Bishop backs call for ‘no change’ at synod

THE BISHOP of  Shrewsbury has given his backing to the priests behind an open letter urging bishops at October’s Synod on the Family to defend the Church’s “unchanging” moral teaching.

Signed by 461 priests, the letter published by the Catholic Herald called on the synod fathers not to develop teaching on allowing Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, and to remove any confusion from the lay faithful about moral teaching.

In a homily at a Mass for the annual general meeting of the Catholic Women’s League in Chester on Saturday, Bishop Mark Davies, pictured right, said: “In a happy and unprecedented way, many hundreds of priests have written to their bishops in different parts of the Western world encouraging them in their public stand for all the Church believes and teaches about marriage.”

He added: “The priests, as pastors of souls, appreciate it will always take supernatural courage to stand in Christ’s truth in times of crisis and confusion.”

However, following the publication of the priests’ letter Cardinal Vincent Nichols issued a rebuke saying the dialogue between priest and a bishop “is not best conducted through the press”.

Among the signatories is the priest secretary of Bishop Davies.

Bishop Davies said that on a global scale the crisis facing families took the form of poverty and war, but in the West manifested itself as an “insidious” attack on Christian marriage.

“It can seem that the Christian vision of marriage marked by life-long commitment, chaste love, and openness to the gift of children is rapidly becoming a counter-cultural lifestyle in societies such as our own,” he argued.

The synod is due to take place in Rome from 4 to 25 October.