ROME
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor October 20, 2014

ROME – Now that the dust is beginning to settle on the tumultuous Synod of Bishops on the family, conclusions are in the air as to what it all meant. Given the clear divisions that ran through the summit, it should be no surprise that after-the-fact interpretations are also all over the map.

For some, the outcome was a defeat for Pope Francis and the more open line they perceive him to represent on issues such as gays and divorce and remarriage. For others, the fact that even watered-down language on those points survived in the synod’s final document represents a watershed, even if, like Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster in the United Kingdom said, they feel it “didn’t go far enough.”

Those in favor of allowing Catholics who divorce and remarry outside the Church to…