Different perspectives emerge as Synod discussions continue
October 06, 2015
As the Synod of Bishops began its 2nd day of deliberation on October 6, Pope Francis made an unscheduled intervention to remind participants that the treatment of divorced and remarried Catholics is not the only topic of the agenda.
The Pope spoke after an opening day of discussions in which prelates offered very different perspectives on that controversial topic. Cardinal Peter Edro, the relator general for the Synod, had said in his introductory address that divorced and remarried Catholics could not be admitted to Communion. But Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, the president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, told reporters that the question remained open: a stand confirmed during a press briefing by Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich reportedly criticized Cardinal Erdo’s speech when he addressed the Synod assembly, drawing applause when he complained that the Hungarian prelate had “taken the discussion back to two years ago.” Archbishop Celli took a similar line when he told reporters that Cardinal Erdo’s speech seemed to close off discussions pre-emptively, leading prelates to wonder, “what are we doing here.”
Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp, one of the more outspoken liberal prelates at the Synod, took issue with Cardinal Erdo’s approach on a related topic, urging bishops to recognize the many different forms of household life in today’s world, “to understand the positive and constructive elements” of different living arrangements, and to “welcome the symphony of differences and especially, stop the exclusions.” Bishop Bonny made the full text of his short speech available to the media.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Synod began small-group discussions, with the bishops divided into different language groups.
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Further information:
- Keeping doors open at the Synod on the Family (Vatican Radio)
- Pope: Communion for remarried divorcees is not the only issue being discussed (Vatican Insider)
- The Synod “derby” and the position of the Pope (Vatican Insider)
- Cardinal Christoph Schönborn?: « Au synode sur la famille, deux groupes seront déçus, les rigoristes et les laxistes » (La Croix)
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