{"id":918,"date":"2015-10-25T22:44:17","date_gmt":"2015-10-25T21:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/?p=918"},"modified":"2015-11-04T09:13:47","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T08:13:47","slug":"after-synod-on-family-francis-faces-a-tough-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/?p=918","title":{"rendered":"After synod on family, Francis faces a tough choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Anthony Faiola & Stefano Pitrelli<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

VATICAN CITY \u2014\u00a0During the closing Mass of a major summit of Roman Catholic clerics on family issues, Pope Francis took the pulpit at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica and delivered a sermon that appeared at times to veer into lecture.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After three weeks, the gathering \u2014 called a synod \u2014 had exposed a\u00a0rift within the church hierarchy<\/a>. Some bishops and cardinals were pressing for more inclusion for the divorced and remarried and for gay men and lesbians. But many others had pushed back, insisting that the church\u2019s rules and moral compass could not be so easily altered.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Francis responded by invoking the biblical story of Jesus stopping to talk to a blind man, even as his disciples walked by. Francis\u2019s parable was open to interpretation, and some viewed his homily as a general call for mercy at a time of natural disasters in Mexico and a\u00a0migrant crisis in Europe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But after his speech to the synod a day earlier in which he admonished the \u201cclosed hearts which frequently hide even behind the church\u2019s teachings and good intentions,\u201d his homily on Sunday seemed to others to serve as a reminder to his lieutenants of a core tenet of his papacy: outreach.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of the disciples stopped, as Jesus did,\u201d to talk to the blind man, Francis said. He continued: \u201cIf Bartimaeus was blind, they were deaf. His problem was not their problem. This can be a danger for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cA faith that does not know how to grow roots into the lives of people stays barren. And instead of an oasis, it creates more deserts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked to clarify the pope\u2019s message, Vatican spokesman Thomas Rosica only said, \u201cOnce again, Pope Francis used the homily at Mass to bring together the major themes of the Synod of Bishops and to put the powerful ecclesial experience into perspective.\u201d He added, \u201cI simply thank God that Francis is guiding the church at this moment in history.\u201d<\/p>\n

[As Vatican debates, American Catholics reexamine pontiff\u2019s visit<\/a>]<\/i><\/p>\n

Francis\u2019s message came as the synod\u2019s final communique \u2014 effectively a list of 94\u00a0recommendations to the pontiff \u2014 employed a more welcoming tone toward divorced and unmarried couples. But it also stopped well short of calling for clear and rapid changes to church policies. It suggested that the faith Francis leads is now at something of a crossroads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis synod has shown that two churches exist,\u201d said Marco Politi, a Rome-based papal biographer and longtime Vatican watcher. \u201cFrancis\u2019s church of forgiveness, mercy and being close to people where they suffer, and the church of the doctors of the law, that in this synod came across as the majority.\u201d<\/p>\n

[The Vatican\u2019s conservative caucus<\/a>]<\/i><\/p>\n

As the synod ends, analysts are looking at the result as a victory for church conservatives in several ways. The question is: What will Francis do?<\/p>\n

One thing that is not at stake is a rewrite of church doctrine, or the fundamental truths and teachings of the church. Rather, liberals had been pressing for alterations in policies, with the most important being a pathway that would grant divorced and remarried Catholics the right to receive Communion.<\/p>\n

Clerics did agree to find more ways for divorced Catholics to participate in church life. But whether a door should be opened for divorced and remarried Catholics \u2014 who the church teaches are living in a state of adultery \u2014 was left ambiguous.<\/p>\n

In effect, the synod agreed to disagree \u2014 leaving it to Francis to address such delicate questions. But deciphering exactly what he will do is no easy task.<\/p>\n

For all his gestures and expressions of outreach to divorced and other Catholics who do not necessarily conform to church teachings, he has not been explicitly clear about precisely what kind of changes he would like to see. Vatican watchers say one reason he called the synod was to strive for a consensus. Now he has one, and the question is whether he will seek to go beyond the synod recommendations.<\/p>\n

How he decides to act next will be key to interpreting whether Francis is likely to spark broader reform in the church. Experts say the past three weeks showed, however, that it is not clear whether the hierarchy of the church is ready for substantial change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conservative positions remain predominant, and the pope had to take it into account,\u201d said Massimo Franco, author of \u201cThe Crisis of the Vatican Empire\u201d and a columnist at the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/b><\/p>\n

What has Pope Francis actually accomplished? Here\u2019s a look at 8 of his most notable statements.<\/a><\/p>\n

How Francis is reforming the marriage annulment process<\/a><\/p>\n

Pope Francis emphasizes forgiveness for women who have abortions<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Anthony Faiola & Stefano Pitrelli VATICAN CITY \u2014\u00a0During the closing Mass of a major summit of Roman Catholic clerics on family issues, Pope Francis took the pulpit at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica and delivered a sermon that appeared at times to veer into lecture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[92,15,20,48],"class_list":["post-918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-washpost","tag-papa-francesco","tag-religioni","tag-societa","tag-vaticano"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=918"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":955,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918\/revisions\/955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}