Battle between conservatives and progressives likely as church debates how it should approach modern world without veering away from doctrine
For a church with a 12th-century mindset, the 21st century is a bewildering place.
On Sunday, bishops from all around the world will descend on Rome and begin a contentious debate about how the Catholic church ought to confront the changing dynamics of the modern family, while not veering away from the doctrine that has ruled the institution for centuries.
The bishops who are attending the three-week synod on the family, as it is known, are expected to debate issues ranging from how to deal with the prevalence of divorce, to ways to counsel young couples who live together but do not want to get married, to how to recognise the children of same-sex couples.
“It’s about how the church can better walk alongside people,” says Austen Ivereigh, a Vatican expert who has written a biography on Pope Francis. “Now that doesn’t mean accepting that co-habitation is right. But it might be accepting that it is a stage to marriage.”
For some staunch conservatives, such as the US cardinal Raymond Burke, the synod has raised the possibility that there could be attempts to whittle away at church doctrine – such as the indissolubility of marriage – that may be out of kilter with modern life.
Conservatives are preparing to do battle with more progressive voices, led by the German cardinal Walter Kasper, who have put forward ideas about the church being more inclusive, like allowing some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion after a period of penance.
The bishops on both sides of the divide – those seeking to staunchly adhere to doctrine, and those looking for the church to adopt an approach that might welcome people who feel otherwise excluded – are even fighting over the schedule of when issues will be debated.
Read more:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/03/catholic-bishops-rome-synod-family
