Many are saying that in Querida Amazonia ("Beloved Amazon") Pope Francis has failed to extend his prophetic voice about environmental injustice to injustices to the church. They are also outraged over its language of complementarity.

Married priests
Francis has declined the request made by many bishops at last year's synod to open priestly ordination to married men and the possibility of women deacons to help address the severe lack of ministers in the nine nations of the Amazon region.

After the testimony of women at the synod, the pope's response is "willful blindness," one woman says. "I can't imagine what the women in the Amazon feel."

"We are profoundly shocked and disappointed," a spokesperson for a church reform group that advocates for an inclusive priesthood.

"We were hopeful that this process would begin a Vatican II approach to governance and that leadership would listen to the needs of the people.

"One of our deep regrets is that this, like our culture, has devolved into an either/or, black or white, conservative or progressive fight, which loses the focus that this is about the needs of the people of God."

Women
The Women's Ordination Conference (WOC) criticised Francis's for "willfully turning his back on the calls of women for recognition of the sacramental ministries they offer the people of the Amazon and the global church,".

"This shows, yet again, that a synod without the equal voice and votes of women will never produce fruit that satisfies the urgent needs of the people of God," a WOC statement said.

Querida's use of the language of complementarity and warnings about a "functional approach" is not raising optimism about further discussion of women deacons.

Instead it criticises a "reductionism [that] would lead us to believe that women would be granted a greater status and participation in the Church only if they were admitted to Holy Orders."

"Women make their contribution to the Church ... by making present the tender strength of Mary, the Mother," Francis wrote.

Querida's use of "spousal" language in the section about women is also raising hackles, with one theologian saying it contains a "fundamental inequality," where "Men are to women as Christ is to the church.

"That is not equality ... When we transpose this to the human realm with men/women in the places of Christ/church, it's misogyny."

Access to the Eucharist

Although representatives from the Amazon at the synod reported that Catholics sometimes go months without the Eucharist because of a lack of clergy, especially in rural regions, Querida does not suggest married priests or women could fill the gap.

Instead it urges church leaders to pray: "not only to promote prayer for priestly vocations, but also to be more generous in encouraging those who display a missionary vocation to opt for the Amazon region."

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: CNN

The Church has to acknowledge a history of male domination and sexual abuse of women and children and it must repair its reputation among young people or risk becoming "a museum", he says.

Francis made these comments in the 50-page "Apostolic Exhortation" he released on Tuesday, written in response to last October's synod of the world's bishops on ministering to young Catholics.

The "youth" synod took place against the Church's clergy sex abuse crisis. Demands for greater women's rights within the Church were among the issues discussed.

Among the bishops' recommendations at the end of the synod was one saying the need for women to hold positions of responsibility and decision-making in the church is "a duty of justice."

In response, Francis's Exhortation says a church that listens to young people must be attentive to women's "legitimate claims" for equality and justice, as well as better train both men and women with leadership potential.

"A living church can look back on history and acknowledge a fair share of male authoritarianism, domination, various forms of enslavement, abuse and sexist violence.

"With this outlook, she [the Church] can support the call to respect women's rights, and offer convinced support for greater reciprocity between males and females, while not agreeing with everything some feminist groups propose," Francis's Exhortation says.

He does not, however, respond to demands by women participants at the synod that they be allowed to vote in future synods.

Although Francis acknowledges women's claims are legitimate and and notes young people are complaining of a "lack of leading female role models," his Exhortation offers no new ideas as to how to rectify this.

Source

• Reuters
• ABC
• Time
• Image: YouTube

2. What follows is not meant to be a treatise on holiness, containing definitions and distinctions helpful for understanding this important subject, or a discussion of the various means of sanctification. My modest goal is to repropose the call to holiness in a practical way for our own time, with all its risks, challenges and opportunities. For the Lord has chosen each one of us "to be holy and blameless before him in love" (Eph 1:4).

