Bishop Robert Vasa: “Let Me Reassure You: The Sky Has Not Fallen in Rome...”

By Bishop Robert F. Vasa, Diocese of Santa Rosa

...Any attempt to view the relatio—which is an interim report—as equivalent to a papal pronouncement or indicative of some looming change in Church teaching is simply not justified...

      In the 24 hours since the release of the pithily titled Relatio post disceptationem for the Extraordinary Synod on the Family, the media and blogosphere have been thundering with the explosive cheers of those who have craved change in Church teaching for generations and others who wailing and gnashing their teeth, certain this does not bode well for the future.

            It is to these latter good souls I address the following observations.

            Let us begin by acknowledging that it is important to recognize this report does not constitute a final report. It is simply a report on what has been proposed by one or more of the participants in the Synod.

            As such it does not add anything new to the discussion that was not already present some months ago as rumors about what the Holy Father would or would not do vis-à-vis changing certain Church doctrines began to circulate.

            Therefore, any attempt to view this interim report—if we want to use a football analogy, a half-time report—as equivalent to a papal pronouncement or indicative of some looming change in Church teaching is simply not justified.

            As Cardinal Burke noted, “Clearly, the response to the document in the discussion which immediately followed its presentation manifested that a great number of the Synod Fathers found it objectionable.”

            Furthermore, if anything, the relatio in all but a few of its 58 paragraphs simply restates traditional doctrine. For the general theme I see is a reiteration of the need for pastors and for the Church herself to approach suffering people—in this case those who struggle with chastity, failing marriages, or both—with compassionate mercy.




            This is not new. Any serious Catholic with experience of the Church’s confessional practice knows that confessors are far more compassionate and understanding than popular media would admit.

            George Weigel’s observation is key: “The 2014 synod is an agenda-setting exercise that was intended by Pope Francis to help prepare the work of the 2015 Synod on the Family. The Pope knows full well that marriage and the family are in crisis throughout the world. In his own remarks before the synod, he said hoped [it] would lift up the beauty of Christian marriage and Christian family life in a world too dominated by what he’s often called a ‘throwaway culture,’ the throwaways all too frequently include[ing] spouses and children.”

            He continued: “The synod fathers are wrestling with difficult questions. How does the Catholic Church best approach, in a pastoral and charitable way, those who are living in what the Church has no option but to consider, objectively speaking, irregular situations? How does a Church of sinners—which is what all of us Catholics are—call people in those situations to the conversion to which all Christians are constantly called? How can it bring people to see the truth of their situation, and how can it best help them deal with that? These are not simple matters; matters of the heart rarely are.”

            As noted above, again, if read in its entirety, the relatio actually upholds much more of the traditional teaching regarding marriage and family than the headlines would lead us to believe. Pope Francis’ influence is clearly present in the expression of a desire for more welcoming language.

            This influence is certainly welcome and appreciated.