Last Sunday was the last day of the Synod on the Families at the Vatican. Now we as the Church are awaiting the Pope Francis’ response to the document prepared by the Synod Fathers.

As we read the “Relatio” prepared by the Bishops for the Holy Father, we are reminded of several things. The first is that this is not a contest, not a battle between “conservatives” and “progressives.” As we have stated previously, the synod was a dialogue between good people, with good intentions, about good things.

The second is the “Catholic,” meaning “universal,” aspect of the Church. We are a Church that is spread throughout the world, in every land and in every culture. Therefore, the perspectives of the Bishops of Africa, of Asia, of North America, of South America, of Europe, will all be different, and they all must be respected and taken into account. This Synod tried to do precisely this.

A third thing is that we need to understand the context and history before we can truly engage the “buzzwords” of the synod, which are, as articulated by Father James Martin, S.J., of America Magazine: “accompaniment,” “discernment,” and “internal forum,” and frankly, that will only happen after the Holy Father allows his voice to be heard on this matter.

Before people can exercise their conscience, it must be a properly formed Catholic conscience. The formation of such a conscience is the responsibility of not only the individual, but also the priest who is guiding the soul of the person. Therefore, the truth of the consistent teaching of the Church must be made known to parishioners, most especially from the pulpit.

The fourth thing to remember is the renewed emphasis on the role of synods. This is the 50th anniversary of the renewal of the synod process and, in the pontificate of Francis, the synod process will, most likely, take on even more importance.

Finally, the synod works “Cum Petro,” meaning with Peter, with the pope, but also, “Sub Petro,” meaning under Peter, under the pope. It will be the important task of Francis to discern the will of the Holy Spirit in these matters for the Church, and ultimately, it is his task alone, following this consultation with his brother bishops and having been guided by the two fonts of Divine Revelation, Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and the consistent Magisterium of the Church.