The synod about the family has today - Wednesday - entered its third day. I follow the proceedings mainly through the one hour or so long press conference broadcast daily at 1pm and through the commentaries in many Catholic news websites.
Through this and other commentaries I will try to share with you some reactions to or ideas about things that are being said during the synod or are being reported in the media. Our own Bishop Mario Grech is sharing his thoughts about the Synod in a blog published on the Church news website – Newsbook.
Pope Francis’s address gave a very clear direction to the participants in the Synod, who besides bishops and cardinal include a number of families. In fact every session is opened by a talk by a married couple and not by a porporato. This is one of the innovations of this Synod.
The Pope clearly and emphatically urged participants to speak openly, without fear of upsetting him or limiting discussions to things he would want to hear.
To put more emphasis on his words he used the Greek term parrhesia - meaning to speak candidly or boldly, and without fear - to qualify the way the participants should speak
"A general condition is this," said the Pope. "Speak clearly. Let no one say: 'This you cannot say.'"
Commentators noted that this attitude of openness has not been so actively and strongly pushed during previous synods. There was always a kind of deference to authority lurking under the surface. Pope Francis wants to do away with this. The press conference I referred to above which one can follow on You Tube gives a taste of this openness and frankness.
One of the themes that the synod Fathers have to grapple with in their attempt to build an agenda that will then be fully discussed in the ordinary Synod that will be held coming October is the balance between “mercy” and “the law”.
Cardinal Erdő, the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest in Hungary, general relator of the synod. On Monday, he clearly stated that "Mercy does not take away the commitments which arise from the demands of the marriage bond. This means that, in the case of a consummated sacramental marriage, after a divorce, a marriage recognised by the church is impossible, while the first spouse is still alive.”
Many opined that this statement placed the Cardinal on the side of the “conservatives” that do not want to change church practice regarding the non-reception of Communion by those who are divorced and remarried although their first marriage had not been annulled.
Cardinal Kasper spoke during one of the ‘free sessions’, that is sessions that do not have a specific subject or a prepared speech. We do not know what he said as the speeches made by the individual bishops and other members of the Synod are not being published. However, we know what Kasper wrote in his book about MERCY: THE ESSENCE OF THE GOSPEL AND THE KEY TO CHRISTIAN LIFE. He clearly stated that he believes in the indissolubility of marriage but added that, in certain situations, communion can be offered as a help to those living in difficult situations because of their marriage breakdown. He based his arguments on the need to be merciful adding that that mercy has been "criminally neglected" in recent dogmatic theology, a "disappointing, even catastrophic" situation.
The debate will not be an easy one. This is a thorny and complex issue. But the debate has to be brought to its conclusion; a definitive conclusion. It cannot be left hanging as it was left hanging for many years.