Pope urges Church to move forward as gay controversy overshadows synod

Pope Francis on Monday urged the Catholic Church to "move forward" as a review of teaching on the family got under way amid unprecedented controversy over its attitude to homosexuality.

Saying the Church was "not a museum to keep or preserve", the Argentinian pontiff urged clerics debating a series of thorny social and religious issues in a synod to do so in a spirit of "solidarity, courage and humility".

"It (the synod) is a place where the holy people of God move forward," he told the first working session of a three-week gathering that will pit conservatives and reformers against each other over issues including communion for remarried divorcees and cohabitation, as well as attitudes to gay believers.

The pope's comments echoed his words on Sunday when he said the Church must have "its doors open to welcome all those who knock" and not "point the finger in judgement" of others.
At the same time, Francis also said traditional marriage between heterosexual couples should be defended -- a view he reiterates frequently, not just because he needs to reassure conservative clerics.

"The emotional intensity of the synod is amped up because of perceptions that the pope's position is still a work in progress," Vatican watcher John Allen said, predicting a stormy synod.

"What's new now is a sense, however exaggerated, that movement might actually be possible. That's elicited strong passions both from those who see such movement as desirable, and those who view it as alarming."

Adding to the sense of a wind of change blowing through Church corridors, a newly-founded global network of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex Catholics on Monday published an appeal to synod members to find "new ways of celebrating the family."

The Global Network of Rainbow Catholics, made up of believers from 30 countries, said it wanted to help Church decision-makers understand the issues surrounding sexual minorities "though we know from long experience how frightened many of you are of communicating with us..."
- Doctrine change unlikely -
The synod is the second and final round of a review initiated by Francis.

During last year's first round, language that would have seen the Church recognise the value of loving same-sex relationships was excised from the final working document that forms the basis for the talks here.
But the document does include a landmark statement that homosexuals must be treated with respect and that "all types of unfair discrimination must be avoided."

The gathering of 360 participants was overshadowed this weekend by the bombshell announcement by a Polish priest, Krzysztof Charamsa, an official at the Vatican, that he is a practising homosexual with a partner.

The Vatican's ire -- which saw Charamsa fired from his post -- contrasted with the news of Francis's still close relationship with an old Argentinian friend and his gay partner, who were received and hugged by the pontiff in the United States last month.
"After his example, whatever the outcome of the synod it will be impossible for a priest not to welcome homosexual couples as the pope has... making them feel at home and gradually but progressively innovating Church mentality," said religious expert Piero Schiavazzi.

He warned, however, that bringing the synod's opposing sides together on such issues was unlikely in the extreme.

"It would be easier to get Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama to agree," he said.

French cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois said it would be misguided to expect to major changes to what the Church formally says on questions of love, sex and marriage, regardless of how far the tone has shifted on homosexuality.

"If you have come to Rome with the hope of seeing a major change to Church doctrine, you are going to be disappointed," he said.

Source: AFP