The Catholic synod on the family and abortion

In the United States Catholic bishops hire public-relations firms to discourage abortion and the last few months also evangelical groups join hands with conservative Catholics and Muslims.

In certain countries there have been lots of teenage mothers. For them certain groups advised them to consider abortion. But this is not an option for those who want to turn to pleasing God, as the Bible makes it clear that abortion is against God’s law. (Exodus 20:13; 21:22, 23; Psalm 139:14-16) In God’s eyes the life of any embryo — including one conceived out of wedlock — is precious.

Those situations were also subject of the talks at the Vatican, were in continuation of the previous meetings the Synod on marriage and family spend only a little bit of time for the women in need of advice and pregnancy support.

Last year there were already surprised looks at the request of Pope Francis I to absolve from the censure that is incurred by the crime (not just sin) of successfully procuring an abortion, as part of the Year of Mercy.

On Saturday evening the Synod of Bishops on the Family came to a close when Synod Fathers voted paragraph by paragraph on the final text. At the end of the vote the text was presented to the Holy Father. All 94 points received the required two-thirds majority vote. For the pope the Synod was not about settling issues but attempting to see them in the light of the Gospel and the Church’s tradition and two thousand year history. The Pope said it was about interpreting reality through God’s eyes.

The Holy Father said it was about making clear that the Church is a Church of the poor in spirit and of sinners seeking forgiveness.

Than we may ask what the Catholic Church is going to do about the sex offenders in their clergy and how they are going to treat the young girls who were molested by priests and got pregnant. At the same time we want to question the Catholic Church fathers how they are going to treat those girls who decided to have an abortion.

Quoting Benedict XVI, Pope Francis said

“Mercy is indeed the central nucleus of the Gospel message“.

The Holy Father said that many of the delegates felt the working of the Holy Spirit who is

“the real protagonist and guide of the Synod.”

To conclude the Synod, he said, is to

“return to our true ‘journeying together’ in bringing to every part of the world, every diocese, to every community and every situation, the light of the Gospel, the embrace of the Church and the support of God’s mercy!

But when we look at the results we can not see that there is much progress made in handling the gender issues and in coping with matrimonial and out of marriage family formation.

Did those bishops really listened to and made heard

“the voices of the families and the Church’s pastors, who came to Rome bearing on their shoulders the burdens and the hopes, the riches and the challenges of families throughout the world.” ?

There was a “disparity in the voting” on the subjects of pastoral care for divorced and remarried persons. While preserving the Church’s teaching and current pastoral practice on dealing with divorced and remarried couples, the synod urged the bishops to treat these couples as baptised persons who must be

“more integrated into the Christian community“

while

“avoiding every occasion of scandal.”

For sure the Catholic Church itself had to endure enough scandals the last ten years and strangely enough those homosexual priests did not want to have an ear to be more lenient to the homosexual and transgender civilians. Now they had an opportunity to show their comprehension for people with such feelings, but they mist that chance.

The bishops called the homosexual ideological colonisation

“unacceptable in every case.”

They also rejected the pressure exerted on local churches by those who are pushing for the acceptance of gay “marriage.”

Perhaps those pushing the Church to adopt a more welcoming and tolerant stance towards the LGBT community might ask themselves what stern opposition to that position was all about during the synods of 2014 and 2015.

They might realize, for instance, that for many African Catholics, such demands come off as another chapter in what Pope Francis has described as “ideological colonization,” meaning efforts by the West to force its values on the rest of the world. (The final document acknowledges the legitimacy of those concerns.) {After the synod, can Catholics put Humpty Dumpty together again?}

DignityUSA is deeply disappointed in the final report out of the Synod on the family.

“The respectful language of the midterm report is gone,”

said Marianne Duddy-Burke, DignityUSA’s Executive Director.

“A return to what we’ve heard for decades will dishearten LGBT people, same-sex couples, and our families.”

“What we saw through the Synod process is that there are deep divisions in what the Catholics bishops think about LGBT people, even at the highest levels of leadership. Unfortunately, today, doctrine won out over pastoral need. It is disappointing that those who recognized the need for a more inclusive Church were defeated,” {LGBT Catholics Disappointed by Final Synod Report}

Duddy-Burke continued.

