Cardinal Basil Hume once described the Catholic Church after Vatican II as like a caravan strung across the desert, with those at the front crying “go faster!” and those at the back, “slow down!” His image aptly describes the stage that the synod of bishops in Rome has reached this week as it moves towards a conclusion. The caravan guide’s duty is not to let those at the front go so far ahead that they lose touch with the main body, while helping the stragglers at the back to keep up. How Pope Francis can achieve this remains a mystery, but “with God all things are possible”. Sometimes, however, God seems to prefer a mess, so the Church can more closely resemble real family life. That does look like the most probable outcome at this point.Those wh