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
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A Message of Encouragement from the Synod Fathers
On its last day of business the Synod of Bishops on the family approved and released a three-page message expressing solidarity with Christian families around the world The message released Oct 18 is distinct from the synod 39 s final report which the assembly was scheduled to vote on later th
Mexico Bishops Ask Press Government on Missing Students: As more bodies uncovered, what happened to 43 teacher trainees?
Bishops in the southern state of Guerrero asked federal and local officials to prioritize finding 43 missing teacher trainees, who authorities allege were detained by crooked cops and delivered to members of a drug cartel.In a letter issued Oct. 15, the bishops outlined an increasingly bleak securit
Surviving Children Most Vulnerable of Ebola’s Victims: Orphans abandoned, shunned in Africa’s Ebola crisis
Ever since Frank Mulbah’s mother died of Ebola in August, no one will go near him.“I went to my relatives after my mother died, but they chased me away, even after I told them that I didn’t have Ebola,” said Frank, 12, who tested negative for Ebola at the hospital where his m
Schonborn: ‘Don’t Judge; Accompany’: Cardinal says balancing truth, mercy always difficult, always needed
Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, one of the Catholic Church's best known cardinal-theologians, said the Catholic Church must hold together truth and mercy, even if it is criticized for its attempt.The cardinal, editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the son of divorce
Rolling Up Sleeves at Family Synod: Working groups emphasize beauty of marriage, church teaching
The extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family must put greater focus on the beauty of the Christian vision of marriage and not let an approach of "welcoming" and mercy override the church's duty to call people to turn away from sin, according to a number of reports from the synod
‘Welcoming’ or ‘Providing for’ Gay and Lesbian Catholics: What’s getting lost in translation?
The tug-of-war at the Vatican over calls for the Catholic Church to be more open to gays and cohabiting couples intensified on Oct. 16 as conservative bishops sought to rein in or renounce draft language they feared might condone lifestyles not in accord with church teachings.The lobbying at the two
Cardinal Pell: Synod Says No to ‘Secular Agenda’
Working-group reports counteract what he characterizes as a misleading interim text.
Ebola Prompts Hands-off Mass in Texas: No hand-holding during ‘Our Father’
No hand-holding during ‘Our Father’ in Diocese of Fort Worth
As Beatification Nears, Looking at the Legacy of Pope Paul VI
Known chiefly for ‘Humanae Vitae,’ Paul was also a reformer, bridge-builder
