As the synod rolls into its second week, yet another way of understanding the fundamental divide is coming into focus: The gap between those who believe the demands of classic Catholic teaching on sex, marriage, and the family may be unrealistic or inappropriate for a few share of the contemporary population, and those convinced that it’s widely attainable in the here-and-now. No one at the synod questions that marriage as sacrament. “If it is thus, then it must be said: From where do these changes, these difficulties, derive?”
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A British priest who is married to his homosexual partner is now a member of the Church of England’s General Synod – the church’s governing body and the group that supposedly sets theology for the churches of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Given the blindingly obvious fact that there are deep divisions at the 2015 Synod of Bishops, various ways of analyzing those fault lines have been proposed.
The letter states that new procedures adopted for this synod – that organizers say are meant to promote more discussion among the a few 270 bishops attending – “will be seen in a few quarters as lacking openness and genuine collegiality”. And he has continued to emphasize that during this synod process.
“In fact it is called a martyred document”, the cardinal said. I am working in one of the four English-language groups.
Lombardi and four other spokespeople also gave an overview Monday of the synod’s open sessions on Saturday.
“One universal and distinguishing feature of all families is that family members, regardless of how errant they become, are not rejected from the family”, the bishop said. “And the key is to remain firm on theological principals but to make ecclesiastical discipline flexible and not impossible for pastorally hard or near impossible situations”.
“We must call these diabolic forces which have a role to play with these phenomena by name because this way we can find a few indications even for the research of possible solutions”, he said. Just after him one bishop reported about couples that have been remarried for decades and can not go to mass because they were married in the church before, and their grown children never developed a real relation to the church because they did not take the Lord’s Supper either. But I am not sure that those who dislike gay people are willing or able to see that.
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York published his text on his blog, cardinaldolan.org.
“The referendum was debated within a social culture where people struggle to understand abstract moral principles”.
“Imprecise language leads to confused thinking”, the archbishop said October 10 at the Vatican, giving “two examples that should cause us a few concern”: “inclusive” and “unity in diversity”.
“They are looking to the Church, and to us, for support and encouragement, a warm sense of inclusion”, he wrote. “We need to be a welcoming Church that offers refuge to anyone honestly seeking God”. But it’s very hard to include those who do not wish to be included, or insist on being included on their own terms.
“I am hoping that we will end up with a more caring, compassionate and involved church”.
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And let’s ask the intercession of the Holy Family to help us to illuminate, by our pastoral priorities and practice, how the family is the crucial “way” for the Church and for God’s plan for creation.