Chapter One - The Call to Holiness
The Saints who encourage and accompany us

3. The Letter to the Hebrews presents a number of testimonies that encourage us to "run with perseverance the race that is set before us" (12:1). It speaks of Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Gideon and others (cf. 11:1-12:3). Above all, it invites us to realize that "a great cloud of witnesses" (12:1) impels us to advance constantly towards the goal. These witnesses may include our own mothers, grandmothers or other loved ones (cf. 2 Tim 1:5). Their lives may not always have been perfect, yet even amid their faults and failings they kept moving forward and proved pleasing to the Lord.

4. The saints now in God's presence preserve their bonds of love and communion with us. The Book of Revelation attests to this when it speaks of the intercession of the martyrs: "I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne; they cried out with a loud voice, ‘O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge?'" (6:9-10). Each of us can say: "Surrounded, led and guided by the friends of God… I do not have to carry alone what, in truth, I could never carry alone. All the saints of God are there to protect me, to sustain me and to carry me".[1]

5. The processes of beatification and canonization recognize the signs of heroic virtue, the sacrifice of one's life in martyrdom, and certain cases where a life is constantly offered for others, even until death. This shows an exemplary imitation of Christ, one worthy of the admiration of the faithful.[2] We can think, for example, of Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu, who offered her life for the unity of Christians.

The saints "next door"

6. Nor need we think only of those already beatified and canonized. The Holy Spirit bestows holiness in abundance among God's holy and faithful people, for "it has pleased God to make men and women holy and to save them, not as individuals without any bond between them, but rather as a people who might acknowledge him in truth and serve him in holiness".[3] In salvation history, the Lord saved one people. We are never completely ourselves unless we belong to a people. That is why no one is saved alone, as an isolated individual. Rather, God draws us to himself, taking into account the complex fabric of interpersonal relationships present in a human community. God wanted to enter into the life and history of a people.

7. I like to contemplate the holiness present in the patience of God's people: in those parents who raise their children with immense love, in those men and women who work hard to support their families, in the sick, in elderly religious who never lose their smile. In their daily perseverance I see the holiness of the Church militant. Very often it is a holiness found in our next-door neighbours, those who, living in our midst, reflect God's presence. We might call them "the middle class of holiness".[4]

8. Let us be spurred on by the signs of holiness that the Lord shows us through the humblest members of that people which "shares also in Christ's prophetic office, spreading abroad a living witness to him, especially by means of a life of faith and charity".[5] We should consider the fact that, as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross suggests, real history is made by so many of them. As she writes: "The greatest figures of prophecy and sanctity step forth out of the darkest night. But for the most part, the formative stream of the mystical life remains invisible. Certainly the most decisive turning points in world history are substantially co-determined by souls whom no history book ever mentions. And we will only find out about those souls to whom we owe the decisive turning points in our personal lives on the day when all that is hidden is revealed".[6]

9. Holiness is the most attractive face of the Church. But even outside the Catholic Church and in very different contexts, the Holy Spirit raises up "signs of his presence which help Christ's followers".[7] Saint John Paul II reminded us that "the witness to Christ borne even to the shedding of blood has become a common inheritance of Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants".[8] In the moving ecumenical commemoration held in the Colosseum during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, he stated that the martyrs are "a heritage which speaks more powerfully than all the causes of division".[9]

The Lord calls

10. All this is important. Yet with this Exhortation I would like to insist primarily on the call to holiness that the Lord addresses to each of us, the call that he also addresses, personally, to you: "Be holy, for I am holy" (Lev 11:44; cf. 1 Pet 1:16). The Second Vatican Council stated this clearly: "Strengthened by so many and such great means of salvation, all the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord - each in his or her own way - to that perfect holiness by which the Father himself is perfect".[10]

11. "Each in his or her own way" the Council says. We should not grow discouraged before examples of holiness that appear unattainable. There are some testimonies that may prove helpful and inspiring, but that we are not meant to copy, for that could even lead us astray from the one specific path that the Lord has in mind for us. The important thing is that each believer discern his or her own path, that they bring out the very best of themselves, the most personal gifts that God has placed in their hearts (cf. 1 Cor 12:7), rather than hopelessly trying to imitate something not meant for them. We are all called to be witnesses, but there are many actual ways of bearing witness.[11] Indeed, when the great mystic, Saint John of the Cross, wrote his Spiritual Canticle, he preferred to avoid hard and fast rules for all. He explained that his verses were composed so that everyone could benefit from them "in his or her own way".[12] For God's life is communicated "to some in one way and to others in another".[13]

12. Within these various forms, I would stress too that the "genius of woman" is seen in feminine styles of holiness, which are an essential means of reflecting God's holiness in this world. Indeed, in times when women tended to be most ignored or overlooked, the Holy Spirit raised up saints whose attractiveness produced new spiritual vigour and important reforms in the Church. We can mention Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Bridget, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. But I think too of all those unknown or forgotten women who, each in her own way, sustained and transformed families and communities by the power of their witness.

