Egan emphasises ‘organic’ change

Hopes that the forthcoming Synod on the Family will make radical changes to doctrine may be premature, Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth warned this week, writes Joanna Moorhead.

Bishop Egan said it was “no secret that many progressive-minded Catholics are expecting fundamental changes in doctrine and discipline”, and that Pope Francis’ desire to have a frank and open discussion had encouraged those hopes. Moreover, he said, the media had often underlined the issue of admitting those who had been divorced and remarried to Holy Communion.

But, he said, the Pope’s vision of the synod was “much broader”. “What is at issue is the Christian vision of the family,” Bishop Egan told the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children annual conference. “Catholic teaching tends to develop organically, even when there is the appearance of abrupt change,” he pointed out.