Pope Francis urges bishops to make Catholic Church 'open to all'

Pope Francis called on Catholic leaders to make the Church more welcoming for all, as he opened a global gathering of bishops and laypeople at the Vatican on Wednesday to discuss the future of the Catholic Church.

Newly elected cardinals pose with Pope Francis after a mass on the opening day of the 16th Synod of Bishops, at St Peter's square in The Vatican, on 4 October 2023. © AFP / ANDREAS SOLARO

Delivering a homily in St Peter's Square at the start of the first meeting of Church leaders, or synod, in four years, the pope said bishops should avoid "human strategies, political calculations or ideological battles".

"We are not here to carry out a parliamentary meeting or a plan of reformation," he said.

But the Church must avoid becoming either "a rigid Church, which arms itself against the world and looks backward" or "a lukewarm Church, which surrenders to the fashions of the world".

Church doors must be "open to all, all, all", Francis said.

'Radical inclusion'

The Synod of Bishops, from 4 to 29 October, will be followed by a second session next year, which is expected to put forward proposals for Francis to consider in a future document on the direction of Roman Catholicism. 

For the first time in the church's history, women and laypeople will be allowed to vote alongside bishops on specific proposals.

The working document for this week's meeting was compiled by a committee after an unprecedented two-year canvassing of rank-and-file Catholics around the globe.

The document calls for concrete steps to promote women to decision-making roles in the church, including as deacons, and for ordinary faithful to have more of a say in church governance.

It also calls for the "radical inclusion" of LGBTQ+ Catholics and others who have been marginalised by the church, and for new accountability measures to check how bishops exercise their authority to prevent abuses.

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Same-sex marriage

Francis has also suggested there could be ways to bless same-sex unions.

In a letter published Monday by the Vatican, which he wrote in response to five conservative cardinals who challenged him to affirm church teaching on homosexuality ahead of the Synod meeting, Francis suggests that such blessings could be considered if they remained clearly distinct from the sacrament of marriage.

New Ways Ministry, which advocates for LGBTQ+ Catholics, said the letter “significantly advances" efforts to make LGBTQ+ Catholics welcome in the church and is “one big straw towards breaking the camel’s back” in their marginalisation.

Blessings Guidance ‘Significantly Advances’ Pope Francis’ Affirmation of LGBTQ+ People
(Statement of Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director of New Ways Ministry) 1/13

— New Ways Ministry (@NewWaysMinistry) October 2, 2023

The Vatican holds that marriage is an indissoluble union between a man and a woman. As a result, it has long opposed gay marriage.

But even Francis has voiced support for civil laws extending legal benefits to same-sex spouses, and Catholic priests in parts of Europe have been blessing same-sex unions without Vatican censure.

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Conservative backlash

Francis’ response to the cardinals, however, marks a reversal from the Vatican’s current official position.

In an explanatory note in 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that the church could not bless gay unions because “God cannot bless sin”.

In his new letter, Francis reiterated that matrimony is a union between a man and a woman, but in responding to the cardinals’ question about homosexual unions and blessings, he said “pastoral charity” requires patience and understanding and that regardless, priests cannot become judges “who only deny, reject and exclude”.

The five cardinals, all of them conservative prelates from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, are some of Francis’ most vocal critics.

Some conservatives have expressed doubts about the hosting of the synod ever since Francis announced it three years ago.

They have warned that bringing up for debate issues that have already been settled by the church risks schism.

Debates behind closed doors

Over the coming month, the synod gathers 365 voting members, including the pope, 54 of whom are women.

Their numbers are divided among delegates chosen by national bishops' conferences, members nominated by the Pope himself, and ten priests and nuns chosen by religious orders.

While live streams of the debates were originally planned, and several extra communications officers were hired, synod organisers have made clear this is a closed-door meeting and participants have been told to not speak to journalists. 

Challenged on the lack of transparency, Francis has said he did not want “political gossip” leaking out with news of participants fighting it out over tough issues.

(with Associated Press and Reuters)