Synod has yet to agree on Communion for divorced couples

The Synod of Bishops on the Family in Rome has yet to decide whether Communion for divorced and remarried couples is a matter of doctrine or discipline, a press conference at the Vatican was told on Tuesday.

Canadian Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher, said: “There’s a difference of opinion on that. I think it is one question which will be debated at the working groups.”

The working groups involve the break-up of the Synod into smaller groups of bishops to allow for greater participation.

Should the Synod decide that Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics is a matter of doctrine, then it cannot be changed.

However, should it decide that, like mandatory celibacy, this is a matter of discipline, then it can be changed.

Among the proposals made to the Synod was that general absolution be allowed during the Jubilee of Mercy, which begins on December 8th next.

Pope Francis announced recently that women who've had an abortion, and those who performed or assisted at abortions, can seek absolution from any priest anywhere during the year.

Currently, only a bishop can grant such absolution, or a priest designated by him to do so.

Archbishop Durocher explained how there are three forms of the sacrament of reconciliation (confession), one involving the individual, another involving a collective, and general/common absolution, "such as we use in Canada in the Northern Missions", due to its dispersed population.

Irish bishops had hoped to allow general absolution for the year 2000 but were declined permission by the Vatican.

Communion

A question raised at the morning Synod session on Tuesday was: “Who hosts the table at the Eucharist?”, or, in other words, who invites people to take part in Communion?

In September 1998, following then president Mary McAleese receiving the Eucharist at the Church of Ireland Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin the previous December, the Irish Catholic bishops published the document One Bread, One Body.

It made clear that Protestants should not receive Communion in a Catholic Church, except in rare circumstances, and a Catholic should not ever do so in a Protestant church.

In the Church of Ireland, everyone is invited to “the table at Eucharist”.

Marriage

At the beginning of Tuesday's Synod session, Pope Francis also made it clear that "the Catholic doctrine on marriage was not being called into question, and called on delegates to understand that the issue of divorced and remarried Catholics was not the only one for discussion", Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said.

Delegates were also advised by a speaker “to avoid negative judgments where people and situations were concerned”.

They were told that "when you recognise that human nature is good, much good can come of people", Vatican English language spokesman Fr Thomas Rosica said.

Where gay people were concerned, a delegate reminded participants that “these are our children, our family members, they are not outsiders, they are our flesh and blood”.