Bishops anticipate Synod on Family with call for more compassionate Church

Senior bishops across England have called on the Church to do more to support divorced Catholics and those in unconventional family circumstances.

Two said they hoped the upcoming Extraordinary Synod on the Family in Rome would provide pastoral guidance to help parishes support families with mercy and compassion.

The bishops’ comments come after more than 10,000 Catholics in England and Wales completed an online questionnaire on family life that dealt with issues such as divorce and remarriage. The bishops’ conference is to submit its analysis of the results in a report to the Vatican later this month.

The Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, said at a Mass to mark the Feast of the Holy Family last weekend that this was a time to welcome families whose relationships had broken down.

“The family of the parish must always offer a place of welcome for those who no longer find themselves in stable or conventional family situations,” he said.

His comments were echoed by the Bishop of Clifton, Declan Lang, who said that Catholics could not be indifferent to the hurt that failed relationships caused. The Bishop of Nottingham, Malcolm McMahon, sympathised with those who felt excluded because of their family circumstances.

“I am well aware that living according to the teaching of the Church, which is rooted in that of Christ himself, on matters to do with relationships and marriage is not simple,” Bishop McMahon said.

Jim Cullen, chief executive of Caritas Care, a Catholic charity based in Preston, Lancashire, welcomed their comments and said that broken families often felt they did not have the right to be in church.

Archbishop Longley said that the Church should reach out to those who felt unwelcome. “Be slow to judge and quick to embrace those who are afraid to cross the threshold of the church because they fear they are not perfect,” he said.

Looking ahead to the synod in October, Bishop McMahon said he hoped it would reveal new ways for the Church to care for families “whatever their circumstances” while Archbishop Longley said the synod questionnaire had highlighted some of the difficulties faced by families.

Bishop Lang said that a better awareness of life’s trials could lead people to make decisions that would benefit the poor and vulnerable. He called for churches to take practical action, and to consider who they might be alienating.

“We need to be careful of the language we use and deplore any suggestion of demonising other nationalities or groups,” he said.

Parish property, he said, could be used to help the poor and to better aid “the common good”.