The Synod on the Family isn’t close to being the revolutionary gathering that some imagine 
The story goes that at the Council of Nicaea in 325, St. Nicholas—yes, the original Santa Claus—upon hearing the bishop Arius deny the deity of Jesus, crossed the hall where the debate was being held, hauled off and punched his brother bishop in the face.
Those reading the headlines and blog posts about the two-week Vatican gathering called the Extraordinary Synod on the Family might think that similar contretemps are occurring right now in Rome. But they aren’t, despite some sensational reports. The incomplete information is due in large part to an unprecedented ban on the publication of the papers presented, which to some makes the synod seem even more mysterious. Yet on Wednesday the ban was lifted.
Synods are simply meetings where bishops and experts discuss pressing issues of concern to the church. This synod is “extraordinary” in that it falls outside the regularly scheduled synods, which normally take place every three or four years. The current synod, which ends on Sunday, has provided time for a wide-ranging discussion on the pastoral application of the church’s teachings amid dramatic cultural shifts in marriage, contraception and cohabitation before marriage.
This was never a doctrinal council to change the church’s fundamental teaching on human sexuality. Even the recently released midterm summary of the synod—the relatio post disceptationem, which means “report after the debate”—reflects this. Nothing in it challenges the dogma of the church related to the indissolubility of sacramental marriage, the use of artificial contraception, cohabitation and homosexual acts. What it did was soften the tone of these teachings.
But Pope Francis , as unpredictable and spontaneous a pontiff as any in living memory, urged the bishops to be frank and open. And that is where things got interesting. The relatio post disceptationem is supposed to be a summary of the perspectives of the various participants. But some in the room have said that it was not an accurate depiction. Instead, critics say, the report reflected the opinion of Archbishop Bruno Forte, a special secretary to the synod and a progressive, who prepared the final document and presented it to the media. One of the more powerful, conservative cardinals, George Pell, called the relatio “tendentious and incomplete.”
Yet even this disagreement shows the synod is allowing the frank, open discussion that Pope Francis sought on a wide range of issues. Furthermore, the midterm report is not the final word. The Forte document probably represents the high-water mark of the progressives.
This is especially true where the document addresses homosexuality and asks, “Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?” To further complicate matters, there are questions as to whether “accettando e valutando” would not be better rendered in English as “accepting and weighing,” instead of “accepting and valuing.”
The final report released last November, undoubtedly reveals a more representative and balanced consensus. And even this "final report" will not be the end of the discussion. In 2015, a regular synod will be held in October, involving even more bishops, at the end of which the pope will issue an authoritative document.
What is really happening at this synod is an earnest effort by pastors of the church to determine how best to encourage people to live the Catholic faith. This is no easy task. A move too far in the direction of merely repeating old formularies will not work. A move away from what constitutes the very definition of what it means to be Catholic will not only erode the church’s self-identity and betray her founder’s mandate, it will also insult and alienate many Catholics who strive to live by the church’s teachings. This is what we pastors call the art of pastoral practice.
The practice is best modeled by Jesus’ encounter with the woman “caught in the very act of adultery” (John 8: 1-11). His interlocutors somehow thought that they could drive a wedge between his allegiance to biblical law and mercy. So they cast the woman before him and demanded that he say whether she should be stoned, as the law stipulated. The tension built as Jesus doodled in the sand. Finally he replied, “Let you who is without sin cast the first stone.”
The story does not end there. Jesus turned to the woman at his feet and delivered gentle, memorable words—a message that makes the whole story an encounter of faithful mercy: “Go and sin no more.” If this model—finding the balance between justice and mercy, which are often in tension—weighs heavily on the minds of bishops gathered in Rome, that will be an achievement for the church and its pastoral model.
* Fr. Sirico is co-founder and president of the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Mich.
This writing was originaly published by the Wall Street Journal ► HERE sparking-off dozens of comments
Reproduced with authorization
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