VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee Dennis Coday | Oct. 2, 2015
The 14th general assembly of the Synod of Bishops opens in Rome Oct. 4. It will bring together some 300 cardinals and bishops, along with a few dozen lay and religious advisers and consultors to discuss pressing issues around family life.
The synod — its official theme is “The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World” — runs until Oct. 25 and is the culmination of more than two years of preparation that included among the widest consultations the Vatican has ever undertaken.
In the fall of 2013 and early 2015, the Vatican distributed questionnaires about family life and church teaching on the family to the world’s bishops with the instructions that the questionnaires be used as tools to consult parishes and deaneries.
Although how individual bishops consulted with their people varied widely, the Vatican did receive thousands of responses to questions like:
* “Is cohabitation ad experimentum a pastoral reality in your particular Church?”
* “What knowledge do Christians have today of the teachings of Humanae Vitae on responsible parenthood? … Is this moral teaching accepted?”
* “What questions do divorced and remarried people pose to the Church concerning the Sacraments of the Eucharist and of Reconciliation?”
The Vatican’s call for consultation and the fact that many bishops and some national bishops’ conferences did consult the faithful openly and widely, coupled with the intimate nature of the subjects under discussion, caused great interest and wide anticipation.
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