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Pope calls for "acceptance and mercy" at opening of family synod

Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa pictured with his boyfriend Eduard after announcing he is gay and in a relationship at the weekend
Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa pictured with his boyfriend Eduard after announcing he is gay and in a relationship at the weekend Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa pictured with his boyfriend Eduard after announcing he is gay and in a relationship at the weekend

POPE Francis has called on the Catholic Church to "seek out and care for hurting couples with the balm of acceptance and mercy" at the opening of a meeting of the world's bishops on family issues.

His words came as the composition of the synod was criticised by former President Mary McAleese, who told a meeting of the Global Network of Rainbow (LGBT) Catholics that the church's position on homosexuality was "simply wrong".

The opening of the synod on the family was overshadowed by news that a Polish priest, Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, was removed from his post at the Vatican after announcing he was gay and in a relationship in a newspaper interview.

Until his dismissal, Monsignor Charamsa was an official in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which upholds and affirms Catholic teaching.

He said he was calling on the synod to consider gay issues: "This is a very personal, difficult and tough decision in the Catholic Church's homophobic world."

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the decision to make such a "pointed statement on the eve of the opening of the synod appears very serious and irresponsible, since it aims to subject the synod assembly to undue media pressure".

Pope Francis addressed another of most pressing issues confronting the meeting of 270 bishops during a solemn Mass in St Peter's Basilica yesterday.

On the question of how how to better minister to Catholic families experiencing separation and divorce, he insisted that marriage is a "binding bond" between a man and woman and the Church cannot be "swayed by passing fads or popular opinion".

But he added: "The church must search out these persons, welcome and accompany them, for a church with closed doors betrays herself and her mission, and instead of being a bridge becomes a roadblock."

Responses to a 39-point questionnaire on Church teaching, which launched the synod two years ago, showed a widespread rift between official Catholic teaching and practice, particularly on sex, marriage and homosexuality.

"We are happy if there is turbulence," said Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, the Italian running the synod. "We are in the sea and so there has to be some turbulence."

Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican's finance manager, predicted little more than a reaffirmation of the status quo would emerge, albeit with perhaps better explanation as to why the status quo exists.

But former president Mrs McAleese criticised the make-up of the synod, comprised of "300 celibate males who, as far we know, have never raised a child".

“Let me repeat a question I asked last year when I saw the Vatican’s lengthy pre-Synod questionnaire, namely how many of these men have ever changed a child’s nappy?" she said.

The former president, whose son Justin is gay, said being homosexual "was not a choice", but added that she did not believe the synod would lead to a change in church teaching.

She said: “The Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality is simply wrong. Catholic teaching tells us that homosexuality is ‘intrinsically disordered’ and that homosexual acts are evil.

"I would say that it is my Church’s teaching on homosexuality that is intrinsically disordered, a teaching that leads to homophobia."