Why Is Family Important In The Catholic Church?

Divorce, homosexuality, abortion, re-marriage, annulments, and grounding a family in faith are issues the Catholic Church faces today on family. Some of these issues have been prevalent for hundreds of years. However, up until 2014, they had not been formally discussed in a Synod since 1980. With time comes change and the issues changed so Pope Francis decided there was a need to talk about the new issues. Pope Francis called bishops from around the world together, including the United States to discuss these issues. On December 10, 2014 Pope Francis stated, “Dear Brothers and Sisters, this morning we begin a new series of catechesis devoted to the family,” and ever since then the Church has been working to discuss such things (Harris). Pope Francis recognized these issues could cause a divide in the church if not discussed in more depth and so the Synod was called to clarify marriage and family problems. This year marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Synod of Bishops. The Synod of Bishops was originally created by Pope Paul VI to be called at any time that the Pope believes necessary. The function of a Synod is to clarify or make decisions on important topics …show more content…
Sometimes Synods result in success and changes are made in the Church, but often times issues are discussed for a long time before they are acted upon. For example, the Crusades that happened hundreds of years ago are still causing controversy in the Middle East. The significance of this Synod is that Pope Francis is willing to discuss the ideas of homosexuality, divorce, and remarriage. These have not been discussed for decades so it is a big deal because things have changed since then and who knows what the outcome will be. It could take hundreds of years before these ideas are finalized, but for now, the Pope is saying that the Church accepts and respects every person regardless of sexuality or marital