Catholic Church Synod: No To Gay Marriage, But Possibly Yes To Baptism For Kids Of Same-Sex Couples

Almost 200 Catholic bishops and some lay leaders would meet in the next two weeks in a synod that would have Pope Francis launch a major review of the church's teaching on family and result in changes towards marriage, living together and separation of couples.

The pontiff, who addressed the assembly on its eve at St Peter's Square, said the meeting could lead to a renewal of Church and society. He said that the Church needs to accept and adapt the changes resulting from the wounds caused by the breakdown of the family.

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"The wounds have to be treated with mercy. The Church is a mother, not a customs office, coldly checking who is within the rules," AFP quoted Pope Francis whose 18-month leadership of the 1.2-billion strong Roman Catholic Church is characterised by reforms that conservative groups in the Church bureaucracy has vowed to block because it would water down traditional teaching on marriage and family.

However, despite the reform agenda of the pontiff, there is no expected major change in the Vatican's stand against the legalisation of same-sex marriage and contraception, which has gained major acceptance and practice among millions of baptised Catholics.

But observers see possible changes in the rules of allowing Catholics who have secured a divorce from courts and remarried to receive again the sacrament of Holy Communion, which dogma forbids them from doing so. Pushing for that change is German Cardinal Walter Kasper, a known close ally of Pope Francis.

However, Daily Mail named at least three cardinals who are opposed to such as change because it goes against the church principle of marriages being indissoluble. They are US Cardinal Raymond Burke, the cardinal prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura; Australian Cardinal George Pell, the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy; and German Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Critics of the centuries-long ex-communication policy point out that Catholics who have repented from what is considered bigger sins such as murder or being part of organised criminal groups are allowed to receive the host, believed by Catholics to be the body of Christ through the process of transubstantiation.

According to AFP, another area in which there could be a change in policy, viewed as a sign of compassion, is that priests would allow children of same-sex couples - whether adopted or is the natural offspring of one of them - to be baptised even if gay relationships would still remain frowned upon by the Church.

Indicators of these changes include Pope Francis himself baptising infants of live-in couples or single mothers and presiding over the sacrament of Matrimony to heterosexual couples who used to live together minus Church blessing and may already have children.

In the Philippines, a priest who chastised a single mother who had her baby baptised, was sanctioned by the local bishop.

Any possible changes in form or substance of church rites or practices or beliefs would likely be implemented before 2016 at the earliest.

Catholic journalist and writer of a forthcoming book on Pope Francis, Austen Ivereigh, said that conservative cardinals are steadfast on their opposition to change because conceding ground on the reforms means they are "conceding to the culture" which is a "slippery slope."

Ivereigh believes the pontiff would side with the reformers because "What Francis wants to see is a church that comes alongside those who have been wounded by marital breakdowns. He wants to see it as a place of healing - not of rigidity and judgment."

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