Pope Francis At Synod: “We Don’t Need A Viewpoint Based On Political Or Ideological Calculations.”

At the opening Mass of the regular General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis offered an olive branch to “progressives and conservatives,” urging them to look at today’s challenges and problems not with “a spirit of dissent and conflict,” but focusing their gaze on God, in order to be a Church that listens, conducts a dialogue, and does not divide.

The pontiff, in his sermon during a Mass in St. Peter’s Square with cardinals and the College of Cardinals, on the occasion of the opening of the assembly in the Vatican, emphasized that “we do not need an immanent view consisting of human strategies, political calculations, or ideological battles.”

The synodal meeting, which will take place from October 4 to 28, has attracted worldwide attention. The synod is once again expected to focus on deep divisions between the “progressive” and “conservative” wings that have accompanied Francis throughout his decade-long pontificate.

“It is our duty… to firmly oppose any attempts to change the teaching of the Church that may arise at this Synodal meeting,” Reuters quoted Father Gerald Murray, a commentator on the US Catholic conservative television network EWTN.

In his sermon, Francis sought to encourage the 1.4 billion faithful Catholics not to lose heart “amid the sometimes turbulent waves of our times,” not to look for “ideological loopholes,” not to barricade themselves “behind acquired beliefs,” not to succumb to “convenient solutions,” and not to allow themselves to be “dictated the world agenda.”

The Vatican News Agency highlighted the words, with which Pope Francis recalled the initial speech of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council of John XXIII, which recommended that the Church “remain steadfast in the sacred heritage of the truth received from the ancients” and at the same time “look to the present.”

Conservatives, writes Reuters, sharply criticized the basic concept of the Synodal Assembly, since “any discussion of doctrinal issues must come from above, while the laity should not have a say in such matters.”

In any case, the discussions will take place behind closed doors, and they were preceded by two years of public opinion polls, in which the faithful were asked to submit their vision of the future of the Catholic Church. As a result of this process, a “working document” was developed, which pays great attention to the Church’s attitude in the 21st century to the problems of women, migrants, victims of sexual violence, divorced people, victims of climate change, and social injustice. However, according to some rumors, the document lacks some explicit passages relating to the topics of abortion, euthanasia, and the protection of the “traditional” family.

Before the Synodal Assembly, Pope Francis was forced to respond to the “Five Doubts” that Cardinals Walter Brandmüller and Raymond Leo Burke sent to him in July, with the support of three other cardinals: Juan Sandoval Iniguez, Robert Sarah, and Joseph Chen Zhijun.

“Francis answered the cardinals’ questions, but his answers did not satisfy them. In one of the questions, the Pope mentioned the possibility of allowing priests to bless same-sex couples on a case-by-case basis,” wrote Alvise Armellini, Reuters Vatican correspondent.

One of the five cardinals, American Raymond Leo Burke, tried to soften the controversy by emphasizing that “this was not a personal attack on the Pope, but an attempt by the pastors of the Church to protect their flock from the poison of confusion, error, and division.”

However, according to the Pontiff, the difficulties and challenges of today should not force the Church to be “tough, like customs,” to arm “against the world” and look “backwards,” to be “cool,” to submit to “world fashion,” to retire into itself, he warned The Pope, referring to the book of the Apocalypse, where Jesus says, “I’m at the door, and I’m knocking for the door to open.”

The Synod reminds us of exactly this: our Mother Church is always in need of cleansing, of “repairing,” because we all – a People of Forgiven Sinners – are both: forgiven sinners, always in need of returning to the source, which is Jesus, and get back on the path of the Spirit to reach everyone with its Gospel.