Friday, October 10, 2014

Pope Francis Opens the Synod on Family with a New Attitude




Pope Francis inaugurates the Synod on the Family
Photo courtesy: The Telegraph, London

Pope Francis on Sunday, October 5, formally inaugurated the Extraordinary General Synod on the Family at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. More than 200 cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests and lay men and women are participating in this synod. This pastoral-oriented synod will place more emphasis on justice and mercy rather than having the Church's judgmental attitude of the past.

 This two-week synod will deal with the Catholic family in general and, in particular, divorce, birth control, premarital sex, marriage annulment, same-sex marriage and the like which are the real-life issues in today’s world. 

The pope told the participants to avoid obscure theological debate and intellectual sparring in favour of analyzing why so many Catholics defy official teaching on issues such as birth control and premarital sex, reports The Telegraph. 

On October 4, Pope Francis, in the pre-synod prayer vigil, said we must be attentive to the signs of the times to see the needs of the family by listening, being open and looking to the Lord, reports the Catholic News Agency. 

“To search for that which today the Lord asks of His Church, we must lend our ears to the beat of this time and perceive the ‘scent’ of the people today,” the Pope told thousands of people gathered for the vigil in St. Peter’s Square.

For daily proceedings and other details of the synod, please visit the following regularly:


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Posted by Jerome D'Costa at 8:22 PM
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