FAITH/STORIES

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he hoped the final report of the Synod of Bishops on the family would improve.

Archbishop hopes Synod's final report will 'refine and clarify'

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VATICAN CITY - U.S. Archbishop Joseph Kurtz said he hoped the final report of the Synod of Bishops on the family would improve on the assembly's midterm report in celebrating exemplary families, encouraging missionary outreach and emphasizing that the Church's pastoral efforts must be grounded in Scripture and Catholic teaching.

Family synod midterm report stirs controversy among bishops

Family synod midterm report stirs controversy among bishops

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VATICAN CITY - The official midterm report from the Synod of Bishops, which uses strikingly conciliatory language toward divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and same-sex unions, has proven highly controversial inside and outside the synod hall, with some synod fathers saying it does not accurately reflect the assembly's views.

Cardinals Timothy M. Dolan of New York, Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, arrive for the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishop s on the family at the Vatican Oct. 14.

Conservatives insist Vatican isn’t changing teaching on gays, divorced Catholics

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VATICAN CITY - A day after signaling a warmer embrace of gays and lesbians and divorced Catholics, conservative cardinals hit back strongly Oct. 14, with one insisting that an abrupt about-face on Church teaching is “not what we are saying at all.”

Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto arrive for a Mass of thanksgiving celebrated by Pope Francis for the canonization of two Canadian saints in St. Peter's Basil ica at the Vatican Oct. 12.

Durocher to help prepare Synod’s final message

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OTTAWA - The president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has been appointed to the commission preparing the final pastoral message of the Synod on the family.

Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec addresses Pope Francis at the conclusion of an Oct. 12 Mass of thanksgiving for the April canonization of two 17th-century Canadian saints.

Missionaries help keep people, church healthy and holy, Pope says

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VATICAN CITY - Missionaries do enormous good for the world and the church by bringing God's love to the far corners of the earth and by keeping the church healthy and fruitful, Pope Francis said.

Bishops and cardinals attend the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 13.

Family synod midterm report: Welcome gays, nonmarital unions

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VATICAN CITY - In strikingly conciliatory language on situations contrary to Catholic teaching, an official midterm report from the Synod of Bishops on the family emphasized calls for greater acceptance and appreciation of divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and homosexuals.

Father Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, is pictured reading in a kayak in this photo dated 1955. Less than six months after St. John Paul II was canonized, questions are being raised about a book of lectures he penned on social ethics as a yo ung priest in his Polish homeland.

Debate emerges on St. John Paul II's early writings on social ethics

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WARSAW, Poland - Less than six months after St John Paul II was canonized, questions are being raised about a book of lectures he penned as a young priest in his Polish homeland.

Pope Paul VI greets the crowd as he visits the parish of Jesus the Divine Master in Rome April 2, 1972. Pope Francis will beatify Pope Paul Oct. 19 during the closing Mass of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family.

Paul VI beatification highlights dialogue, Vatican II, love for Church

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VATICAN CITY - Meeting Catholics from Pope Paul VI's home diocese, Brescia, Pope Francis said his predecessor's witness "nourishes within us the flame of love for Christ, love for the Church and the drive to proclaim the Gospel to the people of today with mercy, patience, courage and joy."

Cardinals and bishops leave the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 9.

Catholic bishops debate: Where does doctrine end and pastoral practice begin?

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Senior Catholic leaders meeting at the Vatican are deep into passionate debates about how the Church can respond to the realities of modern family life, yet at the same time they have repeatedly stressed that they are not going to alter long-standing doctrines, such as the teaching on divorce and remarriage.

Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, laughs as he talks with Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington before the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 9. At left is Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, relator for the synod.

Gospel is joyful path, not burdensome rules, Durocher tells Synod

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VATICAN CITY - The Church needs to find better ways to show how the Gospel message is a way of life meant to bring great joy to couples and families, and is not a burdensome set of rules aimed at exclusion, Archbishop Paul-André Durocher told the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family.

.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, walks with Alice and Jeff Heinzen of Menomonie, Wis., as they leave the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 9. Th e couple are auditors at the synod.

Speakers ask Pope, Synod to clear up 'confusion' on contraception

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VATICAN CITY - A married couple from Brazil told Pope Francis and the Synod of Bishops that the Church should stop giving "contradictory advice" on birth control and help Catholics obey Church teaching against contraception.

Jim Derrick and Alfie Travassos exchange rings as they get married at the Salt Lake County Government Complex in Salt Lake City Oct. 6. In reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court declining to review rulings overturning state bans on same-sex marriage, U.S. Ca tholic bishops reiterated church teaching on traditional marriage, that it is a union between one man and one woman.

U.S. bishops emphasize traditional marriage after Supreme Court action

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WASHINGTON - After the U.S. Supreme Court Oct. 6 declined to review rulings overturning five states' bans on same-sex marriage, several U.S. bishops criticized the court's inaction and reiterated that according to Church teaching, traditional marriage is a union between one man and one woman.

Fr. Thomas Rosica

Mixing it up: Synod members turn to metaphor to get message across

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis may be the universal Church's undisputed master of metaphor and analogy, but other members of the Synod of Bishops on the family are showing a willingness to use snappy images to get their points across, too.

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