The Synod of the Roman Catholic Church began its extraordinary session on Sunday, October 5 in Rome. In the days leading up to the meeting of 190 Roman Catholic cardinals, 16 experts, eight delegates from other Christian churches and 38 married people, some of whom are in religiously mixed marriages, it was clear that they were not all thinking as one. The disagreement between church dignitaries went so far that German Cardinal Walter Kasper, one of Pope Francis' favorite theologians, commenting on a book by five conservative cardinals that had just come out of print, said that he did not remember such an organized resistance directed against a pope who wants to bring about change . "That's how things end in politics, not in the Church," he then added. One of the mentioned five, the American Cardinal Burke, quickly reacted by saying that the pope is not mute and that Casper should not speak on his behalf, and that Casper's statements are shameful and outrageous, and his theological position is fundamentally wrong. Such brisk appearances by church dignitaries in public are far from everyday.
What is the current debate about in the Roman Catholic Church?
THEORY AND PRACTICE: Last year, the Vatican sent a questionnaire to all dioceses, which was supposed to provide a picture of, to put it briefly, the marital and sexual morality of the Catholic faithful. The questions concerned divorce, cohabitation, premarital sexual relations, abortion, homosexuality, polygamy, surrogate motherhood, contraception... Hardly anyone was surprised by the results - the gap between "theory" and "practice" is deep, and Catholic believers, even when they are familiar with according to the teachings of their Church, they do not live according to its rules.
The 85-page working document, created from responses to questionnaires, was not full of revolutionary conclusions. However, the impression that believers are also asking something and that the Church hears them is important. The next step taken by the Pope was to convene an extraordinary session of the Synod, only the third in the last 49 years. In the course of two weeks, from October 5 to 19, those present will present proposals, and then in October 2015, the second and final part will follow, when specific decisions should be made. The official topic is "Pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization".
Catholic media write that since the Second Vatican Council, the gathering of bishops has not caused so much interest and controversy. The world press is closely following the events in the Vatican with the assessment that it is an important turning point, a "fight" between the conservative and liberal streams that will have a strong echo in the future. While one of the editors of the BBC recalls the first moments after the election of Pope Francis, when he hinted to the Vatican spokesman that the Pope should give an interview to the BBC in view of their audience of 250 million people, and the latter smiled and gave him a nice knowing that the pope will have no problem reaching a global audience, many believe that this will be one of the moments in which it will be seen how much the beloved pope can bring about change, given the resistance in his own ranks.
The greatest attention is paid to the possibility of receiving communion for divorced people, more precisely those who have rejoined the marriage union after their (first) divorce. For now, the two currents within the Church stand on completely opposite sides. In the simplest terms, while some, including the aforementioned Cardinal Casper, believe that cohabitants should be allowed to receive communion, others, including the five cardinals mentioned at the beginning of the text, claim that this is completely contrary to church dogma and that the Synod does not meet to would break with tradition.
Certain cardinals declare that "the doors of the Church should be open to everyone", as well as that "the Christian vision is based on history, not ideology", that "the Church must not forget to forgive", that "Pope Francis pressed the button for forward", as well as that "church leadership must finally switch from 'ban-mode' to dialogue".
Their colleagues, among whom are several close associates of former Pope Ratzinger, say that "the actions of the Church must correspond to faith and dogma if it wants to be Catholic" (according to this understanding, divorce and remarriage are strictly prohibited in the New Testament), as well as that it is good to understand as soon as possible that "doctrinal and pastoral changes are impossible" because this will prevent great disappointment. Comments range from the confirmation that the second-married couple will be able to receive communion to the conviction that they will not.
Perhaps the remark of the Viennese Cardinal Schönbrunn gave a different perspective on the whole discussion - the children of divorce will never see their parents receiving communion: "As a child of divorced parents, I am asking for attention for us. This whole debate doesn't talk about children at all, and that makes me angry."
DEEDS AND WORDS: From the very beginning, the Pope's emphasis on the importance of conversation is striking. His behavior is sometimes more reminiscent of Orthodox patriarchs, where they are only first among equals, not infallible on the throne. Sam constantly claims that discussion should be encouraged, everyone's opinions and suggestions should be heard.
In his written documents, the pope is very moderate, even in some places he can lean towards more conservative interpretations. However, in the works, the message it sends is one of openness and, above all, forgiveness.
In mid-September, the Pope presided over a wedding ceremony for twenty couples. Among them, there were also those who had previously lived in a "wild marriage", divorced and one woman who already has a child. Given that local churches often decide for themselves how to treat divorced and unmarried Catholics, this could have been seen as a clear sign from the top. Pope Francis then said: "Marriage is a symbol of life, real life, it is not a fiction." (The last public wedding ceremony, in 2000, was presided over by Pope John Paul II and was part of a celebration for the family, as an event that was themed devoted to the benefits of progeny and the harmfulness of abortion.) Pope Francis also, in several statements, emphasized that the Church should show more concern for the divorced and remarried.
Addressing those present at the session of the extraordinary Synod, the Pope was clear - cardinal vanities should remain aside: "We, in the Synod, are called to work for God's vineyard (...) this does not mean that we should discuss wonderful and clever ideas , or to see who is smarter (...). In this case, the Lord asks us to take care of the family."
ABOUT CONTRACEPTION: Although the topic of remarried people has caused the greatest attention and expectations, as already mentioned, it will not be the only one at the Synod. Kasper mentioned the possibility of a different interpretation when it comes to contraceptives, with a statement that sounds quite common but is not common for Roman Catholic cardinals, namely that parents should decide how many children they want to have. (In the encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968) of Pope Paul VI, a very harsh position was expressed on artificial means of contraception.)
Also, it is important to mention that the working document of the Synod pays some attention to the different social and cultural circumstances, when it comes to the family, in which the faithful of the Roman Catholic Church find themselves. Of course, the problems and ways of functioning of the family in North America and in Africa are different. No matter how much the decisions that are made in the future (if they are made) must have a certain degree of universality, the aforementioned differences must not be neglected, and in that case, adaptability to the specific circumstances in which believers live would be desirable.
In one of the numerous articles dealing with the "phenomenon of Pope Francis", the journalist said that the pope managed to bring the Church, in the best sense of the word, to the streets, that is, to show that the experience of the faithful is heard and that it is "counted on" ". How many real changes it will bring, probably not even the Pope himself can know today.
There remains hope that the Vatican's "Fifth of October" will be more successful than ours.
