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The Extraordinary Synod on the Family has received a great deal of attention from the mass media, thereby generating a great interest in public opinion as well. We haven’t seen such an enormous public attention for a Catholic bishops meeting since the second Vatican Council.
Many media outlets have carried out their work calmly and objectively. Others have confused the issues, not to mention intentionally stirred things up by reporting controversies that are often fake.
In any case, the terms of the debate—as well as those that in reality were not debated— has been established by the Synod’s own final document. Fr. Cormac Burke, an Irish priest and former Judge on the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, as well as a Professor of Canon Law with more than 50 years of pastoral experience with families, wrote an article before the opening of the Synod. It noted the media’s expectations, the Pope’s intentions for the Synod, and precisely what was at stake. To the mass media’s eyes however, there were only two themes: the possibility of offering (or not offering) communion to the divorced and civilly remarried, and the acceleration of the annulment process. Added on top, of course, was the so-called “homosexual question.”
The article had a wide circulation with English speaking audiences, especially those with a specialized interest in the family. It was not however, available in other languages. FamilyandMedia wants to offer this article to its readers since, at the end of these 14 days at the Synod, his analyses have proven to be fully correct. The topic of the Synod was indeed the family, despite many attempts to shift attention onto specific moral themes or various other kinds of questions. We are sure that Fr. Cormac Burke’s reflection will be an excellent guide for all of us to understand more and more the debate which we will continue to follow in the upcoming months.
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