By John Mack Freeman
Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church asserted that marriage was forever and could only exist between a single and a single woman at a synod on family that opened this week. Via Associated Press:
Francis launched the synod process two years ago by sending out a 39-point questionnaire to bishops, parishes and ordinary Catholic families around the world asking about their understanding of and adherence to church teaching on family matters. Their responses showed a widespread rift between official Catholic teaching and practice, particularly on sex, marriage and homosexuality.
A first meeting of bishops ended last October with no consensus on how to better welcome gays and divorced and civilly remarried Catholics in the church. Conservatives insisted that Catholic doctrine is clear and unchanging. Progressives acknowledged the doctrine but sought wiggle room in pastoral practice.
The Pope and the Catholic Church have been in the news a lot in the last few weeks. After the Pope’s trip to America, it came to light that he had met with anti-gay clerk Kim Davis. Though the details of how that meeting was set-up and what was said remain unclear, it was not the most GLBT-affirming action possible. Additionally, the Vatican fired a mid-level monsignor in the Vatican’s doctrine office after he came out as gay to the press.
