By LOUISE KIRK
ROME — When at last it came, the Family Synod’s Final Report with all its ninety-four clauses, a generous first reaction was to be impressed. This was a work pored over not only by the 270 synod fathers, but also by a host of people beavering away in the background. The last three weeks have been solid hard work, led into by the Extraordinary Synod held last year, and a lot of extra footwork was carried out between the two events.
Fr. Thomas Rosica made much of all of this in introducing the final report at the press briefing covering its launch. He suggested that the whole synod process should be seen as a continuation of Vatican II, part of the consultative process which Pope Paul VI wished to preserve in setting up the synod framework 50 years ago, and brought to a new level of synergy by Pope Francis.
There have been many rumblings about the Holy Father’s enthusiasm for leading the Church down this path. Synods such as this are enormously costly both in time and in money, and the thought of that model being in some way adopted throughout the layers of the Church suggests committees and bureaucracies and a decentralization which might weaken or even splinter unity.
Replies to questionnaires at the start of the synod process were not necessarily representative of the People of God, yet they fed directly into the Instrumentum Laboris, giving it its unwieldly and shallow character.
On the other hand, the synod fathers have evidently gained enormously from being together for a full three weeks, not only sharing pastoral realities across continents but also praying together. The synod has clearly made a huge impact on individual bishops and given new life to the whole idea of family being at the center of faith. It is also true that strong messages from the more conservative prelates, particularly those from Poland and Africa, have helped to hold back the pace of liberalization.
The final report is no more than “an offering to the Holy Father who will continue the journey,” in Fr. Rosica’s words. It carries no authority other than as guidance to the Pope.
However, there are indications that the Holy Father will be taking advantage of its more liberal clauses to open “pathways” for those in irregular situations. He has led the way in emphasizing “accompaniment,” “discernment,” and “reverential listening” and in his closing address had strong words for those who “had closed hearts which frequently hide even behind the Church’s teachings or good intentions, in order to sit in the chair of Moses and judge, sometimes with superiority and superficiality, difficult cases and wounded families.”
Quite what document he will choose to produce, or when, is not yet known.
The more conservative Catholic press has already denounced the final report for massaging away the heart of the Church’s moral teaching, which is that any departure from the Commandments as taught in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in sexual behavior as in anything else, always incurs sin. It is a matter of charity for priests to correct this.
The contents of the “Kasper proposal” for treating the divorced and remarried, which would weaken the Church’s sacramental norms in every respect, is not enunciated in the final report, but by allowing pastors to open “pathways of discernment” to see how individual couples might be encouraged to “flourish within the Church” a nod and a wink may be given in the wrong direction.
There are similar concerns on the lax reference to cohabiting couples and even on homosexuality, which is avoided as a subject except in the context of supporting the families of those afflicted.
Saying this, there is especial concern on the part of the synod that children should not be excluded from the Church because their parents are in an irregular situation. In matters related to this, there are problems to be addressed and language to be used, but equally if we throw dogma out of the window, don’t expect crowds coming through the doors of the church, in the words of Msgr. Ronald Knox.
There is much that is good in the report. Throughout it, there is a strong emphasis on the complementary nature of man and woman in God’s plan, and the truth of marriage at the heart of the family. The value of life, from conception until death; the great riches to be found in large and in faithful families, which also have struggles and need support; the call to stand up for religious freedom and freedom of conscience in the public square: All this and much more will give heart to families and to pro-family activists who have often felt taken for granted.
So, too, will the call to look at what can be done to relieve situations where families are divided by war or migration, by long hours at work or lack of it, by the abuse of polygamy and other customs inherited from non-Christian societies. Most important, there is a strong new emphasis on the need for thorough preparation for marriage and single vocations, starting with children from the earliest years. Formation for priests in the apostolate of family is emphasized as a priority.
The Prophetic Encyclical
My own disappointment with the report is a general one. The attempt to be true to Church teaching while in practice opening pathways to relaxing it was anticipated. It is critical, but in itself it only applies to a few people. My grouse is that the consequences of failing to stand by Humanae Vitae is never named as a major underlying cause of what has gone wrong in family life, and, not being recognized as a root cause, there is no strong unifying message that living Humanae Vitae is key to putting society right.
To give an example, the reasons why young people are living together rather than getting married is thoroughly discussed, except that contraception is nowhere mentioned. Nor is it said that there is a major problem in catechizing existing couples in the benefits of natural family planning, especially given that networks of support are few and far between in many countries.
Nor is attention given to promoting natural means of helping the infertile, even though methods such as NaProTechnology are often more successful than IVF and have a much better record in creating marital unity.
In a word, nowhere is it said that every effort ought to be made to make up for lost time and put the whole of Church teaching truly in its place.
This is curious given that we now know from practical experience quite how prophetic Humanae Vitae was. Its teaching makes sense at every level. Contraception attacks marital stability; it has consequences for the physical and mental health of the woman; it damages fertility; it breaks down the barriers to keeping sex within marriage.
Most damagingly of all, its use is inevitably adopted by the young — you will never stop children aping adult behavior, even without our present society’s encouragement in that direction.
Early sexual behavior leads to multiple partners. This in turn breaks down the ability to attach to just one spouse for life. We can now see through studying the brain what common sense has long shown to be true.
We are building toward societies which are not only aging in profile but are increasingly composed of unattached adults. These will be very lonely and vulnerable in old age. The problems of teenage pregnancy are likely to pale in comparison with what states will have to cope with in a second sexual crisis, the crisis of adult loneliness.
Truth Makes Sense
I have now moved from Rome to Salt Lake City where the ninth World Congress of Families is being held. Here some 3,000 people are gathered from across the world and across the faith divides. There is no embarrassment about teaching family in its fullness or holding back on the truth that the sexual act is ordered to procreation and marital happiness.
There are a good number of Catholics represented here, priests but mostly laity. They take up the baton passed them by pioneers in the field of family, first called to duty by Blessed Paul VI so many years ago. Over the decades they have worked away, often unnoticed by their fellow churchmen, but now there are many fellow Christians and representatives of a range of faith communities working alongside them.
There is a strong spirit of hope and compassion, in which the Church of Latter-day Saints should be singled out for special praise.
God’s truth will never be contained, and nor will the gates of Hell prevail against it. Once it was largely the Catholic Church whose prophetic teaching lit a torch illuminating the way ahead. Now it would appear to be a wider community of lay people, rather than the Catholic hierarchy, who are making the pace, with noble exceptions.
The teaching itself remains constant, because truth is one, and it alone makes sense.
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