The 2015 Synod

The October 2014 session of the Synod of Bishops looked at the modern family through a pastoral lens, focusing in particular on situations where there seemed to be a conflict between church doctrine and pastoral need. Two subjects rose to prominence: the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender persons and the situations of Catholics whose marriage has failed and who have later remarried. In this contribution to the Synod scheduled for October 2015, Bishop Geoffrey Robinson contends that if the second session of the Synod is to find answers, it must first look seriously at the church teachings involved to see whether they might allow some `room to move' in finding pastoral solutions. That is what he offers here.