Few conclusions and items to discuss for Synod final document

Participants in the Catholic Church’s episcopal Synod on family matters will be voting on Saturday on the meeting’s final document, amid divisions over several controversial issues and expectations that the text will include few general conclusions.

The Archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, confirmed that the Vatican is not expecting a final document with many conclusions. “This is not the end of the synodic process. We are at the midpoint in the road,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said the final text that will be ratified on Saturday comes close to constituting a working paper or preliminary document for next year’s Synod, scheduled for October 2015.

Most participants expressed, through different wording, that their meeting should be considered a first step on the challengefilled road that the Church must travel regarding family issues.

Marx, a strong advocate for the Church’s need to embrace openness towards irregular family situations, emphasized the importance of finding new methods to prevent the Church from “repeating the same things.”

It is believed that there are major divisions of opinion among the synod’s participants, a situation reflected in the final document’s dearth of conclusions.

Discussions regarding whether remarried divorcees should be allowed to receive communion are still ongoing. The Italian legation supports a modified stance, while many bishops from other countries oppose a change in the doctrine.

The Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, said that the Synod is a big family, and differences of opinion are normal.

“Some fathers say that we must not forget the doctrine, while others also stress the need to be there for all those in difficult situations,” Schonborn said.

The final document might include remarks concerning the acceptance of homosexuals, amid pressure to deal with the issue wisely, in addition to a review of the stance on life partnerships outside the context of Catholic marriage.

The document has been confirmed to contain a more inclusive definition of the Gospel’s positive message on the family, and of the Church’s doctrine of marriage as an unbreakable relationship between a man and a woman.

Between Friday and Saturday, an eightman committee appointed by Pope Francis will participate in the drafting of the document.

Cardinal Marx denied media reports about some participants’ possible abstention stressing that the final document will be released despite all divisions, in addition to what is known as the “Message of the Synod to the Bishops of the People of God.”