Starting Oct. 5, the Vatican will hold a two-week meeting about family issues. Specifically, the Vatican says it will compare Catholic teachings about marriage and family to worldwide challenges to its teachings. Its goal, the Vatican says, is to figure out how the Church can better share Jesus' message given modern realities like widespread divorce.
Crux, the Boston Globe's website covering Catholicism, reports that in addition to hundreds of bishops and patriarchs, the Vatican has invited 14 married couples from around the world to take part. Twenty-six members of the clergy, including 14 cardinals, eight bishops and four priests will be given the title "synod fathers." These voting members of the meeting will be responsible for coming up with new ways for the Church to care for people, spiritually and practically.
This will be a two-part meeting with the first part, called the "Extraordinary Synod," taking place this fall, followed by another working session in fall 2015.
Leading up to the Synod on the Family, the Catholic Church asked its pastors a series of questions aimed at finding out how people are understanding and following Catholic teachings about marriage, divorce, polygamy, contraception and surrogacy.
Not all bishops conferences chose to participate, but as the Daily Maverick's Russell Pollitt points out, those that did found striking disparities between Catholic teaching on matters like contraception and divorce and the actual choices and actions of many Catholics.
The questions hold different weight in different parts of the world. While polygamy may not be common in the United States, it's a pressing issue for Church leaders in Africa and the Middle East, according to Crux's John Allen Jr., a long-time Vatican journalist. Vatican commentator Thomas Reese, S.J., says the makeup of the Synod isn't likely to bring about much change. Half of the experts taking part are clerics and many of the lay observers are heads of Catholic organizations or employees of the Church, a group disconnected from the average Catholic, Reese says.
Other Catholics are optimistic that the Synod, starting with its open-ended questionnaire, will bring about dynamic debate and lessen the gap between church hierarchy and lay membership. Time will tell: Phase one of the Synod on the Family begins in Rome in less than a month.
Vatican Beat: Week in Review
• Pope Francis told listeners at an Italian War Memorial that worldwide conflict now amounts to a Third World War in piecemeal fashion, reports Catholic Online.
• Pope Francis has chosen two American priests who are experts in Catholic Church governance or "canon law," for key Vatican posts aimed at dealing with clergy sex abuse, according to Zenit.
• The Pope sent a telegram to the family of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff after he was killed by Islamic State militants in Syria. More on Vatican Radio.
• The Vatican has confirmed that the European Parliament has invited Pope Francis to speak on Nov. 25.
• San Lorenzo soccer club in Buenos Aires is naming its new stadium for Pope Francis, BBC News reports.
Kathryn Elliott covers the Vatican, Pope Francis and all things related to the Catholic Church for HNGN. She is a producer for EWTN News Nightly, an international cable news show airing weeknights at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. EST on the Global Catholic Television Network. Kathryn has reported for the National Catholic Register, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Catholic Spirit, The Minnesota Daily and The Word Among Us Magazine. She has a BA in professional journalism from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Kathryn lives in Washington D.C. Follow her on Twitter at @kmelliott90.