13. This should excite and encourage us to give our all and to embrace that unique plan that God willed for each of us from eternity: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you" (Jer 1:5).

For you too

14. To be holy does not require being a bishop, a priest or a religious. We are frequently tempted to think that holiness is only for those who can withdraw from ordinary affairs to spend much time in prayer. That is not the case. We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves. Are you called to the consecrated life? Be holy by living out your commitment with joy. Are you married? Be holy by loving and caring for your husband or wife, as Christ does for the Church. Do you work for a living? Be holy by labouring with integrity and skill in the service of your brothers and sisters. Are you a parent or grandparent? Be holy by patiently teaching the little ones how to follow Jesus. Are you in a position of authority? Be holy by working for the common good and renouncing personal gain.[14]

15. Let the grace of your baptism bear fruit in a path of holiness. Let everything be open to God; turn to him in every situation. Do not be dismayed, for the power of the Holy Spirit enables you to do this, and holiness, in the end, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life (cf. Gal 5:22-23). When you feel the temptation to dwell on your own weakness, raise your eyes to Christ crucified and say: "Lord, I am a poor sinner, but you can work the miracle of making me a little bit better". In the Church, holy yet made up of sinners, you will find everything you need to grow towards holiness. The Lord has bestowed on the Church the gifts of scripture, the sacraments, holy places, living communities, the witness of the saints and a multifaceted beauty that proceeds from God's love, "like a bride bedecked with jewels" (Is 61:10).

16. This holiness to which the Lord calls you will grow through small gestures. Here is an example: a woman goes shopping, she meets a neighbour and they begin to speak, and the gossip starts. But she says in her heart: "No, I will not speak badly of anyone". This is a step forward in holiness. Later, at home, one of her children wants to talk to her about his hopes and dreams, and even though she is tired, she sits down and listens with patience and love. That is another sacrifice that brings holiness. Later she experiences some anxiety, but recalling the love of the Virgin Mary, she takes her rosary and prays with faith. Yet another path of holiness. Later still, she goes out onto the street, encounters a poor person and stops to say a kind word to him. One more step.

17. At times, life presents great challenges. Through them, the Lord calls us anew to a conversion that can make his grace more evident in our lives, "in order that we may share his holiness" (Heb 12:10). At other times, we need only find a more perfect way of doing what we are already doing: "There are inspirations that tend solely to perfect in an extraordinary way the ordinary things we do in life".[15] When Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyên van Thuân was imprisoned, he refused to waste time waiting for the day he would be set free. Instead, he chose "to live the present moment, filling it to the brim with love". He decided: "I will seize the occasions that present themselves every day; I will accomplish ordinary actions in an extraordinary way".[16]

18. In this way, led by God's grace, we shape by many small gestures the holiness God has willed for us, not as men and women sufficient unto ourselves but rather "as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Pet 4:10). The New Zealand bishops rightly teach us that we are capable of loving with the Lord's unconditional love, because the risen Lord shares his powerful life with our fragile lives: "His love set no limits and, once given, was never taken back. It was unconditional and remained faithful. To love like that is not easy because we are often so weak. But just to try to love as Christ loved us shows that Christ shares his own risen life with us. In this way, our lives demonstrate his power at work - even in the midst of human weakness".[17]

Your mission in Christ

19. A Christian cannot think of his or her mission on earth without seeing it as a path of holiness, for "this is the will of God, your sanctification" (1 Thess 4:3). Each saint is a mission, planned by the Father to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in history, a certain aspect of the Gospel.

