By Michelle Boorstein & Anthony Faiola / Stefano Pitrelli in Rome contributed to this report.
German Cardinal Walter Kasper arrives at Clementina Hall to exchange Christmas greetings with Pope Francis in 2014 in Vatican City. (Sipa USA)
In the coming weeks or months, Pope Francis is expected to come out with a significant teaching on how the Catholic Church should respond to the new shapes and challenges of the modern family. As he prepares the document, there may be few individuals as important in understanding the pope’s thinking as an 82-year-old German theologian named Cardinal Walter Kasper.
