A few days ago there was there was a flurry of excitement over a preliminary draft of a report from the RCC synod of family life. The people who think that Pope Francis is some kind of revolutionary were inclined to believe that the world's largest gay bashing organization was about to undergo a major change in brand management.
Bishops scrap welcome to gays in sign of split
Catholic bishops scrapped their landmark welcome to gays Saturday, showing deep divisions at the end of a two-week meeting sought by Pope Francis to chart a more merciful approach to ministering to Catholic families.
The bishops approved a final report covering a host of issues related to Catholic family life, acknowledging there were "positive elements" in civil heterosexual unions outside the church and even in cases when men and women were living together outside marriage.
They also said the church must respect Catholics in their moral evaluation of "methods used to regulate births," a seemingly significant deviation from church teaching barring any form of artificial contraception.
But the bishops failed to reach consensus on a watered-down section on ministering to homosexuals. The new section had stripped away the welcoming tone of acceptance contained in a draft document earlier in the week.
Rather than considering gays as individuals who had gifts to offer the church, the revised paragraph referred to homosexuality as one of the problems Catholic families face. It said "people with homosexual tendencies must be welcomed with respect and sensitivity," but repeated church teaching that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
It looks like the boldest step they are likely to take is to grudgingly recognize that the vast majority of Catholics have been regularly using contraception for 50 years. I guess that's pretty progressive for a medieval institution.