Contrary to all media speculations that the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops would create a “seismic shift” in Church teaching on human sexuality and marriage, 191 Catholic bishops from all over the world recently ended their two-week discussions at the Vatican without agreeing to any such change. This did not come without a fight, nor has the world heard the last word on it. But for now orthodoxy has prevailed.

Pope Francis convened the Synod on the first week of October to take a fresh look into the Church’s evangelizing mission concerning the family. The family is “the vital building –block of society and the ecclesial community.” The Synod has two stages: the Extraordinary General Assembly of Bishops in 2014, which would “define the ‘statusquestionis’ and collect the bishops’ experiences and proposals in proclaiming and living the Gospel of the family in a credible manner;” and the Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops in 2015, which would “seek working guidelines in the pastoral care of the person and the family.”

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