According to Vatican-speak, a specially scheduled session of the Synod of Bishops is an “Extraordinary Synod,” meaning not-an-Ordinary Synod, held every three years or so. In the case of the recently completed Extraordinary Synod of 2014, extraordinary things did happen, in the “Oh, wow!” sense of the word.
Synod on the Family
Pope Warns Synod About Extremism
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – After several days of animated debate over its official midterm report, the Synod of Bishops on the family agreed on a final document more clearly grounded in traditional Catholic teaching. Yet the assembly failed to reach consensus on especially controversial questions of Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried and the pastoral care of homosexuals.
A Pastoral Approach to Moral Principles
My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, As the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family came to a close last Saturday, Pope Francis beatified Blessed Paul VI at the concluding Mass, praising him as a “humble and prophetic witness of love for Christ and his church.
Family Life Entails Great Responsibility
As we continue our reflection on family life, coinciding with the Synod of the Family, the definition of family is probably most important for us to understand. Pope Francis recently said, “There is no future without children.”
Family Is Where Society Begins
The Synod on the Family that has begun in Rome gives me an opportunity to write to you regarding the long tradition of the Church for upholding the family as the basic unit of society and also as the domestic Church. Most importantly, the Church sees the family as the foundation for a civilization of love. These are the words used by Pope Paul VI, soon to be beatified at the end of the Synod on the Family.
Wanted: A Synod of Affirmation
Pope Francis has called a special session of the Synod of Bishops, which will meet from Oct. 5-19 and prepare the agenda for the ordinary session of the Synod that is scheduled for the fall of 2015; both sessions will focus on the family.
The Challenges to Marriage
This week, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio begins the second of his three-part series of articles on the upcoming Synod on of the Family and moves to the issues for consideration in Part II of the document entitled: “The Pastoral Program for the Family in Light of New Challenges.”
Reimagining the Natural Law
My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
Today, I am beginning a three-part series of articles based on the working document for the World Synod of Bishops entitled, “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization,” to be held in Vatican City in October.
Synod Responses Show Many Are Suffering in the Church
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The responses to the Vatican questionnaire about Catholics’ family life reflect a great amount of suffering around the world, said the general secretary of the synod. As of Feb. 19, about 80 percent of the world’s bishops’ conferences and 60 percent of the Vatican congregations and councils had turned in formal […]
Cardinal O’Brien Expects Fall Synod to Make News
by George P. Matysek Jr. BALTIMORE (CNS) – U.S. Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien doesn’t know what will come out of the Synod on the Family set for October, but the former archbishop of Baltimore believes it will be significant. “Hold onto your seats,” Cardinal O’Brien told a gathering of seminarians and faculty at St. Mary’s […]