Upon his return home from the Extraordinary Synod on the family, the archbishop of the Filipino capital discussed what was done. He also urged the media to stop generalising. "Conservatives, liberals, or traditionalists are wrong categories that prevent listening." In general, coverage was "dominated by the West." There should be more "Asian and African journalists".

Manila (AsiaNews) - Labelling people "is not very useful. To say that a bishop is conservative, liberal, or traditionalist is a way of preventing true listening. If we already fit those in front of us into a given category, we end up hearing what they say in a biased way. And this is very harmful," said Card Luis Antonio Tagle, archbishop of Manila, during a press conference in which he spoke to Filipino media about the recent Extraordinary Synod on the family.

Before discussing the synod, the bishop told reporters that "A person is and always will be much deeper and much more complex than any one label. If we talk about very deep mysteries such as love, marriage, or personal relationships, it is not helpful to label them."

"It is not helpful to us. It is not helpful to you to think of persons based on names. Let us listen, listen, to the totality. Try to understand, and from that understanding we will get a better picture of the event," the prelate explained.

"The Catholic Church recognises that the world is becoming increasingly complex, that each of us must be comfortable with diversity and complexity. We cannot be shocked if there are different opinions."

"The Christian tradition but also the Word of God and the teachings of the Church, over time, have shown their richness. They are not monochromatic or dull. Those that seem different opinions may instead be different facets of the same reality."

As for media coverage of the Synod, it "was correct, although it focused on some issues - such as same-sex unions and divorced people - which are not always at the centre of the debate," Card Tagle said.

"We also talked about families separated by economic migration, the danger of pornography, domestic violence . . . But this got less coverage."

The prelate also lamented "the lack of Asian and African journalists" covering the Vatican, saying that "coverage of the synod was still dominated by the West."

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