20. That mission has its fullest meaning in Christ, and can only be understood through him. At its core, holiness is experiencing, in union with Christ, the mysteries of his life. It consists in uniting ourselves to the Lord's death and resurrection in a unique and personal way, constantly dying and rising anew with him. But it can also entail reproducing in our own lives various aspects of Jesus' earthly life: his hidden life, his life in community, his closeness to the outcast, his poverty and other ways in which he showed his self-sacrificing love. The contemplation of these mysteries, as Saint Ignatius of Loyola pointed out, leads us to incarnate them in our choices and attitudes.[18] Because "everything in Jesus' life was a sign of his mystery",[19] "Christ's whole life is a revelation of the Father",[20] "Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption",[21] "Christ's whole life is a mystery of recapitulation".[22] "Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us".[23]

21. The Father's plan is Christ, and ourselves in him. In the end, it is Christ who loves in us, for "holiness is nothing other than charity lived to the full".[24] As a result, "the measure of our holiness stems from the stature that Christ achieves in us, to the extent that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we model our whole life on his".[25] Every saint is a message which the Holy Spirit takes from the riches of Jesus Christ and gives to his people.

22. To recognize the word that the Lord wishes to speak to us through one of his saints, we do not need to get caught up in details, for there we might also encounter mistakes and failures. Not everything a saint says is completely faithful to the Gospel; not everything he or she does is authentic or perfect. What we need to contemplate is the totality of their life, their entire journey of growth in holiness, the reflection of Jesus Christ that emerges when we grasp their overall meaning as a person.[26]

23. This is a powerful summons to all of us. You too need to see the entirety of your life as a mission. Try to do so by listening to God in prayer and recognizing the signs that he gives you. Always ask the Spirit what Jesus expects from you at every moment of your life and in every decision you must make, so as to discern its place in the mission you have received. Allow the Spirit to forge in you the personal mystery that can reflect Jesus Christ in today's world.

24. May you come to realize what that word is, the message of Jesus that God wants to speak to the world by your life. Let yourself be transformed. Let yourself be renewed by the Spirit, so that this can happen, lest you fail in your precious mission. The Lord will bring it to fulfilment despite your mistakes and missteps, provided that you do not abandon the path of love but remain ever open to his supernatural grace, which purifies and enlightens.

Activity that sanctifies

25. Just as you cannot understand Christ apart from the kingdom he came to bring, so too your personal mission is inseparable from the building of that kingdom: "Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Mt 6:33). Your identification with Christ and his will involves a commitment to build with him that kingdom of love, justice and universal peace. Christ himself wants to experience this with you, in all the efforts and sacrifices that it entails, but also in all the joy and enrichment it brings. You cannot grow in holiness without committing yourself, body and soul, to giving your best to this endeavour.

26. It is not healthy to love silence while fleeing interaction with others, to want peace and quiet while avoiding activity, to seek prayer while disdaining service. Everything can be accepted and integrated into our life in this world, and become a part of our path to holiness. We are called to be contemplatives even in the midst of action, and to grow in holiness by responsibly and generously carrying out our proper mission.

27. Could the Holy Spirit urge us to carry out a mission and then ask us to abandon it, or not fully engage in it, so as to preserve our inner peace? Yet there are times when we are tempted to relegate pastoral engagement or commitment in the world to second place, as if these were "distractions" along the path to growth in holiness and interior peace. We can forget that "life does not have a mission, but is a mission".[27]

28. Needless to say, anything done out of anxiety, pride or the need to impress others will not lead to holiness. We are challenged to show our commitment in such a way that everything we do has evangelical meaning and identifies us all the more with Jesus Christ. We often speak, for example, of the spirituality of the catechist, the spirituality of the diocesan priesthood, the spirituality of work. For the same reason, in Evangelii Gaudium I concluded by speaking of a spirituality of mission, in Laudato Si' of an ecological spirituality, and in Amoris Laetitia of a spirituality of family life.

