Grant Gallicho: Synod day 14 presser the second: that's a wrap.
18. okt. 2014
Grant Gallicho, Commonweal Magazine, skriver bl.a.:
At the conclusion of the Extraordinary Synod on the Family, the Vatican released the final version of the text summarizing the discussions over the past two weeks. (At present, the text is available only in Italian.) The synod fathers voted on each of the document's sixty-two paragraphs. Three sections on controversial issues did not receive the necessary two-thirds majority to pass: two paragraphs on Communion for the divorced and remarried and one on gay people. None was particularly revolutionary. The sections on divorced and remarried Catholics simply reported that some synod fathers favored finding a way to readmit such Catholics to Communion, and others wanted to maintain current practice. Likewise, the paragraph about gay people was rather tame. It referred to a 2003 document from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which hold that there are "absolutely not grounds" for calling same-sex unions "similar or even remotely analagous" to traditional marriage, and reemphasized the obvious truth that gay people should be treated with respect.
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When the synod reconvenes, it won't be quite the same. Some who participated in this year's meeting won't be back (I'm thinking of papal critic Cardinal Raymond Burke). And Francis will likely select new cardinals come February. Why might a new-look synod matter? Because the sections that failed still had majority support. The paragraph on gay people, for example, failed by just six votes. But the synod fathers who want divorced and remarried Catholics to be able to receive the Eucharist have a longer row to hoe. Those sections failed by larger margins--and they did nothing more than state what had been discussed.
Whatever happens over the next year, one thing is clear: In calling for open debate among the world's bishops, and by allowing the whole church to see how that debate is unfolding, Pope Francis has restored synodality to the church. Let's hope there's no going back.
The presser in tweets, after the jump.
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