Changes to the English translation of the interim report from the Synod on the Family is the latest sign of the depth of the backlash in Rome.
Pope Francis celebrates a mass to mark the opening of the Synod on the Gamily in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct. 5.
Tony Gentile / Via Reuters
The Vatican circulated a new English translation on Thursday of a report released earlier this week at the midpoint of a worldwide summit of bishops on family issues, removing landmark language on "welcoming homosexual persons," and replacing it with the less inclusive phrase "providing for homosexual persons."
This report, known as the "Relatio post disceptationem" of the Extraordinary Synod on the Family, produced a firestorm of protest from conservative bishops, some of whom accused the leadership of the conference of misrepresenting the proceedings to advance its agenda. The section on homosexuality was especially explosive, because it was the first Vatican document that reflected Pope Francis' nonjudgmental rhetoric around homosexuality and his desire to move away from the culture wars prioritized by his predecessors, Popes Benedict and John Paul II.
American Cardinal Raymond Burke, who chairs the Vatican's highest court of canon law, has been one of the most outspoken critics of the report, saying, "The document lacks a solid foundation in the Sacred Scriptures and the Magisterium," and accused the bishops leading the meeting of advancing "positions which many Synod Fathers do not accept."
In the face of this criticism, Vatican leaders stressed that this was a working document and not an official declaration of the synod. The revised English translation appears to be the latest attempt to walk it back, but suggests organizers are making a special effort to mollify English-speaking conservatives because the version of the report in Italian — which is the official language for Vatican business — is unchanged.
Google Cache Archive: 10/13/2014