The recent Bishop’s Synod on the Family generated quite a stir among the bishops, Church, and the laity.

The Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family took place Oct. 5-19, to discuss present matters about “the pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization” (USSCB.org).

A synod, an elected advisory group made up of bishops, is the result of Vatican II when the bishops wanted an easier way of discussing things with the Holy Father. Thus the Synod of Bishops was created to serve this role.

The difference between the synod meetings and ecumenical councils is that opinions are given at a personal level, so usually no Church decrees come forth from these meetings. Most of the time the Holy Father just wants to discuss a present matter facing the Church and get feedback from his bishops.

Basically they are the very first steps of eventual Church teaching, if indeed something were to get to that level. An “extraordinary general assembly”  means the synod convenes when it needs a quick answer to a current problem.

This synod focused, of course, on the family, but also on aspects of marriage and homosexuality. The latter created, unfortunately, a majority of the confusion and controversy.

People feel as though the Church is old, behind the times–especially on matters of marriage, divorce, remarriage and homosexuality.  The Church faces progressivism and the modern age as it tries its best to not conform to the ways of the times. This was certainly not the first time such a response has occurred against the Church, but here at the synod saw the emergence of what some thought could turn into a change of doctrine. Side note, that didn’t happened.

Why did some people think this? Well besides the sensationalism generated by the media coverage, when one looks at the “relatio,” Latin for “report,” one can see what all the fuss is about. The relatio is a report of all things said and discussed by the cardinals and bishops during the synod. Remember, this document is not official Church teaching but just an account of what was said.

The bishops and cardinals expressed their input into the discussion, and as human beings go, some views differed with others and some crazy things were said. Now the Church has always had unusual cardinals in its history, so this is not unusual. I believe the error is when we focus on the statements that strike us as odd and unusual.

The synod merely exists as the beginning of the talk about future Church teaching. It can be similar to that of the process of gaining fruit from a plant. In the beginning it is the seed and then it grows. At times it can be tedious and labor intensive, but eventually you receive the good fruit as a result of the hard work and diligence. People and the media want to turn events like these into soap operas when really that is not even close to reality.

Holy Father Pope Francis wanted the opinions and input of his cardinals and bishops in order to know how they stand on these pressing topics. There have been worse disputes in past ecumenical councils. Look them up. They are interesting, to say the least.

The error in focusing on the crazy statements is that these are just the very preliminary steps in the process; the synod itself is not an attempt to change the Church’s teaching. Crazy and confusing things are going to be said — it should be expected.

Not all the opinions of a cardinal or bishop should be blindly accepted as being okay, especially if they contradict Church doctrine and teaching.

How do we interpret all of this and wait in anticipation for the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family scheduled for October 2015?

I say with patience, as things of this nature do tend to take a long time and can be quite laborious, and a trust in the Holy Spirit as it continues to work through the cardinals and bishops in conjunction with the Holy Father.

As Pope Francis said in his concluding speech on the synod, we must avoid “the temptation to come down off the cross, to please the people, and not stay there, in order to fulfill the will of the Father; to bow down to a worldly spirit instead of purifying it and bending it to the Spirit of God.”