Monday, 5 October 2015


Pope asks Church to move forward as gay issue overshadows synod
 October 05, 2015 at 10:50 am in News 


Pope Francis said Monday that the Church was “not a museum” but a place for progress, as members of a key synod on the family rolled up their sleeves for the first day of what promises to be a spicy debate.
Francis urged a spirit of ‘solidarity, courage and humility’ as the Catholic Church’s conservative and liberal wings began tackling hot button topics from communion for remarried divorcees to acceptance of homosexuality.
The 78-year old reminded red-hatted cardinals and purple-sashed bishops that the Church was “not a museum to keep or preserve. It’s a place where the holy people of God move forward”.
At the opening synod mass on Sunday, the pope had offered encouragement to both camps, defending marriage and heterosexual couples but also insisting the Church must have “its doors open to welcome all those who knock”.
In an apparent boost to those who would have priests take a more merciful and inclusive approach to homosexuals, he said the Church must not “point the finger in judgement” of others, because doing so would “betray its mission”.
But he has also said traditional marriage between heterosexual couples should be defended.
“The emotional intensity of the synod is amped up because of perceptions that the pope’s position is still a work in progress”, Vatican watcher John Allen said.
“Whenever topics such as homosexuality and divorce are on the docket, feelings will run strong,” he wrote for Cruxnow

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