Yet another senior Catholic Church figure has this morning been openly critical of the "welcoming" language used in a Synod document earlier this week in relation to homosexuals.
African Cardinal Robert Sarah, the current Prefect of the Cor Unum Pontifical Council, told the Catholic News Agency (CNA) that media coverage of the Synod's midway Relatio document last Monday represented "an attempt to push the church (to change) her doctrine."
The document, which spoke of “welcoming” homosexuals who have “gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community”, provoked worldwide reaction since it appeared to indicate a radical change in church teaching on homosexuality. Until now, the Catholic Church has considered homosexuality “intrinsically disordered” and judges the homosexual act to be a sin.
Within hours, it was clear that not everyone among the 191 Synod Fathers was on the same page on the issue.
Various Synod Fathers, reportedly including some African cardinals, asked for the English language version of the Relatio to be changed, replacing "welcoming" with "providing for".
Today, Cardinal Sarah, who is from Guinea, told CNA: "The church has never judged homosexual persons, but homosexual behaviour and homosexual unions are grave deviations of sexuality.
“Based on the sacred scriptures, the tradition of the church has always stated that ‘the acts of homosexuality are intrinsically disordered, since they are against the natural law, and preclude the gift of life. They cannot be approved in any case’.”
Cardinal Sarah appeared to accuse the Synod of being dominated by a “Western” agenda, in the process ignoring important issues such as “the church’s refusal to promote policies linked to gender (theory) in exchange for financial aid”.
In reality, the mid-term Relatio does state that it is not "acceptable that the pastor's outlook be pressured or that international bodies make financial aid dependent on the introduction of regulations based on gender ideology."
However, there is little doubt that African bishops, and others, have been concerned about the “line” on homosexuality in Monday’s document.
For example, one English-language Synod group, moderated by Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, this week stressed that "the church must continue to promote the revealed nature of marriage as always between one man and one woman united in lifelong, life-giving, and faithful communion".
Cardinal Sarah, however, took an even stronger line in his CNA interview, suggesting that the push for homsexual unions represents part of a "part of a new ideology of evil". He also furthermore suggested that the final document due to be released by the two week long Synod today will contain changes from Monday's Relatio which essentially represents a "working document".
That remains to be seen. What is sure, however, is that this has been a remarkable Synod, marked by a genuine debate which has highlighted serious differences of opinion between conservative and progressive elements in the Catholic Church.