Toned-down language on “pastoring to people with homosexual orientation” failed to receive the two-thirds majority needed to pass a summit of church leaders.
Pope Francis leaves at the end of a mass to mark the opening of the synod on the family in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican October 5, 2014.
Tony Gentile / Reuters
This is a breaking story and will continue to be updated.
A final statement agreed to on Saturday by a summit of Catholic Church leaders to discuss teachings on family retreated from groundbreaking language on "welcoming homosexual persons" included in an interim draft released on Monday.
This language, as well as other passages on finding a way to allow people who have divorced and remarried to receive communion, provoked a vocal backlash among conservative bishops when it was published on Monday. Following the backlash, the English translation of the preliminary document was modified.
The final statement — formally known as the Relatio of the Extraordinary Synod on the Family — drops the title "Welcoming homosexual persons" from the section on the place of gays and lesbians in the church. Weaker language that spoke of "The pastoral care of people with homosexual orientation" was proposed instead, and a phrase referring to "Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community" was also dropped. But even this new language failed to receive a vote needed to be adopted, the Associated Press reported, failing on a vote of 118 to 62.
The pastoral care of people with homosexual orientation
55. Some families live the experience of having members who are of homosexual orientation. In this regard, questions have been raised on pastoral care which is appropriate to deal with this situation by referring to what the Church teaches: "There is no basis whatsoever to assimilate or to draw even remote analogies between same-sex unions and the plan of God for marriage and the family. " Nevertheless, men and women with homosexual tendencies must be accepted with respect and sensitivity. "In their regard should be avoided every sign of unjust discrimination" (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons , 4).
56. It is totally unacceptable that the Pastors of the Church pressures in this matter and that international bodies condition financial aid to poor countries, on the institution of laws that establish the "marriage" between persons of the same sex.
Official translations of the Relatio have not yet been published online.