This October, the Synod on the family begins its deliberation in Rome amid much speculation, hope and not a little confusion. Given the circumstances of Francis calling this Synod it was bound to give rise to rumour and discussion in both the Church and in the Secular Media.

 It will run for two weeks, from the 5^th to the 19^th of October with its collective focus on “The pastoral challenges of the family in the context of envangelisation”. This is only the third time that an Extraordinary Synod has been called since the Synod of Bishops began meeting in 1967.

 Expectations are high and already a pre-emptive strike has been organised by Cardinals Burke, Meuller and others seeking to prevent offering the Eucharist to those in irregular marriage situations. The compassionate attitude of Francis, Walter Kasper and others is being challenged and real difficulties are likely to be unavoidable.

 Cardinal Kasper’s comments earlier in the year were reported by the Catholic News Service/USCCB. “The Catholic Church needs to find a way to offer healing, strength and salvation to Catholics whose marriages have failed, who are committed to making a new union work and who long to do so within the church and with the grace of Communion.”

 Further, the whole issue of same-gender marriage may have to be considered, for it is a question that has forced itself onto the secular agenda and is seeking a response from all of us. Those fateful words spoken on the flight back from Brazil were brief but significant “Who am I to judge?”

 And all the time the rejection by so many of the teaching Humane Vitae, promulgated in 1968 by Paul VI, hovers in the background. Family life as it is has to be faced and both joys and difficulties explored.

So let us not expect too much straight away, but at least celebrate that a discussion is about to start that has been a long time coming. The role of the Synod, Pope Paul VI said, is to examine  ‘the signs of the times’ and ‘to provide a deeper interpretation of divine designs and the constitution of the Catholic Church’ in order to ‘foster the unity and co-operation of bishops around the world with the Holy See.’

That position has not changed but in the light of a real wish to see Collegiality effected in the universal Church, it is to be hoped that the Holy See listens carefully to the views of the people beyond the See of Rome, seeking the Sensus Fidelium, listening to those countless Christians who wish to live in accordance with the Faith of the universal Church but who also ask for an honest re-appraisal of a number of contentious issues in the light of our modern experience. An excellent article in the on-line edition of AMERICA , Revisiting remarriage by Sr. Mary Anne Walsh is well worth reading at  http://americamagazine.org/print/160184

In the midst of the debate, the public statements, the rumors and the secular speculation, let us not forget to pray for the inspiration of the Spirit, that we might be open to guidance for future progress of the Church and not remain closed in an historical mindset that no longer serves our missionary needs.

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