We may not underestimate the importance of what the Vatican decrees and sends into the world. those words are not only used by the 1.2 billion Catholics of which more than 40% live in Latin America (483 million Catholics) – but Africa has seen the biggest growth in Catholic congregations in recent years. Since 1970, Catholicism has seen a global shift southwards – the proportion of Catholics living in Europe has declined, while Africa has seen a growth in the number of Catholics – from 45 million in 1970 to 176 million in 2012. Asia has also seen a growth in Catholicism and now represents almost 12% of the total Catholic population in the world, or 137 million people.

The people in Europe do not mind to have their own Catholicism for their own region and perhaps this is going to show up even more after this missed change for this church which according to some bishops prefers to stay in the world of 2000 years ago.

 

In a final speech to the synod, Francis took some clear swipes at the conservatives who hold up church doctrine above all else, saying the church’s primary duty isn’t to condemn or judge but to proclaim God’s mercy and save souls.

That condemnation we can see a lot in the Catholic denominations and in several evangelical and Pentecostal churches. On that part we can find certain organisations which are doing more damage to the unity of people and formation of Bible readers and followers.

The bishops were willing to take Francis I his direction, finding “positive elements” in couples who live together even though they are not married. Rather than condemning these couples for living in sin, the document says pastors should look at their commitment constructively and encourage them to transform their union in a sacramental marriage.

The Pope already gave several examples how to show respect and love for others and asks his pastors also to show respect for those who are not like the majority. He even demands that particular pastoral care shall be given to families with gay members. though the Church can not accept such a declination. Gay marriage and “gender theory” are strongly rejected by the document which omits references to church teaching that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.”

The final synod document also supported Church teachings on life issues such as abortion and contraception.

It reiterated that all human life

“is sacred because, since its beginning, it involves the creative action of God.”

The document rejected the “biotechnical revolution in the field of human procreation” which

“has introduced the ability to manipulate the generative act, rendering it independent of the sexual relationship between a man and woman.”

The document gives notice that only God

“is the Lord of life from its beginning to its end,”

and that no one, under any circumstance, can claim for themselves the right to directly destroy an innocent human being. But they did not go deeper into different conditions or certain necessities.

The document focused on the beauty of marriage and the family, emphasising the indissolubility of marriage from beginning to end.

It quoted Pope Francis’ Oct. 4 homily during the opening of the synod where he said, “God didn’t create the human being to live in sadness or to be alone, but for happiness, to share his path with another person that is complimentary.”

The document said, “God united the hearts of man and woman who love each other and unites them in unity and indissolubility. This means that the goal of married life is not only to live together forever, but to love each other forever!”

Gregorio III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch said

“In a way, we experienced the Pentecost here. We held a Synod here in the Vatican hall, under closed doors, just as the apostles did in Jerusalem. Now it’s time to reach out to the world, through our local dioceses with the message of the Synod.”

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Preceding articles:

1. Fruitage of the womb
2. Abortion: The expulsion of an embryo or foetus before it can live on its own
3. The Risk Factors Associated with Abortions
4. Should I Have An Abortion
5. My Choice (by Jezabel Jonson)
6. The Real ‘Choice’
7. “They Told Me What I Wanted To Hear” – Real Abortion Stories
8. The Things We Carry, by Penny
9. Not an easy decision to make
10. Whoopi Goldberg commandments and abortion
11. Stop Burning Rape Survivors at the Stake
12. How to heal after childhood sexual abuse
13. “Til It Happens To You” by Lady Gaga
14. Abortion — Not a Trouble-Free Solution
15. About a human being or not and life

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Additional reading:

1. Two synods and life in the church community
2. A synod not leading to doctrinal changes because it is about pastoral attention
3. Youngsters, parents and the search to root in life
4. Conclusion of the synod of bishops for seeing the family in the light of the Gospel and church tradition
5. What’s church for, anyway?
6. Human relations 2013
7. About lions and babies
8. Westboro Baptist Church and Catholic Truth against Nelson Mandela
9. Always a choice
10. A philosophical error which rejects the body as part of the human person
11. Need to Embrace People Where They Are
12. Tony Campolo Calls for Full Inclusion of LGBT Into the Church
13. Same sex realtionships and Open attitude mirroring Jesus
14. Belonging to or being judged by
15. 2014 Religion
16. Different assessment criteria and a new language to be found for communicating the faith
17. History of Christianity

Pope Francis had pointed words for conservative bishops after the meeting

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 Further reading:

