Michael Kelly‘Not what we’re saying at all,’ claims cardinal
A gulf has emerged at the Synod of Bishops in Rome after some members criticised a draft mid-term working text.
The high-profile synod at the Vatican has heard calls for the Church to be more open and inclusive to gay couples and Catholics who have divorced and civilly remarried. The meeting on pastoral challenges facing the family has also heard a plea for the Church to use more moderate language when discussing issues of sexuality.
Earlier this week, the Vatican released the so-called relatio which, in strikingly conciliatory language on situations contrary to Catholic teaching, emphasised calls for greater acceptance and appreciation of divorced and homosexual members of the Church.
Pope Francis, in a homily delivered the morning of the publication of the mid-term report, said that laws that didn’t lead people closer to Christ were obsolete.
The law teaches the way to Christ, and “if the law does not lead to Jesus Christ, and if it doesn’t get us closer to Jesus Christ, it is dead,” the Pontiff said.
But after the release of the document, several synod fathers distanced themselves from the text. In a clear sign of tensions emerging at the closed-door meetings, South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier told reporters in Rome that he was unsure if synod leaders were “committed to having the synod’s views put forward, rather than a particular group’s views”.
In one of the strongest interventions yet, Cardinal Napier told a Vatican press conference that, as a result of the draft text, the bishops were working from a “virtually irredeemable position”. He said the midterm report was “not what we’re saying at all”.
Meanwhile, Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi appeared to reject speculation that the text marked a major shift in the Catholic Church’s approach, insisting that “the contents of the working document were not necessarily properly understood”.
He said small groups of bishops were working on revisions of the document, which will be presented to the entire assembly later today (Thursday).
Fr Lombardi confirmed that many synod participants had called for urgent clarifications to the document which showed unprecedented openness to cohabiting, divorced and gay couples.
He acknowledged that many synod fathers had criticised aspects of the draft.
A Vatican communiqué summarised the views of the critics which included a call for the document to talk more about families that faithfully followed Church teachings, thanking them for their witness to the Gospel, instead of focusing so much on “imperfect family situations”.
It also said the related section on homosexuality should make clear that “welcoming” gay people should be done prudently, “so as not to leave the impression that the Church has a positive evaluation of this orientation”. Similar objections were raised to the relatio’s treatment of cohabiting couples.
Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, president of the Polish bishops’ conference, told Vatican Radio that the synod’s mid-term relatio was unacceptable to many bishops, and should focus more on “good, normal, ordinary” families.
US Cardinal Raymond Burke, who heads the Vatican’s Supreme Court, said the relatio contained confusing and erroneous language, and should be “set aside completely” in favour of a new document that reflected Church teaching.
The revisions will be presented to the group writing the synod’s final relatio, but it is not yet clear whether the synod fathers will vote on each individual proposal.