Synod of Bishops on Family ends today: The journey continues

HE Synod of Bishops which began on October 4 ends today, Sunday, October 25, in the Vatican with agreement on a host of family issues but continuing conflicts on two basic ones. One is over Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics who have not had an annulment. The other is on the Church approach to homosexuality.

One group of bishops has called for a pastoral solution that would allow a penitential process that would lead to allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to have Communion. Another – bigger — group of bishops has held fast to the Church doctrine that a valid marriage is indissoluble and that, therefore, remarried Catholics who have not annulled their first marriages are living in sin and cannot receive Communion.

On the issue of homosexuality, several bishops said homosexuals, like heterosexuals, are children of God and must be welcomed into the Church. But other bishops are holding on to Church teaching that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.”

The first issue on Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics is said to be of great interest in the United States where around 40 percent of Catholic marriages reportedly end in divorce. Remarriage for many of these couples poses problems for the Church as they cannot be officially welcomed.

It is, of course, no problem at all in the Philippines where there is no divorce and, therefore, no divorced couples remarrying. As for homosexuality, it has not cropped up at all in Philippine society and in the Philippine Church which is probably closer to the conservatives who stand firm on Church doctrine.

The Synod is not expected to reach consensus on these two issues when it ends today. But the fact alone that they were discussed openly is said to be indicative of a new atmosphere in the Vatican under Pope Francis. In the words of Australian Archbishop Mark Coleridge, “The journey will continue.”

On December 8, Pope Francis will launch the year-long “Jubilee of Mercy,” a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon focusing on God’s forgiveness and mercy, with local priests allowed to grant forgiveness for abortion, which is usually allowed only to bishops. It will be another stage in the efforts of Francis, the Pope of Mercy and Compassion, for a more open Church, in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. The journey continues.