Synod
seeks to model God's marriage of justice and mercy
(Vatican Radio) How can the Church remain true to its core
beliefs while showing mercy, compassion and forgiveness to individuals who
fail, in so many ways, to live up its high ideals? That’s the question at the
heart of the Synod of Bishops on the Family which is moving towards the
conclusion of its first week’s work. To explore these
issues at the daily press briefing on Thursday, the head of the Vatican press
office Fr Federico Lombardi and his assistants were joined by the head of the
Canadian Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Paul-André Durocher and Italian
Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, as Philippa Hitchen reports....
‘Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well
on the Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?’ Those words of Jesus to
the Pharisees were used by Cardinal Coccopalmerio on Thursday to throw light on
the dilemma facing Synod Fathers as they struggle to distinguish between Church
doctrine and its practical application to people in their care.
As
a canon law professor and current president of the Pontifical Council for
Legislative Texts, the Cardinal has spent most of his life studying the way the
laws of the Church impact ordinary peoples’ lives. He’s also a member of
the new Commission, established by Pope Francis in September, to reform the
marriage annulment process – one of the issues that has been under the
spotlight in the Synod Hall…..
Like
many other Church leaders, the cardinal is strongly in favour of simplifying
the annulment process which is often a costly, complicated and drawn out
affair. All the bishops at the Synod, are clear there will be no change to the
Church’s teaching on the indissolubility of a Catholic marriage, but is much
heated discussion on how to respond to men and women who are separated,
divorced and remarried and are asking to be readmitted to the Eucharist.
Reflecting
some of the many practical suggestions made by bishops, Fr Lombardi spoke of
support networks, prayer services and public blessings which can help people
move on from a failed marriage to a new sense of the Spirit working in their
lives. Yet alongside these spiritual solutions, as Fr Tom Rosica explained, the
bishops are wrestling with what it really means to be an incarnational and
sacramental Church in which Jesus can touch and heal peoples’ hearts and
lives..
"We must allow Jesus to do his work in the Eucharist because
the Eucharist was left for us, sinners. We must not portray a Church which
tries to put limits on God's love...."
The
sense of urgency about resolving these issues is palpable during the Synod
sessions. Bishops dealing with people in mixed Catholic-Orthodox marriages say
there is much confusion over why the Eastern Churches can admit remarried
spouses to the altar while Rome cannot. As Archbishop Durocher concluded,
there’s a growing consensus that, amid so many economic and social challenges
facing families today, the Church must be more open to meeting the particular
needs of men, women and children in their care…
"What’s going on in the Synod is we’re seeing a more
inductive way of reflecting, starting with the real situations of people… and
finding that the lived experience of people is also a theological source, a
place of theological reflection"
Not
a battle between people and principles, he said, but rather the bishops are
learning how to bring the requirements of justice and mercy closer together in
a marriage made in heaven.
"A marriage of justice and mercy - God is perfectly just and
perfectly merciful, it's just hard for us to do the same, but we must strive to
do that."
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