Not only are many of them “dedicated to their family of origin, but they often are of great service to their circle of friends, the church community and through their professional lives”, the final report said.
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Palma, who had a brief encounter with the pontiff at the Vatican, said it created a good impression to the Pope on how elderly are held in high regard in the Philippines.
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 Synod on the Family – despite highly misleading reports to the contrary regarding nonexistent changes to sacramental access for divorced and remarried Catholics – has, after two years of deliberations and consultations, come up with nothing that is pastorally fresh or even interesting”. Only 21% of Catholics say simply getting a divorce is sinful, while 61% say it is not.
Nonetheless, Catholics of contrasting points of views (and even ideologies) have found ways to claim “victory” for their side through a favorable reading of one passage or another. The Latin American bishops, he said, want an end to pollution, to the destruction of the forests and the disappearance of biodiversity, but they also want justice for their people, the majority of whom do not benefit from the exploitation of resources taken from their countries.
But Communion for the divorced and remarried still sucked up most of the oxygen in the first world – especially in the media.
The synod of 270 cardinals and bishops from around the world was the second in a year called by Pope Francis to address how and whether Catholicism could adapt its teachings to the changing realities of modern family life. But still, only about three-in-ten (29%) Catholics who are divorced and remarried without an annulment or cohabiting say they never receive Communion, while an additional 5% say they never attend Mass. Others agreed, he said.
“And I really believe that’s what Pope Francis is trying to tell people”.
Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told reporters the next day that the document, after speaking about “the dignity of women and the way in which women are treated from country to country and within the church… talked about the importance of the charisms” that women bring to families, society and the church.
“The real takeaway from this synod is that Pope Francis has changed the way the church goes about reflecting on her pastoral ministry”. He turns 79 in December and openly acknowledges that his may not be a long papacy.
Francis also said that this latest synod assembly “was about trying to open up broader horizons” and – here he may have had a dozen or so other bishops in mind – “rising above conspiracy theories and blinkered viewpoints, so as to defend and spread the freedom of the children of God”.
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“I hope I’m not going to get castigated for saying this by my priest back home”, Mr. Bush said at a campaign event in New Hampshire in June, “but I don’t get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinals or my pope”. The synod gave him space, but he may need much more time to do with it what he wants.
