The synod’s halfway mark; “the drama continues”

posted by Creator Mundi

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY — Meeting the press after the reading of the synod’s midterm report, leaders of the assembly told reporters the document is very much a work in progress and that already that morning many synod members suggested changes and phrases that need more precision or greater study.

Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, the synod relator who led the drafting of the report and read it to the assembly this morning, said it was a huge challenge, for example, to take a theme 30 bishops spoke about — in different languages and with different terminology — and synthesize it.

#Synod14 report will be basis of future discussions, work in small groups, says @CardinalChito “It is not to be considered a final document”

— Catholic News Svc (@CatholicNewsSvc) October 13, 2014

Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio “Chito” Tagle, one of the synod presidents, described the report as “a mirror,” reflecting the first week of discussion. However, he said, it is a provisional document and will be the object of discussion in small groups, which will propose amendments to the text. “The drama continues,” he said.

Cardinal Erdo said there already were calls from synod members to include in the text a recognition that there exist “disordered forms of cohabitation,” but there were even more calls to give greater emphasis to “the special value of marriage lived according to God’s plan.”

Even once the synod concludes Oct. 19 — with the final report being voted on Oct. 18 — the work will not be over. Italian Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto, special secretary of the synod, told reporters that the hope is that bishops around the world will discuss the final report with their people, especially married and other lay Catholics, and bring their reflections to the 2015 world Synod of Bishops on the family.

+Forte: “We must respect the dignity of every person; the fact of being homosexual doesn’t mean this dignity shouldn’t be respected”

— Catholic News Svc (@CatholicNewsSvc) October 13, 2014

Several questions focused on the midterm report’s seeming openness to gay people and to Catholics who have been divorced and civilly remarried; the bishops were asked about the lack of clear-cut statements.

Archbishop Forte told them, “There is always a risk, especially for those called to be a teacher or a prophet, to want to cut things with a hatchet,” responding with a simple yes or no. But the complexity (Read More)

Source: http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/the-synods-halfway-mark-the-drama-continues/