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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