Synod opens to divorced, civil partnerships and gays

23 giugno 2015

1 min di lettura

(AGI) Vatican City, June 23 - A "common agreement" has beenreached on the possibility of a "reconciliation or penitentialprocedure" over the controversial issue of readmitting tocommunion divorced couples who have "civilly remarried". Sosays the preparatory document for the next Synod, drafted onthe basis of a questionnaire commissioned by Pope Francis andresponded to by Catholics all over the world. Last October'sExtraordinary Assembly had left the issue open; this newdocument applies not only to divorced couples but also tohomosexuals and civil partnerships. The approach envisagestwo subordinate and counteropposing options, which must bedebated and voted on by the Holy Synod. The first provides fora penitential path conscious of "the failure and the wounds itproduced", whilst the second allows for the evaluation of thenullity of marriage, which would resolve individual casesshould the conditions for annulment exist. "Every person,independently of sexual tendencies, is to be respected in hisor her dignity and should be received with sensibility anddelicateness, both in the Church and in society," the documentstates. "It would be desirable that diocesan pastoral projectsgive special attention to the accompaniment of families withpersons of homosexual tendencies, and of the personsthemselves," it continues. As for civil partnerships, thedocument explains: "Opting for civil marriage or,alternatively, for cohabitation is very often not motivated byprejudice or resistance to sacramental unions, but rather bycultural or contingent situations." In this case, the documentrecommends a pastoral approach to respectfully and patientlyguide civilly married couples or civil partnerships towards"the fullness of the sacrament of marriage". . .