The Synod on the Family (“Battle lines drawn”, 18 October) will remain one of the most versatile post-Vatican II events to have shaken roots and rocked boats, sending us out of our comfortable and quietist zones.The greatest gift has been the ability and assurance that the Church is capable of being democratic precisely because it has concrete and tough issues to face in its missionary and apostolic vocations. Traditions are alive and are in flux; they aren’t artefacts safely engraved in stone and nicely categorised, labelled and tucked away. Through these intense days of discussion, at the Vatican and beyond, our omelettes have been flipped and the family of God has become less predictable and less tidy. But it is certainly holier and more mature.Aloysius Beebwa, London