While the Catholic Church insists that governments and the economy need families and have an obligation to give them greater support, Pope Francis said, the Church itself recognizes that it, too, must have a “family spirit”.
Advertisement
Perhaps, at a certain level, Pope Francis is asking more of us than we are capable of. According to Pew, Francis’s favorability rating was up since June, when it was 64 percent, but not significantly.
Auxiliary Bishop Eugenio Lira Rugarcia of Puebla, conference secretary-general, told Catholic News Service that the pope would travel to Mexico next year, though dates and details were still to be determined.
The results of the Ispos survey may boost the liberal camp, which is battling conservatives to bring the Roman Catholic Church’s approach to the family into line with the realities of modern society.
Pope Francis opened a Synod on the Family by reminding Catholic Church leaders the meeting is not a political convention but a journey on openness and “apostolic courage” leading people to the truth.
The annual fall fest at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church became a Pope fest September 27 so parishioners could watch Pope Francis during his visit to Philadelphia.
Conservatives were upset by Pope Francis’ lack of conversation about abortion and marriage, especially with recent events and current heated debates.
Over 80 percent of Mexico’s population are listed as Catholics, in contrast to the US, where Catholics only constitute 22 percent of the population.
He also dismissed any movement on whether Catholics remarried outside the church could receive Communion.
“When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby”.
One key topic at the synod will be how to reach out to Catholics who have divorced and remarried in civil ceremonies. They shouldn’t be marginalized.
At the other end, a few of those on the extreme right have already dubbed this meeting the “Sodomy Synod” because of an eve-of-synod announcement by a priest in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that he has been living a double life with a gay partner who he intends to marry.
Yet the experience of Adam, and of human beings down through history, shows that “nothing makes man’s heart as happy as another heart like his own, a heart which loves him”, the pope said.
“We can find no social or moral justification whatsoever for lack of housing”, the pope said.
Advertisement
“The emotional intensity of the synod is amped up because of perceptions that the pope’s position is still a work in progress”, Vatican watcher John Allen said, predicting a stormy synod.
