Cathal Barry
The three-week-long Synod of Bishops on the Family has finally wrapped up its work with bishops voting on a final document which has been given to Pope Francis.
After much deliberation, a ten-man commission produced a final report of 94 paragraphs, which they endorsed unanimously.
The synod then voted on the document paragraph by paragraph, all of which were approved by a majority of at least two-thirds.
The following is an overview of some of the document’s key sections.
Communion for the divorced and remarried
In the first of three sections dedicated to the issue of divorced and remarried Catholics, the synod fathers state that the divorced and remarried “must be more integrated” into the life of the Church, “avoiding every occasion of scandal”.
“The logic of integration is the key to their pastoral accompaniment, so that they not only know that they belong to the Body of Christ which is the Church, but that they can have a joyous and rich experience,” the document states.
The synod fathers in their report note that the participation of divorced and remarried Catholics “can express itself in diverse ecclesial services”, and “for that reason, it’s necessary to discern which of the different forms of exclusion actually practiced in the liturgical, pastoral, educational and institutional arenas can be overcome”.
“They not only must not feel themselves excommunicated, but they can live and mature as living members of the Church, feeling it to be a mother who always welcomes them, taking care of them with affection, and encouraging in the path of life and the Gospel,” the document states.
“This integration is also necessary for the care and Christian education of their children, who must be considered most important,” it adds.
For the Christian community, bishops point out that “taking care of these people is not a weakness in its own faith and its witness as to the indissolubility of marriage”. The document states that the Church “expresses its own charity through this care”.
This section was adopted by a vote of 187 to 72.
The report then turns its attention to deciding how much to integrate remarried Catholics into Church life.
They said that consideration must be given to the fact that both parties in a divorce may not be equally to blame, and that the fallout from a divorce may not be the same in all cases.
It was suggested that the Church should follow the “complex criterion” set out by Pope Saint John Paul II in understanding the difference between Catholics who tried to save their first marriage but were abandoned, and those who destroyed the marriage “through a grave fault”.
This section was adopted by a vote of 178 to 80.
The following paragraph on the same subject noted that “the path of accompaniment and discernment orients these faithful to an awareness in conscience of their situation before God”.
Referencing the much talked about ‘internal forum’, the report notes that conversation with the priest “contributes to the formation of a correct judgement on what places an obstacle to the possibility of a fuller participation in the life of the Church and on the steps that can favour that participation and make it grow”.
This section was adopted by a vote of 190 to 64.
Gay people
While the bishops strongly rejected the notion of same-sex unions, declaring that they are not “even remotely analogous” to marriage between a man and a woman, they state that there should be a specific attention paid to families that have a gay member.
“Taking care of the families that have a member who has homosexual tendencies, the Church insists that every person, regardless of their own sexual tendency, be respected in his dignity and welcomed with respect, trying to avoid any kind of unjust discrimination,” the document states.
This section was adopted by a vote of 221 to 37.
Co-habitation
Acknowledging that some couples live together for financial reasons, sometimes while waiting for a more stable job and steady income, because “getting married is perceived as a luxury,” and many eventually ask for a church wedding, the bishops state that others simply reject “the values of marriage and family”.
“All of these situations should be faced in a constructive manner, seeking to transform them into opportunities for a path of conversion towards the fullness of marriage and the family in the light of the Gospel,” the bishops reported.
This section was adopted by a vote of 231-47.
Women
Women play a “crucial role” in the life of the person, the family and society, the bishops declared. Noting that women the world over face discrimination, the bishops stated that their dignity must be “defended and promoted”.
Women too often are victims of violence, even within their own families, the bishops said, adding that sometimes this violence is in the form of abortion or forced sterilisation. They also criticised surrogacy and commercialisation of gametes and embryos.
Finally, they urged the Church itself to involve more women in decision-making and in the leadership of some Church institutions and their involvement in the formation of ordained ministers.
This section was adopted by a vote of 251 to 9.
Cardinal Nichols backs ‘pathway’ for divorced and remarried Catholics
The Archbishop of Westminster has defended the freedom of the divorced and remarried to reach a decision in conscience on the Eucharist after following the ‘pathway’ described in the final synod document, according to cvcomment.org.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols said the synod had “quite deliberately set aside the question of admission to the Eucharist, because that had become a yes-no issue”.
Cardinal Nichols, who is president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, insisted “the very nature of this is that it’s not as simple as yes-no”.
“It’s a pathway,” he said, adding that “it is not for me or for the priest who is doing the accompaniment to pre-empt or foreclose that pathway”.
Conclusion
The cardinal made his remarks to journalists this week at the English College in Rome, following the conclusion of the three-week Synod of Bishops on the Family.
Although the final synod report refers to a pathway of discernment involving conscience-searching questions to enable the divorced and remarried to be better integrated into the life of the Church, it does not mention the possibility of sacraments at the end of the process.
According to the online blog, Cardinal Nichols suggested that the studied ambiguity of the report was a deliberate decision to prevent the prospect of sacraments affecting the freedom of the discernment.
“No one will set out on this pathway with the single aim of receiving Holy Communion,” he said, adding that “nobody will be accompanied on this pathway with the single principle that they can’t.
“So it is, precisely, a pathway,” the cardinal insisted.
Bishop Peter Doyle, who also represented England and Wales at the synod, told reporters the doctrines were clear and there had always been a pathway for discernment in such situations. However, he said “the synod has opened the pathway a bit more”.
Synod elects council
The Synod of Bishops has elected 12 bishops to the synod’s permanent council.
Along with three papal appointees, this group of 15 will prepare the ground for the next ordinary assembly of the synod.
The assembly was asked to choose three men each from the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia-Oceania.
According to one report, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia garnered more votes than anyone else. Others elected were Cardinals George Pell (head of Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy), Robert Sarah (prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship), Marc Ouellet (prefect, Congregation for Bishops) and Wilfrid Napier (South Africa).
Elected from among those bishops generally seen as more reform-minded were Cardinals Vincent Nichols (England), Christoph Schönborn (Austria), Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga (Honduras), Luis Tagle (Philippines), Oswald Gracias (India) and Archbishop Bruno Forte (Italy).
The twelfth man elected to the permanent council was Bishop Mathieu Madega Lebouankehan (Gabon).
