Friday, 31 October 2014

Jesuit publication weighs in on Synod's concluding document

Jesuit publication weighs in on Synod's concluding document

Failure to reach a two-thirds majority on paragraph 52 was an 'anomalous' decision
<p>(Credit: Lapresse)</p>
The Synod’s failure to achieve a two-thirds majority on paragraph 52 of the relatio synodi — the passage about remarried divorcees in the Synod’s concluding document — was an “anomalous” decision in a way because “it is as if 74 out of 183 fathers didn’t want the discussion to be recorded, pretending it had never even taken place.” This is according to Fr Antonio Spadaro, editor-in-chief of Jesuit periodical La Civiltà Cattolica, who wrote a long article summarizing the outcome of the recent Synod on the Family which he participated in.
“Some of the individuals the Holy Father nominated as members of the Synod were people who had expressed diverging opinions on the issues dealt with during the assembly and they were chosen so that the debate could be exactly that, a debate,” Spadaro writes. “Different Church models emerged during the Synod, as well as different — and sometimes opposite — cultural frameworks, based on the country or continent of origin of each Synod father.”
Regarding the Vatican’s failure to gain a two-thirds majority to back the paragraph on remarried divorcees and the reference to the two positions that emerged, certifying that the issue was indeed discussed during the Synod and after he called the decision “anomalous”, Spadaro recalled that the discussion was given due recognition in the final Message of the Synod. The Message, which was approved by a majority of Synod fathers (158 out of 174), even gave a theological explanation regarding the decision to discuss this topic: “The gathering that weaves together all threads that create communion with God and one’s neighbor, is the Sunday Eucharist, when the family sits down at the Lord’s Table … This is why we reflected on the pastoral accompaniment of remarried divorcees and their access to the sacraments in the first part of our Synodal journey.”


Source: Vatican Insider

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