By Aimee Villalpando |Staff Writer|
The Vatican was divided on the last day of the recent Synod, in a vote on whether the church should change their approach in dealing with non-traditional families.
In the two week Synod, a council of the church, bishops from all over the world gathered in Rome to discuss modern family-related issues.
The Synod’s final report shows votes on three articles related to the divorced/remarried couples and that the welcoming of homosexuals did not attain the required two-thirds majority vote among the 183 voters, according to the Huffington Post.
Pope Francis planned for this Synod to be unlike any other, as he encouraged bishops to express their honest opinions.
The pope presented charts and figures highlighting the decreasing amount of weddings and children’s poor attendance in catechism classes.
The pope looked to bishops for suggestions to resolve the issues.
During the first week of the Synod, bishops discussed the controversial ideas.
The revised final paragraph that ended up failing read, “people with homosexual tendencies must be welcomed with respect and sensitivity,” according to The Big Story.
Additionally, the pope would like to see modifications to disciplinary rules on access to sacraments for individuals who had divorced and remarried outside the Church.
During this time, the pope exercised extreme caution as he did not want to impose any new and significant changes without understanding the perspective of the other bishops.
An interim report from the Synod presented homosexuals in a positive light, although there were also moments of strong emotional quarrels.
The pope requested the results on each of the 62 articles be released to the public, an act of transparency not normally done.
According to the Big Story, Catholic gay rights group New Ways Ministry thought that although the outcome was “very disappointing,” the Synod’s process “and openness to discussion provides hope for further development down the road.”
“I am saddened by the world who is not understanding of others, especially when they are preaching love and acceptance,” said Adolfo Garnica, a CSUSB student.
CSUSB senior Joceline Seres, a graphic design student, shared similar sentiments, “As a Catholic I think he is moving in the right direction because statistically Catholics are losing a lot of membership and it’s from alienation of the Church.”
“As religious people they should be practicing the main point of the bible which is love and acceptance,” concluded Seres.
Until the second Synod, the 17-page document will be revisited and discussed by bishops worldwide.
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