In brief

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First Posted: 10/14/2014 It&#8217;s a bit like a half-time update on a two-year saga with the ending still wide open, but a new document issued by a meeting of Catholic clerics is being widely touted as a substantial change in the Church&#8217;s tone on gays, divorce and birth control.
What it&#8217;s not, local observers stress, is a change in church doctrine.
The document summarizes work done so far at a continuing meeting called a synod. And while many media reports focus on a brief section regarding the church&#8217;s approach to homosexuality, the very fact that the discussion is so open and public may be the big news.
&#8220;It begins from the stance of the Church listening to its people,&#8221; said the Rev. Thomas Looney, King&#8217;s College chaplain and director of campus ministry. &#8220;Its&#8217; really calling the whole Church community, as ministers, to be more deeply sensitive to the reality of people&#8217;s lives.&#8221;
&#8220;The idea the document returns to a couple times is that there are positive values in what the Church would call less regular situations in marriage,&#8221; Misericordia University Religious Studies Chair Joseph Curran said. &#8220;It says there are positive elements in imperfect forms of marriage, that God&#8217;s grace can be operating in less than perfect situations. The Church should look for and develop those rather than condemning.&#8221;
The document also notes there may be cultural or personal reasons for living together out of wedlock, citing African cultures where marriage is done in steps that may include living together first, or other cases where couples simply can&#8217;t afford the wedding and all it entails but are working toward it.
&#8220;The church isn&#8217;t coming out and saying cohabitation is a good thing,&#8221; Looney said. &#8220;It&#8217;s saying let&#8217;s listen to what people say about cohabitation, because some of what they say is true.&#8221;
And while the part on homosexuality is brief, Curran dubbed it &#8220;remarkable.&#8221; It refers to a &#8220;gradualism doctrine that talks about the positive contributions homosexual people can make to the community; they have gifts and qualities to offer, and that&#8217;s how the Church can welcome them.&#8221;
Both stressed the Church has not changed doctrine and is unlikely to. But just the existence of such lengthy and open discussion shows a potentially huge change in the Church under Pope Francis, who has favored dialog and consensus building.
The Diocese of Scranton issued a statement stressing both the openness of the discussion and duration of the process.
&#8220;In calling for this Synod of Bishops on the family, Pope Francis has asked the participants to engage in &#8216;sincere, open and fraternal&#8217; debate. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the Synod participants have taken up the Holy Father&#8217;s call and are diligently discussing a variety of matters that are important to families and individuals who are trying to reconcile the circumstances of their lives with the teaching of the Church and their search for God. This Synod was not charged to reach any definitive conclusions, but to set the agenda for a larger world synod to be held Oct. 4-25, 2015, which will make recommendations to the Pope.&#8221;

King’s chaplain: ‘Church listening to its people’