While much outside attention has been placed on the church’s approach to divorced and remarried couples, as well as gay Catholics, the synod discussions so far demonstrate a broad agenda.
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The pontiff also told the 270 Catholic church leaders attending the summit that Catholic doctrine on marriage had remained unchanged since the last synod, Mr Lombardi said.
Understand that the church’s teachings, including the statements of Pope Francis, are not meant to be viewed according to our political categories of “right/left”, “conservative/liberal”, or “Democrat/Republican”.
Several cardinals speaking before the synod said that there would be no change in the church’s position on same-sex marriage.
In his opening welcome yesterday, Francis repeated a phrase he used in his homily a day earlier that the church’s law can not become an impediment to its mission of mercy. The theme of this year’s synod is “family in the modern world” and the Pope addressed these themes in his speech as he once again reiterated his stance of marriage being between a man and a woman.
Take the case of self-described Catholic reform groups this week who are urging bishops at the synod to “follow Pope Francis’ way of dialogue and reform” and change the Church’s teaching on contraception and gay relationships. This missionary society of apostolic life, which was founded in New York in 1858, has issued a twelve-page “reflection on the family” that it recently…
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said on Friday afternoon that he had asked to present his friends to Francis in Washington.
Under current church guidelines, divorced Catholics who have remarried without first getting an annulment are barred from receiving Communion. We accompany the Synodal course first of all with our prayer and our attention.
Pope Francis now shares the same rating as Pope Benedict following the latter’s visit to the United States back in 2008 among US Catholics.
Using the Gospel’s fishing metaphor, the Pope said the Church should ‘go out into the deep, confident that the catch will be great’.
The bishops, who are meeting behind closed doors, will submit reports to the Pope.
Citing the interventions, he said: “We do not pity gay persons, but we recognize (them) for who they are”.
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Families are the place where individuals learn that they are “sons and daughters, not slaves or foreigners or just a number on an identity card”, the pope said.
