Pope Francis repeated this Wednesday at the opening of the Synod of Catholic Bishops the message of the World Youth Days (WYD) in Lisbon, stating that the Catholic Church must be a welcoming place for “everyone, everyone, everyone.”
At the solemn mass in St. Peter’s Square, which marks the beginning of the great meeting of the bishops, Francis said that the Church must avoid “falling into some dangerous temptations: that of being rigid, a customs house, which shrinks before the world and looks to the past; that of being a lukewarm Church, which gives itself over to the fashions of the world; that of being a tired Church, closed in on itself”.
In his homily, Francis affirmed that these “preconceived” ideas have no place in the great gathering of the Church, where “everyone, everyone, everyone” must be welcomed.
“Jesus also invites us to be a welcoming Church” and “not behind closed doors” because, “in a complex time like the current one, new cultural and pastoral challenges arise, which require a cordial and friendly interior attitude to face” Come, you that you have lost your way or feel alienated; Come, you who have closed the door to hope, the Church is here for you! The Church with the door open “To everyone, to everyone, to everyone,” the Pope added in his homily.
For the Pope, the Synod serves to remember that the Church “is always in need of purification, of reparation”, because it brings together “a People of forgiven sinners, always in need of returning to the source, which is Jesus.”
And given “the fears” that arose before the Synod, Francis wanted to remember that the meeting “is not a political meeting, but a convocation in the Spirit; it is not a polarized parliament, but a place of grace and communion.”
“The main task of the Synod” must be “to put God back in the center of our gaze, to be a Church that looks at humanity with mercy,” he stated, defending a structure “that has God at the center and that, Therefore, it does not create divisions internally nor is it harsh externally.”
The three-week closed-door meeting that begins Wednesday was preceded by criticism and warnings about the risk of division from conservatives and expectations from progressive Catholic movements, which demand more power for lay people and women in the Church. . The Synod will not make any binding decisions and is only the first session of a two-year process.
Before beginning, Francis decided, for the first time, to allow women and lay people (less than a quarter of the 365-member assembly) to vote alongside religious on any final document drawn up.
“It’s a turning point,” Indian-origin laywoman JoAnn Lopez, who helped organize two years of consultations before the meeting in the parishes where she worked in Seattle and Toronto, told the Associated Press, stressing: “this is the first time that women have a qualitatively different voice at the table and the opportunity to vote in decision-making is enormous.”
Before the inauguration, activists placed a giant purple banner in a nearby plaza that read “Women in Order.”
The role of divorced people and new strategies for welcoming LGBTQ+ Catholics are other topics progressives hope will be discussed at the meeting.
Catholic conservatives expressed some concerns. The American Cardinal Raymond Burke criticized the importance of the Synod for reform, considering it an attempt to transfer authority and decision-making outside the hierarchy, which “puts at risk the very identity of the Church.”
“Unfortunately, it is very clear that the invocation of the Holy Spirit by some is intended to present an agenda that is more political and human than ecclesiastical and divine,” said Burke, in a lecture titled “Synodal Babel.”
A group of conservative cardinals formally challenged Francis to affirm the Church’s position on homosexuality or the ordination of women before the Synod.
In an exchange of letters made public on Monday, Francis admitted blessings for same-sex unions, as long as they are not confused with sacramental marriage.
Source: TSF
