Married couples will have a prominent role in the forthcoming Synod on the Family, the event’s organiser has revealed.
Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, the secretary general of the Synod, said that wedded couples will address the group immediately after each topic is opened by a bishop.
More than 250 people will participate in the next Synod of Bishops in Rome from October 5-19 on the challenges facing the family.
The conference will be run along similar lines to previous years but will be less flexible, with a fixed format, he said, explaining that Pope Francis has asked for a change in their way of working so that meetings could be more efficient.
Each day will deal with a theme from the Instrumentum Laboris, a working document on the Synod that was published on 26 June. Topics will include polygamy and abandoned women but are also expected to cover the challenges posed by the Church’s teaching on contraception and abortion in modern society.
The cardinal told agency Rome Reports: "We will discuss the problems that have also been highlighted by the media, regarding failed marriages, separations, divorces, etc. The topics that are relevant to the West, are much more sensitive without a doubt. But I would like to point out that each continent has its own specific issues.”
A bishop will open debate each day, then married couples will speak, before other scheduled interventions of maximum four minutes.
Participants will speak in alphabetical order and at the end of each day, there will be one hour of open debate. Each participant will be allowed to speak only once a day.
Loading ...
