I think it\u2019s safe to say that the synod was a media fiasco. The last time Catholics looked quite that bad was during the U.S. clerical sex abuse scandal, but that was twelve years ago, and the Church has come so far since then (thanks be to God). We might never recover our damaged reputation after that disaster, though.<\/p>\n
The recent extraordinary synod of bishops on marriage and the family in the context of evangelization (a.k.a. #Synod14) had the potential to be so beautiful, but it was essentially a hot mess.<\/strong> My immediate reaction was to stop reading any articles or even headlines<\/em> about it. I\u2019ve been an involved Catholic long enough to understand that the Church does nothing quickly and therefore generally gets things right the first time. I take a \u201cwait and see\u201d attitude. Your reaction might have been different.<\/p>\n In the end, the synod seems to have accomplished its goals: to openly discuss (a) the problems facing the actual people of the Church regarding marriage and family life and (b) the successes and failures in sharing (i.e. evangelizing) the Church\u2019s teachings in the same areas. It was a discussion forum.<\/strong> The concluding document<\/a> was not nearly as sensationalist and rough-drafted as the interim relatio<\/em> (the one that got the media all worked up), and there was always a follow-up plan. Next fall, the bishops will meet again to discuss the results of the first session. Pope Francis is expected to issue an apostolic exhortation some time after that. Only the apostollic exhortation actually affects church teaching. The other documents are basically extra-fancy and important notes. They\u2019re not the final exam.<\/p>\n In essence: everybody calm down!<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the saddest consequences of the #synodfiasco is that the Humanum Colloquium was a huge surprise, got almost no media coverage, and hasn\u2019t even gone very far in my usual Catholic circles.<\/p>\n The Humanum Colloquium<\/strong>, which was also organized by Pope Francis, was an international gathering held November 17\u201319 (right after the synod) on the topic of the complementarity of man and woman<\/strong>. The pope gathered with international scholars from many religions to discuss sexual complementarity and its reality as an innate construct, not a social one.<\/p>\n The two most incredible products of the colloquium were a series of six(!) videos and one roof-raising speech given by a rabbi. The videos were released for public viewing just a few days ago. Watch the trailer below:<\/p>\n