Synod exhortation expected by end of month

Synod exhortation expected by end of month
Staff Reporter

The Pope’s much anticipated exhortation following the Synod of Bishops on the Family is expected to be published by the end of the month.

The key document, which will contain official Church teaching, is expected to address controversial issues such as whether divorced and remarried Catholics can receive Communion.

Pope Francis has said that the document will be out “before” the end of March with media outlets reporting that the signature date – although not necessarily the date of its release – will the solemnity of St Joseph on March 19, which will mark the third anniversary of the Pope’s inauguration Mass.

It is understood that the exhortation has been drafted, as was Evangelii Gaudium, by the Pope’s lead ghost-writer, theologian Archbishop Victor Fernández and could be called The Joy of the Family, echoing his earlier apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel.

The Pope’s document will provide answers to many of the questions raised during the synod last October which asked the Church to help people in practical ways to get married and to stay married, and called for special outreach to those who have suffered the collapse of marriage and family, helping to heal and integrate them in the life of the Church.