Several groups said the presentation of the family in the first part of the synod’s working document is too negative, too bleak, because it “mainly highlights problems.”
Gerard O’Connell
Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.
Posted inDispatches
Pope calls on international community to act to end escalating conflicts in Middle East
This morning Pope Francis urgently appealed to the International Community “to broaden its horizons beyond the immediate interests and use the instruments of international law and diplomacy to resolve the ongoing conflicts.”
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War, poverty, violence: just a few of the topics raised so far at the Synod on the Family
The 318 participants attending the synod of bishops on the family have raised or discussed a wide range of topics during the first four days of this gathering nbsp High among them are the terrible destructive impact that war armed conflict poverty unemployment persecution violence against wo
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What happened this week at the synod—and what’s next?
The synod of bishops on the family is now gathering steam.
Posted inSigns Of the Times
Pope Francis Seeks To Open Church Doors to All
‘A church with closed doors betrays herself and her mission, and, instead of being a bridge, becomes a roadblock,” Pope Francis said in his homily during a concelebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 4, as he opened the meeting of the Synod of Bishops on the family.Francis i
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Pope to Synod Fathers: Don’t give in to the conspiracy theory
Pope Francis asked the Synod Fathers to engage in “a profound discernment to seek to understand what the Lord wants of his Church.”
Posted inSynod on the Family
Pope: This Synod on the Family must be seen as a continuation of 2014 synod.
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.
Posted inDispatches
Differences Emerge Immediately at the Synod on the Family
The Hungarian cardinal, Peter Erdo, is playing a crucial role in the synod on the family, and now a somewhat controversial one.
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Pope tells synod fathers to clothe themselves in courage, humility and prayer
Francis says synod is not a ‘talk shop’ or conference but ‘a protected space where the church experiences that action of the Holy Spirit.’
Posted inSynod on the Family
Pope to Synod: The church must be a bridge, not a roadblock
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.”