1. How many Roman Catholics are there in the world?
2. Catholic bishops end divisive synod on family
3. Final report to be a general guide, not hard answers, says cardinal
4. Ask Father: Why were non-bishops voting at Synod of Bishops?
5. Catholic bishops at synod call for a more welcoming church
6. Explaining the Year of Mercy “abortion forgiveness faculty”
7. Deafening Silence on Abortion at Synod
8. What’s Behind the UN Attack on the Church? | Crisis Magazine
9. 50 million babies a year? What’s that got to do with anything?
10. Bishop Mark Davies: Assisted Suicide Bill Will Put Lives of Many Vulnerable People at Risk
11. Ed Peters on the ‘sin’ of abortion, the ‘crime’ of abortion, and excommunication
12. Clergy defending Big Business Abortion
13. Nancy “The Theologian” Pelosi tears the throat out of a reporter asking about big-business abortion
14. Damien Hirst’s latest work praised by pro-life workers
15. Her heart spoke volumes
16. 9 Months
17. It May Be A Legal Right, But it Seems Wrong, Doesn’t it?
18. Katie Revisits Pain and Purpose–or, She’s Back in Black
19. Forget Your Perfect Offering – 10/23/15
20. The empty cradle in her heart. My story and tribute.
21. A Flower for a Friend
22. A little bundle of God’s Awesomeness
23. The next, and likely even more aggressive, wave of persecution
24. Bishop Swain speaks out after Catholic insurance co. adds contraceptive coverage
25. Is NCAN a “front group” for LCWR?
26. The Child Who Never Was
27. Why There Should Be No Issue With Jenner Being Woman of the Year
28. Court Sides With Transgender Widow In Fight Over Texas Estate
29. Share Your Story : Nat
30. Glamour’s First Man of the Year
31. Living Outside Society’s Shit
32. Reason 46: Because Having Your Children Retreat Is Good When The War Is Lost
33. Semi-Closeted TGirl Problems 2
34. Day Zero
35. Falling Leaves and Family Love.
36. Entitlement and Free Speech….
37. Germaine Greer: Transgender women are ‘not women’
38. In defence of Germaine
39. Germaine Greer Slams Caitlyn Jenner: ‘Our… – Stephanie Soteriou
40. Germaine Greer – The Feminist Who Won’t Back Down (Nor Should She)
41. Violence against trans women increase following the decision by the Federal Court
42. Gender.
43. The power of words
44. Incomplete Transaction
45. A Difficult Decision
46. The Subject Of Debate
47. To My Trans-national Friends!
48. The real transparent experience
49. New York Legally Safer for the Transgendered
50. Trangender University student interview [ part one]
51. Transgender University student interview [part two]
52. Transgender university student interview [ part 3 ]
53. Transgender University student interview [part 4]
54. It feels just like I’m falling for the first time.
55. Stephanie Rose declared her hate for God
56. US: NY Gov Cuomo Extends Protection To Transgender New Yorkers
57. Who Is a ‘Transphobe’?
58. Spotlight of the month – Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt
59. How bad is the epidemic of violence against transgender women? It’s hard to know. – Vox
60. The strangest thing about being transgender….A.K.A My passive aggressive post about being transgender
61. The Irony of my GID diagnosis..
62. Falling Into Place
63. All together boys and girls…. Part 1
64. Planned Parenthood: Profiting from Infanticide
65. The miracle of life: art in service of truth
66. “No success can compensate for failure in the home“
67. Guest post on March for Life UK’s blog
68. Erroneous thinking
69. Every Unborn Child Has the Face of the Lord: Pope Francis addresses medical professionals.
70. Of Kings, and Popes, and Abortions, and the Environment
71. Recreation?
72. Reformed Church Statements on abortion
73. Christian Reformed Church its official stand on abortion
74. Abortion from the Religious and Moral Perspective: An Annotated Bibliography

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Related articles

• Pope in US: Gay and Conservative Catholics battle for Francis’ attention
• Pope Francis answers Charlie Rangel
• Female Priests Persevere Despite Being Banned From Catholic Church
• A Moral Challenge for Pope Francis
• Catholic Church ‘out of touch’ on marriage and families, say English Catholics | Christian Today
• As Francis arrives in the U.S., Benedict’s converts share their feelings on the “Surprise Pope”…
• This Graphic Shows the Enormous Global Reach of the Catholic Church
• Considerations in light of the Pope’s historic visit to Harlem
• Live blog and video of Pope Francis’ address to Congress
• Female Priests Persevere Despite Being Banned From Catholic Church

72 Synod Fathers on the topic “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the contemporary world”

World Youth Day is a popular Catholic faith themed international youth event initiated by Pope John Paul II but those very enthusiast youngsters do not always come out very happy families and often meet lots of friends from new assembled families (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

72 Synod Fathers got together at the Vatican to look after family life, debating at the Synod on Marriage and Family from October the 4th until the 25th.

The Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said this synod wants to give more space to the various language-specific groups (circuli minores) and under the new proceedings, there will be a commission of ten Synod Fathers nominated by the Pope, who will follow the work of the assembly.

Pope Francis I in his brief speech underlined that this Synod is to develop in continuity with last year’s Extraordinary Synod. He said that

“three documents from the last Synod are to be considered official: the opening speech, the concluding speech and the final relatio synodi.”

The clergy has a year time to go locally in debate and to come to some conclusions which should be further discussed in Rome. Additions were made to this concluding document between the 2014 assembly and the start of this October gathering, with contributions received by the Synod secretariat, which then turned it into the Instrumentum laboris – the Ordinary Synod’s working document – “with the Pope’s participation”.

Catholics and those interested in the Catholic Faith should know that

“Catholic doctrine on marriage has not been touched, no one called it into question in this assembly or in the Extraordinary assembly. It has been preserved in its integrity”.

the Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said, adding,

“We must not let ourselves be conditioned or limit ourselves seeing the question of communion for remarried divorcees as the only problem”. Instead, “the Instrumentum laboris requires a broader outlook.”

When the cardinals a few years ago choose a cardinal coming from a free-thinking religious society known to question Vatican directives and church teachings, they probably had not expected the new elected pope would become so popular and so forthcoming to the general public; Question is now how much does this pope wants to be open to the changed society where some governments even to introduce a third sex, taking into account those who have a dual sex or have changed their sex and want to have normal relationships as well. As the first Jesuit pontiff, Pope Francis I is also working in response to a 1990 call by Pope John Paul II in his Ex corde Ecclesiae (From the Heart of the Church), for closer ties between the church and Catholic colleges.

Those who hoped that Ex corde would usher in rapid change have also been disappointed. Many advocates maintain that the bishops have never fully enforced its guidelines. Catholic colleges still remain highly autonomous and do more or less what they want. When I talk to American Catholics outside academe, most draw a blank when Ex corde is mentioned. When Pope Benedict XVI addressed Catholic educators during his visit to the United States in April 2008, he made no direct reference to the Apostolic Constitution. {Catholic Colleges 20 Years After ‘Ex Corde’}

“Catholic identity” and “faith and reason” since that call have been circulating, bolstered by Pope John Paul II’s 1998 encyclical Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason), which was widely discussed on Catholic campuses worldwide. But the Catholic Church did not seem to come to reason and had even more difficulties to address other gender feelings than in the 1960ies. The clergy came to exclude more and more people. Also having difficult family issues made even more Catholics shunned by their church. The exclusion of many parishioners made the churches run faster empty. Feeling the water at their mouth, nearly drowning some Catholic church fathers are aware that there must come an end to exclusionary language and a strong emphasis on embracing reality as it is.

“We should not be afraid of new and complex situations.”

says Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, the Vatican’s English speaking language spokesperson,who was speaking at the briefing of the Synod’s second day in the Vatican press office, with its director, Father Federico Lombardi, Italian Archbishop Claudio Celli, and Canadian Cardinal Paul-Andre Durocher.

Fr. Rosica Speaks on Synod Delegates, Fathers Discussing the Need to Embrace People Where They Are

The importance of changing language used to address certain difficult situations, Fr. Rosica said, was highlighted.

“The language must be renewed,”

he said, noting how this is especially appropriate and linked to the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy which Pope Francis has declared, December 8, 2014 – November 20, 2015.

“The Jubilee of Mercy requires a language of mercy,”

he stated. Father Rosica underscored how language ought to always be inclusive, rather than exclusive, particularly for homosexuals.

“In particular, when speaking about homosexuals or gay persons,”

he said,

“we recognize them for who they are: They are our sons, our daughters, and brothers, sisters, neighbours and colleagues.”

Not only the Catholic Church is struggling with that subject of feelings people can have for people of the same sex. When you look at the net in Christian circles the gay matter may be a seriously discussed parcours where some so called Christians may use a terrible language or send horrible messages to those who are having other preferences than the mainstream people in our society.

