Expectations raised for next year's ordinary synod of bishops

Friday, Nov. 07, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — The extraordinary synod of bishops on the family, held in Rome Oct. 5-19, raised  concerns, questions and expectations of what may be addressed at next year’s ordinary synod.

In an Oct. 30 press conference, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, a member of the 11-person team that drafted the extraordinary synod’s final document, said he believes he and his brother bishops will be instructed to listen, pray and discern the Holy Spirit’s will as they prepare for the next synod.

“Our task across the whole Church is to reflect on how we take the received, permanent, revealed teaching of the Church concerning marriage indissolubility” and articulate the faith in a such way that “all of those people who should be with us in the practice of faith … stop and hear us and maybe be convinced to walk with us as we try, all of us, to draw closer to the Lord,” Cardinal Wuerl said.

 “This isn’t so much about what the Church teaches; we all know that and we have the Catechism to go to if we need a refresher,” he added; rather, the concern is finding ways in which “we can reach all of those who need that healing embrace of the Church.” 

He said one of his concerns is the large number of people who are living together without being married either in the church or civilly. “That says to me we have a long, long way in helping to present as clearly as we can the beautiful gift that is marriage.”

At the synod, there was a very strong consensus to address the issue of people who have remarried outside the Church, but would like to receive communion, he said. “The question is, how do we do that while being faithful to the teaching of the Church concerning the law?” 

One way to do this is through an annulment, but the bishops believe that process can’t be so onerous as to prevent people from going through it, he said. “I think that’s probably going to be an area that we have a lot of discussion in between now and the next [synod.]”

In the Diocese of Salt Lake City, Veola Burchett, the director of the Office of Family Life, followed the Extraordinary Synod with interest. She believes it laid a solid groundwork for the Ordinary Synod in 2015, “but it also didn’t open new ground,” she said. “Once again we held up the ideal … But it didn’t get into the messiness of family life.” 

For example, although the bishops at the synod heard from married couples, they didn’t hear from those in difficult situations, such as a woman in an abusive marriage, or a family separated by immigration issues; nor did they address topics such as how to respond to a cohabitating couple who seeks sacraments for their child, she said; local parishes deal with all of these issues. 

As Catholics prepare for the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia and the ordinary synod next year, Burchett suggests they read the Church documents concerning families, and also to realize that the synod must address the universal Church, not just Catholics in the United States.

Meanwhile, Father Langes Silva, the diocesan judicial vicar, said the extraordinary synod did suggest that the Church should offer more marriage preparation for couples, as well as catechesis on the basics of Catholic doctrine.

Fr. Silva believes that the ordinary synod will result in changes to the annulment process, although those changes may not be evident in the United States because, with Canada, “we are the most efficient countries in the world in canon law,” he said.

Still, “Whatever is going to come out [of the ordinary synod], I’m very optimistic that it’s going to be good for the people and for the Church,” he said, adding that he is looking forward to seeing what new tools will be made available to canon lawyers as a result of the synod.