VATICAN CITY (AP) — The world’s Catholic bishops are showing remarkable openness to accepting the realities of many Catholics today, saying there are positive aspects to cohabitating couples, that divorced people and gays must be welcomed and that couples’ decisions on birth control should be respected.
A two-week meeting of bishops on family issues arrived at its half-way point Monday with a document summarizing the closed-door debate so far. No decisions were announced, but the tone was one of acceptance rather than condemnation, aiming to guide Catholics toward the ideal of marriage.
Bishops called for courageous new ways to minister to families, especially those damaged by divorce. Unlike the last family synod in 1980, which despaired over the rise in annulments in the U.S., bishops are now calling for streamlined annulment procedures globally.
