By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — No one is excluded from the love of
God or from being welcomed into the Catholic Church, but God’s love and the
church’s welcome also come with a call to conversion, said the English-language
groups at the Synod of Bishops.
Young people need to know “the church’s beautiful, yet
challenging, vision, teaching and anthropology of the body, sexuality, love and
life, marriage and chastity,” said the English-A group.
“At the same time, we restate the church’s opposition
to discrimination against any person or group, and her insistence that God
loves every young person, and so does the church,” the group said in its
report.
The reports, published by the Vatican Oct. 20, were the
result of reflections in the small groups — divided by language — on the
final chapter of the synod working document, which dealt with “pastoral
and missionary conversion.”
Most of the 14 working groups called for further local and
national dialogue with young people on what they need from the Catholic Church
and what they can offer the church. Most also called for a greater involvement
of women in the life of the church, including in the training of priests, and
many acknowledged how the sexual abuse scandal undermines the church’s
credibility.
None of the synod groups in any language used the term
“LGBT,” but many of them did refer to a need to help young people who
struggle with church teaching on sexuality or, more explicitly, those who
experience “same-sex attraction.”
The English-B group said that it “discussed the issue of
Catholics who experience same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria,” which
refers to believing one’s biological sex does not correspond to his or her true
identity.
The group asked that the synod’s final document include
“a separate section for this issue and that the main objective of this be
the pastoral accompaniment of these people which follows the lines of the relevant
section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.” The catechism teaches
that homosexual activity is sinful, but that homosexual people must be
respected and welcomed.
The English-D group said it, too, “spent a good deal of
time reflecting on the motif of the church’s stance of welcome and inclusivity.
We fully and enthusiastically acknowledge that the church of Jesus Christ
reaches out in love to absolutely everyone.”
“No one, on account of gender, lifestyle or sexual
orientation, should ever be made to feel unloved, uncared for,” the group
said. “However, as St. Thomas Aquinas specifies, love means ‘willing the
good of the other.’ And this is why authentic love by no means excludes the
call to conversion, to change of life.”
The group also echoed a sentiment shared by other groups that
through the synod, the speeches and the contributions of the young adults
present “it became eminently clear that young people crave holiness of
life and desire practical training that will help them walk the path of
sanctity.”
The English-C group, like many others, noted that while the
synod can provide general suggestions for listening to young people and
involving them in the life of the church, individual parishes and dioceses will
need to find specific ways to put those suggestions into practice.
“We suggest that episcopal conferences be strongly
invited to take up the results of the synod and engage in a similar process of
reflection in their own milieus, even including non-bishops in the
deliberations, as this synod has done,” the group said.
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