Pope Francis will open the synod tomorrow morning, Oct. 4, with a concelebrated mass in St Peter’s Basilica attended by 270 synod fathers from all continents.

The Vatican has denounced as ldquo very serious and irresponsible rdquo the decision by Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith CDF to announce publicly on the eve of the synod of bishops on the family that he is homosexual and has a partner

Cardinal Georges Cottier, O.P., the former theologian for the papal household under St. John Paul II, feels that the Year of Mercy is an extraordinary opportunity given to the church to better discover herself and her mission.

If this October is anything like last year’s, the press covering the Synod of Bishops will focus almost exclusively on homosexuality and the possibility of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receiving Holy Communion. That emphasis is understandable, since there is certainly division amon

With decree on annulment, new possibilities for upcoming Synod

Some 250 bishops from all over the world will gather in synod in the Vatican from Oct. 4 to 25 for what many consider to be the most important assembly of this kind since the Second Vatican Council. They gather exactly 50 years after that council to focus on the family and, in the words of Pope Fran