VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register
NEWS ANALYSIS: The full list of delegates, released yesterday by the Vatican, is fuelling concerns about the possible direction of next month’s meeting.
by EDWARD PENTIN 09/16/2015
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican yesterday published a full list of participants for October’s Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, in which those pushing for Church reform in pastoral practice figure highly, especially among those personally chosen by the Holy Father.
In the view of observers who are concerned that the synod might endorse controversial approaches that could compromise Church teachings on matters like divorce and homosexuality, the list of papal choices appear skewed in favor of delegates who appear inclined to support such ideas.
And, as expected, U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke, who spearheaded resistance to last year’s efforts to advance those agendas at the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, has been omitted from the final list.
In total, 279 bishops from well over 100 nations will be attending, underlining the international nature of the meeting, which will run Oct. 4-25.
The meeting, with the official theme of “The Vocation and the Mission of the Family in the Church and in the Contemporary World,” follows last year’s synod that was marred by controversy and allegations of manipulation.
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