Healthy seriously sane people are sensible enough to approach this matter with much caution and are aware that it is much more complicated than it looks at first sight. Most religious organisations from whatever denomination do know that it is not easy at all to convince people of the value of God’s Word.  They all know also how difficult it is nowadays to build up an ecclesia or church and to have that church grow. It might well be that it looks like we are living in a marvellous world, people over here are confronted with loads of problems and often need social, psychological and communal help. There is a huge need today for pastoral work. Also the Catholic Church knows that a better approach is needed for couples living together, to welcome and help them move forward toward a fulfilling married life, one which says:

“Look, God loves you as and where you are, but God doesn’t want you to stay there. He wants you to go further.”

A common suggestion of the delegates, Father Thomas Rosica noted, was not only for greater preparation before entering into marriage, but to continue into its early stages to help couples adapt to their lives as spouses.

Moreover, the synod fathers and delegates spoke about the role and treatment of the elderly, especially for their importance in transmitting the faith and values with in families.

There are Americans who think that dissident Catholic pressure groups — aided by the liberal media — are feverishly working to dismantle vital Church teaching on marriage and family at this Synod on the Family in Rome. The American TFP was joining forces with over 20 more pro-family groups around the world to collect as many signatures as possible before this Synod started. They want others to believe that

they are bombarding the Holy Father and the Synod Fathers right now with messages of revolt against traditional moral values as they lamor for “change, change, change” inside the Church. {Filial Petition to Pope Francis}

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Find also:

1. Two synods and life in the church community
2. A synod not leading to doctrinal changes because it is about pastoral attention
3. Different assessment criteria and a new language to be found for communicating the faith
4. People of 2013
5. Liberation, salvation and the Latin American voice entering the Vatican
6. Slum pope joins Catholic jamboree on famous beach of Copacabana
7. Marriage covenant
8. Marriage vows
9. Same-sex marriage or Gay marriage
10. A philosophical error which rejects the body as part of the human person
11. Helping against or causing more homophobia
12. A so called man of God say Christ was wrong about marriage
13. Antichrist and The Most Hated Family in America in crisis
14. Westboro Baptist Church and Catholic Truth against Nelson Mandela
15. Tony Campolo Calls for Full Inclusion of LGBT Into the Church
16. Mixed marriages
17. Child marriage
18. Bible Guidelines for a happy marriage
19. That We May One is a book for married couples about awesome marriages
20. Manifests for believers #1 Sex abuse setting fire to the powder
21. Manifests for believers #2 Changing celibacy requirement
22. Child sexual abuse
23. What’s church for, anyway?
24. Liberal and evangelical Christians

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Further reading

• Catholic Colleges 20 Years After ‘Ex Corde’
• Celibacy and the Priesthood
• A Brief History of Celibacy in the Catholic Church
• Reflections on Clerical Family Life
• Being a Catholic Priest—and Married
• Priest gives up his vocation, not his religion, for love
• Vatican Dismisses Official for Declaring He’s Gay and Has a Partner on Eve of Synod
• Tracing the Glorious Origins of Priestly Celibacy
• The Wiles and Guiles of a Campaign Against Priestly Celibacy
• The World-Wide Scandal of Christian Child Abuse Which The Child Welfare Charities Kept Hidden From Your Gaze
• Sex-abuse crisis is a watershed in the Roman Catholic Church’s history in America
• Paedophile Priests Scandal Rocks The Church of Rome
• Child Abuse in the Catholic Church
• Bishop(ess) Proposes Church Remove all Christian Symbols… to Create Space for Muslims
• How Fundamentalist Prohibitions Cause Needless Suffering and Pain
• As an Unbeliever, Is it Possible to Have Christian Family and Friends?
• Right Wing Family Values and the World’s Greatest Freak Show

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Related articles

• For Victims of Sexual Abuse, Pope’s Visit Recalls Childhood Trauma
• 5 Ways Pope Francis Has Recently Caused Conservative Christians’ Heads to Explode
• The communion rail
• Disenfranchised Catholics Discuss Pope Francis With Thomas Roberts
• After the Pope Francis and Castro love fest in Cuba, John Paul II must be turning in his grave
• Donna Crilley Farrell was there with Pope John Paul II and is running the show for Pope Francis
• GRETA TALK: Former Speaker Newt Gingrich on the “Electrifying, Complicated” Pope Francis
• Great analysis of the “spin” of last year’s Synod on the Family. Fr. Z rants.
• Pope plans to duck dissidents in Cuba, spawning criticism
• Pope makes surprise visit to Little Sisters of the Poor as “sign of support” against Obama mandate…