Although the public is given glimpses of what happens inside the Catholic Church's world Synod of Bishops, the meetings themselves take place behind closed doors.Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the Synod of Bishops has been the object of a continual hunt to balance creating a protect

The synod of bishops on the family is now gathering steam.

Pope Francis asked the Synod Fathers to engage in “a profound discernment to seek to understand what the Lord wants of his Church.”

Pope Francis reassured the synod fathers that the Catholic doctrine on marriage had not been put into question at the Extraordinary Synod in 2014 and so retains its full validity.

Francis says synod is not a 'talk shop' or conference but 'a protected space where the church experiences that action of the Holy Spirit.'

Pope Francis analyzed the real and often dramatic situation of people in today’s globalized world, marked by “a growing loneliness and vulnerability,” the image of which is “the family.”