29. This does not mean ignoring the need for moments of quiet, solitude and silence before God. Quite the contrary. The presence of constantly new gadgets, the excitement of travel and an endless array of consumer goods at times leave no room for God's voice to be heard. We are overwhelmed by words, by superficial pleasures and by an increasing din, filled not by joy but rather by the discontent of those whose lives have lost meaning. How can we fail to realize the need to stop this rat race and to recover the personal space needed to carry on a heartfelt dialogue with God? Finding that space may prove painful but it is always fruitful. Sooner or later, we have to face our true selves and let the Lord enter. This may not happen unless "we see ourselves staring into the abyss of a frightful temptation, or have the dizzying sensation of standing on the precipice of utter despair, or find ourselves completely alone and abandoned".[28] In such situations, we find the deepest motivation for living fully our commitment to our work.

30. The same distractions that are omnipresent in today's world also make us tend to absolutize our free time, so that we can give ourselves over completely to the devices that provide us with entertainment or ephemeral pleasures.[29] As a result, we come to resent our mission, our commitment grows slack, and our generous and ready spirit of service begins to flag. This denatures our spiritual experience. Can any spiritual fervour be sound when it dwells alongside sloth in evangelization or in service to others?

31. We need a spirit of holiness capable of filling both our solitude and our service, our personal life and our evangelizing efforts, so that every moment can be an expression of self-sacrificing love in the Lord's eyes. In this way, every minute of our lives can be a step along the path to growth in holiness.

More alive, more human

32. Do not be afraid of holiness. It will take away none of your energy, vitality or joy. On the contrary, you will become what the Father had in mind when he created you, and you will be faithful to your deepest self. To depend on God sets us free from every form of enslavement and leads us to recognize our great dignity. We see this in Saint Josephine Bakhita: "Abducted and sold into slavery at the tender age of seven, she suffered much at the hands of cruel masters. But she came to understand the profound truth that God, and not man, is the true Master of every human being, of every human life. This experience became a source of great wisdom for this humble daughter of Africa".[30]

33. To the extent that each Christian grows in holiness, he or she will bear greater fruit for our world. The bishops of West Africa have observed that "we are being called in the spirit of the New Evangelization to be evangelized and to evangelize through the empowering of all you, the baptized, to take up your roles as salt of the earth and light of the world wherever you find yourselves".[31]

34. Do not be afraid to set your sights higher, to allow yourself to be loved and liberated by God. Do not be afraid to let yourself be guided by the Holy Spirit. Holiness does not make you less human, since it is an encounter between your weakness and the power of God's grace. For in the words of León Bloy, when all is said and done, "the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint".[32] Continue reading

An apostolic exhortation is considered one of the highest ranking papal documents after Encyclical Letters.

The latest exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate ("Rejoice and be glad"), focuses on the call to holiness in the contemporary world.

The exhortation's title comes from the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:12).

This says: "Rejoice and be glad for your reward will be great in heaven."

The exhortation is subtitled: "On the call to holiness in the contemporary world."

Since his election as Pope, Francis has issued two other exhortations: "Evangelii Gaudium" in 2013 and "Amoris Laetitia" in 2016.

He has often spoken of the call to sainthood.

On one occasion in St Peter's Square, he said: "Sanctity is not something we can procure for ourselves, that we can obtain by our own qualities and abilities.

"Sanctity is a gift, it is a gift granted to us by the Lord Jesus when He takes us to Himself and clothes us in Himself, He makes us like Him."

He also pointed out sanctity "is not a prerogative of the few" but a gift offered to all.

Francis says we don't have to be bishops, priests or religious, or to lead a life dedicated exclusively to prayer.

Rather, he suggests, we are all called to sainthood, regardless of our life status.

This means consecrated people can be saints by living out their donation and ministry with joy.

Married people can be saints by loving and taking care of their husband or wife, as Christ did for the Church.

Unmarried baptised people can be saints he says, by carrying out their work with honesty and competence and by offering time in the service of their brothers and sisters.

Some snippets from "Rejoice and be glad".

