Essentially, the \u201crelatio\u201d\u009d (or report) published today, at the close of the Synod, will serve as a starting point for future discussion. It was also presented with great transparency, including even sections that did not win the necessary votes for complete approval.<\/p>\n
Before we look at five things the synod did, it\u2019s important to understand the unique \u201cform\u201d\u009d of this unusual final document. Pope Francis asked to have all of the paragraphs presented in the \u201cfinal\u201d\u009d report, even those that failed to win the majority needed for full passage (a two-thirds majority). Two of those three dealt with LGBT Catholics, and one addressed divorced and remarried Catholics. What\u2019s more, the Pope asked that the voting results be shown alongside all the paragraphs, which were voted on separately. Gerard O’Connell called this a break with 49 years of tradition.<\/p>\n
In other words, if the final document was published with only the fully approved texts, those three paragraphs would not appear.<\/p>\n
Why might the Pope have chosen to do this?<\/p>\n