There was an effort by many speakers to steer the synod’s discussions away from marital and family situations which, from the point of view of Catholic doctrine, are flawed in some way — such as divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, or same-sex couples.
There’s a belief among some participants that too much time and energy was consumed in the 2014 Synod of Bishops debating those situations, at the expense of considering how to support and encourage families who are actually trying to live the Church’s teaching.
As Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, Australia, observed in a Tuesday blog post about the synod, Day One also confirmed the existence of “different political currents” in the group.
As Coleridge acknowledged, that’s hardly a shocker to anyone who’s followed the run-up to the synod. It’s still useful, however, to have confirmation from a synod participant that the perceived gap inside the hall between those concerned with upholding traditional doctrine, and those open to progressive reforms, isn’t entirely a media invention.
Pope Francis is obviously concerned that the debate over the divorced and remarried might blot everything else out of the sky during the synod. He took the floor Tuesday morning to make two points to the bishops:
This is an encouraging report.Catholic doctrine on marriage was not called into question by the last synod, he said, and it won’t be by this one.
The bishops should not “reduce their horizons” for the next three weeks, as if the entire synod boiled down to a yes or no on the question of allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion.
Maybe it’s my bias (but I doubt it) - I think there is an effort by “conservative” (I might start using the word “mainline”) bishops to have the Synod they are supposed to have, postpone the renaissance if you will. Sacrifice color and drama for the sake of a stronger more energetic, effective (i.e., authentic) Catholic Church in this time. (aka doing your job)Two things are clear: Many bishops are determined to stay as positive as possible, playing down differences and finding common ground. But real tension over issues and process may make that goal awfully hard to achieve
cruxnow.com/church/2015/10/06/synod-notebook-on-day-one-a-debate-about-process-and-taking-things-off-the-table/