divorced and remarried Catholics.
The bishops expressed a more tolerant view toward divorced Catholics, but blocked any reconsideration of the church’s stance on gay marriage.
“The imperative that has emerged from these two years is mercy!” he said.
Pope Francis on Sunday warned Catholic bishops against sticking too rigidly to church doctrine, marking the end of a high-level summit on the family at the Vatican which saw clergy approach a more open attitude towards divorcees.
On Saturday, the pope excoriated Church leaders who he said sometimes bury their heads in the sand and hide behind rigid doctrine while families suffer.
But in a bit of levity, Francis also included an acrostic in the footnotes of his speech – perhaps a papal first – spelling out “Famiglia” (family in Italian) with poetic descriptions for each letter.
However, the conservative Voice of the Family coalition issued a statement saying that the opening to divorcees had caused “crisis of trust regarding the family between faithful lay Catholics and those in authority at the highest levels of the Church”.
“What the pope has to do now is take all of this in and decide how to we use it”, said Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington. Even so, they are claiming victory.
Conservative bishops had strongly resisted calls by more liberal bishops to offer a more welcoming approach to gays and divorced Catholics, citing church doctrine on sexuality and marriage.
Even such a seemingly small change caused such division in the assembly of 275 synod “fathers” that the statement was endorsed by just one vote. “These people are in search of dignity, these families looking for peace are still with us, the Church does not abandon them, because they are part of the people that God wants to free from slavery and lead to freedom”.
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“I was very upset, because while before the distinction (between voting and non-voting members) was between the clergy and laity, now it has become between man and woman”, he said. Catholics who divorce and remarry civilly without getting an annulment are considered to be adulterers, and are forbidden from receiving the sacraments of Penance and Communion.
