At the briefing at the Holy See Press Office this afternoon, Father Federico Lombardi, South African Cardinal Wilfred Napier, and Father Thomas Rosica gave the following briefing on the latest synod discussions:
Cardinal Wilfred Napier started with the expression, “From Africa, there’s always something new.”
He noted that he wasn’t surprised to see so many people present, considering how, after the release of the Relatio Post Disceptionem (report after discussion) yesterday, it created quite a “stir.”
Analyzing the work, he said it has helped identify the issues they are facing, looking at their causes, and ways to go forward.
He stressed that the participants have surpassed the stage of “Listen, look, discuss,” but rather are operating with the mentality of “Look, analyze, take action.”
“We want action at the end of this,” he stressed, and “something positive.”
On how the synod participants are viewing their work, Cardinal Napier explained that one can make an analogy for the family: in the morning, things are happy and positive; at noon, there are the onset of difficulties; and in the evening, problems “really beset us” and we need to deal with them.
Continuing with the analogy, he said it can be seen like Creation, the appearance of sin, the Redemption, and the Resurrection.
“By the next phase” of the Synod in 2015, he said putting it back into concrete terms, “We’ll be building on positive, not just negatives, the positives we’ve developed.”
“We will have set the stage.”
Closing his remarks, Cardinal Napier said that he read this morning the media reporting that ‘The synod was called to discuss’ issues such as homosexuality, cohabitation, abortion etc.
Responding to this, he said: “The synod was not called to discuss this at all, it was called to discuss the family.”
