The following comes from an August 2 Catholic World Report Blog post by Catherine Harmon:
One of the highlights of this weekend’s Napa Institute was a bishops’ panel discussion of modern challenges facing the family and expectations for the upcoming Synod on the Family. Moderated by George Weigel, the panel featured, among others, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna.
After a brief introduction by Weigel, each bishop in turn discussed the particular challenges to marriage and family life that he has observed in his home diocese, as well as what he hopes to see from this October’s gathering of the Synod of Bishops.
Cardinal Schönborn began the conversation on a personal note: he related the pain he experienced when told, at the age of 13, that his parents were getting a divorce. This experience and his work as a pastor in a country with a very high divorce rate have informed his hopes for the upcoming synod.
“What I expect from the synod is a clear word to parents all over the world: have mercy on your children,” Cardinal Schönborn said. “This is a message I hoped that the synod of last October would have conveyed—there was little word about the children.”
The cardinal described his own pastoral approach to divorced couples, stating that he does not focus, primarily, on the highly controversial question of Communion. “My first and most essential point is not to ask the question of whether the Church is merciful to the divorced, but whether the divorced were merciful to their children. … If you ask mercy of the Church, I must ask you the question: did you put the burden of your conflict on the shoulders of your children? This is deeply unmerciful.”
Cardinal Schönborn said that he hoped that the upcoming synod would maintain “a strong encouragement against divorce.”
“I hope that the synod is not stuck only on the problem of divorce but is mainly encouraging matrimonial fidelity,” he said. “There is no mercy without truth. … Mercy without truth is wobbly, truth without mercy is harsh.”
“What we need in the synod is a message of the healing power of God’s mercy,” the cardinal continued. “How to translate that into practice—that will be the big challenge of the synod.”
The 2015 Synod needs to strongly state that all literate Catholics need to read the Bible and the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition” of 1997 (dark green cover in USA) at home.
The lack of catechesis on: marriage, adultery – divorce with civil remarriage, contraception, fornication, homosexual acts, responsibilities of parents, requirements to receive Holy Communion, Mortal Sin, Hell
are all included in the CCC.
Many Bishops and Priests throughout the world have been remiss in educating Laity. And it is the source of the problems of today within the Church. This needs to be corrected at the Synod.
“Thou shall not commit Adultery” – GOD’s Commandment
Ex 20:14; Deut 5:18.
“Thou shall not covet thy Neighbor’s wife” – GOD’s Commandment
Ex 20:17 ; Deut 5.20.
JESUS about divorce and remarriage – Mk 10:6-12; Mt 5:32.
JESUS about adultery, mercy, and required repentance – “Go and Sin NO more” Jn 8:11.
If for “Pastoral reasons” those who choose to continue committing mortal sins may receive Holy Communion (which is a Sacrilege 1 Cor 11: 27-30)
– there will be NO “strong encouragement against divorce.”
(or against any other mortal sins such as fornication, homosexual acts, etc.)
In fact, mortal sins will be encouraged.
Faithful, church-going Catholics, generally, have little trust in Church leadership.
The Synod will likely devolve into a subterfuge for advancing homosexual sexualist goals, and perhaps those relating to divorce/remarried w/o annulment. There will be wailing, gnashing of teeth, and much, much feminine blather about “rights” and “love” and all that. This is what the Church has become (unless you try to advance Traditionalist goals, then God help you as you will face a united front of strong opposition).