VATICAN CITY
Crux
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent October 18, 2014
ROME — When the Synod of Bishops on the family ends Sunday after an intense two-week debate, attention will likely be focused on how the summit’s big battles are resolved — how much of an opening to same-sex unions remains, and what line is adopted on allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion.
As the curtain comes down, however, it’s worth remembering that this was a synod on the family, and some participants are worried that several important issues facing family life have been almost afterthoughts: the role of the elderly, for instance, as well as single parenthood, education, sexual abuse, and migration.
In the cornerstone document of the summit, called the Instrumentum Laboris, which was written based on responses to a questionnaire sent out last year by Pope Francis to bishops’ conferences around the world, these issues were part of the mix.
None of them, however, is mentioned in a midterm document released Monday by a drafting committee within the synod. Though that text had no definitive status, it was designed to represent what was said by the prelates during the first week of discussions.
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