Work is underway to draft the final report. Some 1,355 amendments have been presented. For Mgr Van Looy, “it is the end of a Church that passes judgment on every situation. It is the sign of a Church that is open”. This “was not a synod on homosexuals, but homosexuals do exist. I would not say it was about a taboo because it was discussed in an open and shared fashion,” said Card Lacroix.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - At a press conference following the morning session, Fr Federico Lombardi said that that Synod of Bishops on the family is preparing a statement on the situation of families in the Middle East. A draft was presented this morning. Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana, Canadian Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix of Quebec City and Belgian Archbishop Lucas Van Looy of Ghent were also present at the briefing.

In his presentation, Fr Lombardi noted that Pope Francis yesterday announced the creation of a new dicastery for the family. In response to a reporter’s question on the same issue, Cardinal Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said, “The announcement that the Holy Father made yesterday [. . .] can be presented as the end of a process, because this is not the first time that the Holy Father has brought up the issue at a public meeting with cardinals and bishops. [. . .] He has done it twice, first with the heads of dicasteries, then, at the end of the meeting of the Cardinals after the last Synod, he came up with the issue.”

"It is a desire of the Holy Father to reform the Curia," the cardinal explained. "At that time, these two possibilities were addressed: bringing together the family and the laity on account of the proximity of the subject matter and then probably strengthen them with two other offices for youth and women. That was the way it was presented at the beginning. Yesterday, we had the final form decided upon – the family, the youth and the Pontifical Academy of life brought together and probably supported by the two other groups. [. . .] About the possibility of the other coming together, nothing was said yesterday."

After Francis’ address, the members of Council of the Secretariat of the Synod were elected. Their names will be announced when the pope makes the final choice.

Yesterday’s session began with the general rapporteur, Card Peter Erdo, who presented the draft of the final report, which Fr Lombardi described as general in terms of spirit and orientation.

"I can say that the range of topics was naturally wide,” he explained. “Everyone clearly expressed their gratitude, full of admiration, for the committee’s work, because they did a good, proper job, the Fathers said as much, with respect to the Instrumentum Laboris, which was more fragmented, less organised and coherent. Thus, the satisfaction of the assembly for the quite incredible job, dictated the truth. Imagine! 1,355 amendments. . . . There was great gratitude and admiration for the work done to draft it."

This morning, 51 participants spoke about the draft of the final report; improvements or amendments proposed by single individuals, not amendments voted on collectively. The amendments cover a very wide range of topics, ranging from biblical references to migrants, from pastoral education to accompaniment, from violence against families to the fundamental relationship between consciousness and moral law.

At the briefing, Mgr Lucas Van Looy, bishop of Ghent, said that "this synod is the end of judging people; it is the end of a Church that passes judgment on every situation. It is the sign of a Church that is open, one that speaks with clarity. But for me, the last word that comes from this Synod is the word ‘tenderness’ that the Church has made its own for every situation; not just in the family, but for everyone. It could be the beginning of a new Church. "

“I am on the same wavelength," said Card Turkson. "I think that we may consider this synod as an emblematic synod of the Church, in the sense that the marriage celebrated in the Church is a sacrament; it is a kind of discipleship that leads to the other sacraments, and this synod can give us the opportunity to re-live this reality.”

“The marriage celebrated in Church follows a discipleship,” the African prelate added. “The couple that gets married are disciples, people who have agreed to journey with the Lord, to be open to the grace of the Lord, and this is not something done with one’s own powers.

“Even our priesthood, by us priests, is not intended to be lived thanks to some original power in ourselves. Instead, it is a sacrament, and requires God’s grace. When we take this seriously, for both the priesthood and married life, everything changes, life changes. If we lead it by holding hands with Lord, this helps us; otherwise, problems come one after the other."

Cardinal Lacroix from Canada answered a question that the issue of homosexuality. "I do not know how the final document will be. What is certain is that during the whole Synod we spoke of homosexuality in our families. It is possible that the topic will be included in the text. This was not a synod on homosexuals, but homosexuals do exist. I would not say it was about a taboo because it was discussed in an open and shared fashion."

“The topic was also discussed in my work group,” added Cardinal Turkson. “We heard bishops and cardinals with experience of homosexuality in their families. [. . .] Let us not criminalise this phenomenon,” he said, “but let us not victimise those who have a ‘problem’ with it.”

"We shall vote on the Relatio Finalis, and that is very important,” he said. “However, the whole experience of the synod, in the past two years, is important. The pope will not only receive a document. The pope listened. He knows the issues, not only on the basis of what we said, but also from the work of the circuli minores, [and] from the documents given to the Secretariat."

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