IRELAND
Irish Independent
Claire Mc Cormack and Nick Bramhill
The outcome of Ireland’s same-sex marriage referendum will be “a point of tension” at this year’s Synod of Bishops in Rome, leading Vatican experts told the Sunday Independent.
Although Pope Francis and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church had anticipated a Yes vote, experts believe the volume of people in favour was “surprising” to the Holy See.
Others admit that while the Church’s teaching on marriage is “not up for debate right now”, serious discussion on how the Church interacts with members of the gay and lesbian community is looming.
The “working document” for this year’s Synod of Bishops on the Family, which will take place in October, will be published over the coming weeks.
Following the global interest in our referendum, experts are now confident the Church’s response to so called “irregular” relationships – including civil marriages, co-habitation and same- sex couples – will be on the agenda.
“There will be bishops who will say that we need to do something to affirm what is good in these relationships even if they are not ideal and many bishops will be ready to say we need to affirm very clearly the Church’s teaching about these things and I think that will be a point of tension,” said Francis X Rocca, Vatican correspondent for The Wall Street Journal said.
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