It started a conversation about how to reinvigorate doctrine, not change it.
Leading Catholic bishops are returning to America from the just-completed Synod on the Family in Rome to find some of their most dedicated and faithful supporters up in arms. For decades, these Catholics have taken the lead in efforts to shore up a culture of marriage and family. They’ve done so because they love our faith and our country, and they know that strong families are essential for both.
They also know that Catholic distinctiveness matters. A diffident faith won’t gain converts or transform culture.
Thus their alarm when news from Rome seemed to indicate that the bishops might be watering down Catholic teaching on marriage and family, both in content and expression. But however well-intentioned, that alarm is misplaced.
The Catholic Church has begun a conversation, locally rooted yet global in scope, to renew our engagement on marriage and family issues. Central to that project has been the consistent affirmation of Catholic teachings on these matters, and that affirmation will continue in the months to come.
But challenges are built into the discussion as well. For it to advance, Catholics of both right and left must engage those challenges frankly and charitably.
The conversation at the synod itself was robust, and that was a great strength. After releasing an interim report that many considered flawed, bishops worked in small groups to improve it, resulting in a final document that, in an unprecedented display of transparency, indicated precisely how many bishops voted to include each paragraph.
The result is an agenda-setting working document that will serve as the basis for discussion in the year ahead, culminating in another synod next October, in which bishops will make recommendations to Pope Francis based on the fruits of their prayer and discussion this year. In other words, we’re still very much in the middle of a conversation.
New language regarding two contentious issues — communion for the divorced and civilly remarried, and the Church’s approach toward gay people — did not achieve consensus support from the bishops, and will no doubt continue to be at the center of this conversation. Faithful Catholics — experienced pastors, theologians, lay people, canonists — should bring their various perspectives to this discussion, as that can only enrich it.
And of course the conversation should be vigorous. As Pope Francis said at the conclusion of the synod, “a false and quietist peace” would be worrying; we should welcome a discussion “full of faith, of pastoral and doctrinal zeal, of wisdom, of frankness and of courage.” At the same time, that conversation will collapse unless we assume good faith on the part of our interlocutors, move past tired divides, and avoid overheated language.
We know that the stakes are high. We know that strong, faith-filled families are more vital than ever. We know that children who grow up in intact families do better in relationships and in school, among many other things. And as Brad Wilcox notes, we know that “religion and family in the West have been inclined to work together and reinforce one another.”
In other words, faith strengthens families. Catholics understand that. What’s more, we know that we can strengthen a culture of marriage by witnessing to Catholic teachings on family life.
At the same time, the challenges we face are now entrenched. We know that “Christ wanted his Church to be a house with doors always open to welcome everyone,” and that we’re called to “accompany couples and families and care for their wounds.” This means a renewal of our practical, on-the-ground support for families that are hurting and broken. It also means a renewed and welcoming approach, one that meets people where they are and walks with them on their way to the fullness of the Gospel.
That doesn’t mean watering down Church teachings — just the opposite. It’s precisely our humble confidence in the goodness and truth and beauty of our faith that makes a merciful Catholic witness so attractive. Anything less won’t work.
— Kim Daniels is a former spokesperson for the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. She has just returned from Rome on behalf of Catholic Voices USA.