Vatican City (AsiaNews) - A day dedicated to the preparation of relatio synodi, the final report and the final message of the Synod. The latter was read in the Synod hall this afternoon, and the final report will be approved tomorrow afternoon and delivered to the Pope. This was referred to press today in the usual briefing by the director of the Vatican Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi.
Universal sharing and freedom of speech marked the Synod, according to Msgr. Georges Pontier, president of the French bishops conference, who spoke at the briefing along with Card. Reinhard Marx, president of the German Bishops' Conference, and Ilva Myriam Hoyos Castañeda, who spoke at the synod as an auditor.
The Synod, according to Monsignor Pontier, "attempted to strike a balance between the position of those who are more focused on the question of whether a certain situation is consistent with the teaching of the Church and those who invite us to pay more attention to people's needs". According to the president of the French bishops conference, even "on welcoming gay people great things have not changed between the first and the second phase," even though "the perspective of looking at the situation of homosexuality, rather than homosexual people, certainly in some circles there was a concern not to compromise on these facts that could have, for those who think in this vein, negative reactions on the culture to which it is addressed".
Cardinal Marx spoke of "intense" debate, with opinions "different", but "above all the willingness to find a common path". He then claimed that the Pope did not convene two synods to "repeat what has always been said" but "give a strong impetus to the pastoral care of the family." "The Magisterium of the Church is not a static collection of sentences, but it develops. Doctrine does not change but it is understood and implemented in different ways." "The gospel does not change, but have we discovered everything?". "Obviously," then, the Magisterium of the Church "can change", for example on an issue like that of communion for divorced and remarried, regarding which the cardinal recalled that the German Church has spoken favorably about the possibility that people in this situation may, under certain conditions, receive the sacrament of the Eucharist. "As bishops - he explained - we cannot choose among our faithful and this is what our faithful are asking".
On the issue of homosexuals, the cardinal spoke of spiritual guidance so that they can understand how to live the Gospel, which, however, does not imply an acceptance by the Church of this sexual practice.
Finally, responding to questions from reporters, Father Lombardi returned to the debate that took place yesterday morning in the Synod Hall, on the publication of the Reports of the Working Groups. The question arose "as to whether the reports should be published or not. And the Synod - without any doubt - opted for their publication, which we went ahead and did in all serenity and which was exactly what we had planned to do".