In an interview with the Catholic News Service, Cardinal Dew said that during his intervention he quoted from a letter issued by the Oceania bishops in 1994.

Cardinal Dew said he told the assembly: "Surely, the Church needs to realise that we are there to be friends to people who are struggling or are in difficulty in any way.

"And even if there is something there which is against Church teaching, we put it in such a way that we're being friendly to them, we're being helpful to them and being supportive.

"It's not denying any teaching or any doctrine, but saying, ‘Look, we're here to help you, to work with you'."

Cardinal Dew also spoke to CNS about his intervention at last year's extraordinary synod.

"I said when we have documents, which talk about ‘intrinsically disordered' (as the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes same-sex attraction) or being evil, that's not going to help people.

"We have to find a way to express what the teaching actually says, but not putting it in ways that people feel they are being branded and they are being told that they are bad or evil," the cardinal told CNS.

Cardinal Dew acknowledged that many bishops at the current synod have used their interventions to insist on the need to "protect Church teaching".

Cardinal Dew's small group at the synod went through the working document, he said, and one member suggested reading the text and every time it referred to "the family", substituting the words, "our family".

"We tried it for a couple of paragraphs and it made a difference because it made it real," the cardinal said.

In recent blog posts and interviews, Bishop Charles Drennan of Palmerston North and Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane also emphasised the need for change in Church language around marriage and the family.

Church language was also a hot topic in some of the small group discussions in the synod's second week.

Sources

• CNS
• NZCBC
• National Catholic Reporter
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: TVNZ

In a summary statement on the synod, Archbishop Dew said "if the Church is to be a mother that consoles, encourages, reaches out, supports it must listen to what is emerging from the discussion".

But the Archbishop of Wellington noted that things will not change overnight and that the synod is only the start of a process.

He recalled that in the days before leaving for Rome he was astounded at the messages he received, offering prayerful support and expressing hope and enthusiasm about the synod.

"This hasn't happened before previous synods," he said, noting how the issues were very important to people.

The archbishop said his own intervention on behalf of the New Zealand Church "focussed on the need for Church language to be changed so that it gave people hope and encouragement".

"To find a language that speaks the truth of the Gospel, but in a way that doesn't make them simply sanctions, but draws people to God."

He also noted that the concept of graduality, which was much discussed at the synod, did not refer to graduality of doctrine, faith or morals.

"It recognises that none of us are perfect, but we're all on a journey, so what are we doing to help (or hinder) others on that journey, who are often in very difficult and complex family situations?" he asked.

Archbishop Dew said the fact that the topic of homosexuality was discussed so openly at the synod was a "change from previous discussions".

His highlight for the whole synod was the presentation by Pope Francis before the closing Mass.

This address received a five-minute standing ovation.

"I highly recommend people reading his speech . . . , it is available online and I know I will be meditating on it for a long time to come."

Sources

• Archbishop John Dew
• Pope Francis' address to synod fathers
• Image: Wel-Com

The Archbishop of Wellington told Vatican Radio that what is happening is very different from a synod on the Eucharist nine years ago.

" . . . I talked [then] about the possibility of Communion for the divorced and remarried, and got a lot of criticism, and now at this synod, it is being spoken about openly, by many, many people."

He said Pope Francis's invitation to synod members to speak boldly and not to be afraid is creating a new dynamic.

The fact that topics like Communion for the divorced and remarried are even being discussed is giving people hope, the archbishop said.

But he dampened down any prospects of overnight changes flowing from the synod, saying there is a long way to go.

In an intervention last week, Archbishop Dew pressed for recognition that people come to moral perfection gradually.

This concept was mentioned St John Paul II's Familiaris Consortio, the archbishop said.

"So what do we do to help people on this journey to God and particularly help people who are often in very difficult and complex family situations?" Archbishop Dew said on Vatican Radio.

In his intervention, he said some of the language used in Church documents - terms like "intrinsically evil", "irregular situation" and "abortive mentality" - don't help this process.

"[I] said we need to find a language that still speaks the truth of the Gospel and the truth of the doctrine, but makes it in such a way that it is not all about rules and sanctions, but it is about helping people find their way to God."

Archbishop Dew is writing a daily blog about his synod experience.

An audio of his interview with Vatican Radio can be accessed here.

Sources

• Vatican Radio
• NZCBC
• Chicago Tribune
• Image: The Record