• Fighting abortion and poverty are equally sacred causes
• Christians must acknowledge and accept Jesus' command to feed the hungry and welcome the stranger
• Helping migrants cannot be seen as a lesser issue; the only proper attitude is to stand in the shoes of those brothers and sisters of ours.
• Holiness means loving, not boring.
• Holiness is present in people, in parents who raise their children with immense love, in those men and women who work hard to support their families, in the sick, in elderly religious who never lose their smile.
• Holiness is not based on prayer alone but on also serving those in need and in self-control.
• Contrary to the promptings of the Spirit, the life of the Church can become a museum piece or the possession of a select few," the pope writes. "This can occur when some groups of Christians give excessive importance to certain rules, customs..."
• Francis does not believe in holiness without prayer, even
  though that prayer need not be lengthy or involve intense emotions.

Source

• Vatican News
• Crux Now
• La Croix
• Image: CNN.com

He said that it is insufficient simply to drop the truth on people and then smugly walk away. Rather, he insisted, you must accompany those you have instructed, committing yourself to helping them integrate the truth that you have shared.

I thought of this intervention by the late cardinal often as I was reading Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. If I might make bold to summarize a complex 264-page document, I would say that Pope Francis wants the truths regarding marriage, sexuality, and family to be unambiguously declared, but that he also wants the Church's ministers to reach out in mercy and compassion to those who struggle to incarnate those truths in their lives.

In regard to the moral objectivities of marriage, the Pope is bracingly clear. He unhesitatingly puts forward the Church's understanding that authentic marriage is between a man and a woman, who have committed themselves to one another in permanent fidelity, expressing their mutual love and openness to children, and abiding as a sacrament of Christ's love for his Church (52, 71).

He bemoans any number of threats to this ideal, including moral relativism, a pervasive cultural narcissism, the ideology of self-invention, pornography, the "throwaway" society, etc. He explicitly calls to our attention the teaching of Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae regarding the essential connection between the unitive and the procreative dimensions of conjugal love (80).

Moreover, he approvingly cites the consensus of the recent Synod on the Family that homosexual relationships cannot be considered even vaguely analogous to what the Church means by marriage (251). He is especially strong in his condemnation of ideologies that dictate that gender is merely a social construct and can be changed or manipulated according to our choice (56).

Such moves are tantamount, he argues, to forgetting the right relationship between creature and Creator. Finally, any doubt regarding the Pope's attitude toward the permanence of marriage is dispelled as clearly and directly as possible: "The indissolubility of marriage—‘what God has joined together, let no man put asunder' (Mt 19:6) —should not be viewed as a ‘yoke' imposed on humanity, but as a ‘gift' granted to those who are joined in marriage..." (62). Continue reading

• Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
• See also: Francis' sprawling Exhortation a marriage of profound and muddled

Cardinal Pietro Parolin told Italian news agency ANSA that the Pope will promulgate a document based in the conclusions of the synod of bishops' recent meeting.

Regarding the timing of any apostolic exhortation, he said: "This I do not know, but I don't think it will be long."

"After all, it is best to strike while the iron is hot," Cardinal Parolin said.

When asked whether the Pope is expected to publish a document following the conclusion of the synod meetings on the family, Cardinal Parolin said: "yes, and it will take the form of an apostolic exhortation, following synod tradition".

"As the end of the concluding report states," the cardinal added, "the synod fathers offer material to the Pope, requesting a document if he considers this appropriate."

Meanwhile, Belgian Bishop Johan Bonny told Vatican Insider of a conservative faction's tactics over the synod final document's paragraph on discernment for remarried divorcees.

"Those who were intent on not yielding an inch of ground on this matter, were convinced they were going to ‘win'," Bishop Bonny said.

"They said to themselves: we won't make any initial objections to what is stated in that section and then when it's time to vote, we will vote against it.

"They wanted to send out a sign: we don't wish to discuss this any longer, not even remotely.

"But they miscalculated things," Bishop Bonny said.

Each paragraph in the final document could have no more than 80 votes against at this synod, in order to reach the traditional two thirds vote required for inclusion.

"At the start there were definitely more than 80 of them," Bishop Bonny said.

"That means that in the end, some of them must have said: that's enough, let's move on towards the shared position on pastoral care. And this change came about gradually during the synod."

During the synod, Bishop Charles Drennan of New Zealand told The Tablet that the Pope is not bound by the need for the traditional two thirds majority vote.

Sources

• Vatican Insider
• Vatican Insider
• Crux Now
• The Tablet
• Image: Catholic Ireland