Report on the Synod (continued)

Father Thomas Reese (continued)—“Never in my lifetime have I heard of bishops and cardinals being so disrespectful of a pope, challenging his organization of this synod, even a few referring to him as a Protestant and threatening a fractured church if he goes against their wishes.

“The pope may have the support of the people, but could he win a vote of confidence from this synod?”

FutureChurch’s Deborah Rose-Milavec—“As one listens to the bishops speak about how to reform the Church the usual invocation that ‘doctrine will not change’ or the artificial conundrum of finding ‘new language to reconcile the concepts of mercy and teaching’ begins to feel like a marketing ploy rather than an honest ‘come to Jesus’ moment of a people coming to terms with the limits and failings of their doctrines and teachings. The oft-repeated, convenient fictions; the convoluted attempts to get out of our man-made traps where life is ordered according to abstract doctrines and traditions that no longer give life—is nothing less than a tragic, sometimes comic, affair. Those who are honest just shake their heads at the tragedy of it all.” (from FutureChurch’s synod watch blog)

VOTF’s Donna B. Doucette—“Reading the reports from those who attend the daily media sessions at the Synod, I find myself wondering if this is essentially a fact-free Synod. It sounds as if the bishops are trying to discern answers to theological questions without broadly consulting theologians, to understand what Biblical passages mean without asking scriptural scholars and translators, and to decide what ‘family’ means in the 21st century without hearing or knowing any but the most traditional families and without living in the 21st century. I pray the Holy Spirit will intervene enough to bring enlightenment.”

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops conference, at the Synod briefing on October 21—“The doctrine of the church is not a closed shop, but a living tradition.”

Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier (African cardinal who is co-president of the synod—The African bishops have “come out of the Synod most of all is a sense of optimism, an optimism because of the goodness of God, first of all, but also an optimism that comes from the witness of Pope Francis and the way he is leading the Church, and the other bishops that are sharing in the Synod are also giving a sense of optimism.” (Quoted from story by Diane Montagna in Aleteia.org religion news website)

Cardinal Donal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington DC—“In the long run, I think the voice of the church’s openness to people in difficulty, and the church’s caring embrace of people who are having difficulty in living up to the fullness of the Gospel will win out.” (Quoted from a story by Michelle Boorstein in The Washington Post)