Bishops and cardinals attend the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 9. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
(Vatican
Radio – 10/13/14) The document summarizing the first week of the synod is
unacceptable to many bishops, says Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki. In an
interview with the Vatican Radio, the archbishop, who is the president of the
Polish Conference of Bishops, did not hesitate to say that the document departs
from the teaching of John Paul II and that you can even see traces of
anti-marriage ideology in it. The archbishop also thinks that the report
manifests a lack of clear vision in terms of the purpose of the synod.
"Is the purpose of the synod to provide pastoral support
for families in difficulty, or is it to take on special cases? Our pastoral
priority is the support of the family, not harming it, not exposing those
difficult situations that do occur, but which do not constitute the core of the
family and do not eliminate the need for support, which we should provide to
good, normal, ordinary families, which strive not so much for survival as for
fidelity," said Archbishop Gądecki. "The application of certain
criteria in the discussion of the marriage and the family raises some doubts.
An example would be the criterion of gradualness. Can you really see
cohabitation as gradualness, as a path to holiness? In today's discussion it
was also pointed out that the doctrine presented in the document completely
leaves out the subject of sin. As if the worldly worldview has won and
everything was just an imperfection which leads to perfection. It is not so
much what the document says but what it does not say that has been noticed. It
focuses on exceptions, but what is needed is the proclamation of truth. Furthermore,
the section which talks about the adoption of children by same-sex couples is
formulated in such a way as if it approved of such adoptions. That is another
flaw of the text, which, instead of encouraging faithfulness and promoting the
value of the family seems to accept everything as is. It also gives the
impression that up until now the Church teaching has been lacking in mercy, and
it is only now that merciful teaching will begin."
This article was originally published
by Vatican Radio in Polish. It has been translated for CWR by Justyna Krukowska.
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