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<h1 class="">Cardinal Pell expects synod to ‘massively endorse’ Church teaching</h1>
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<div class="">by <strong><a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/author/staff-reporter/" title="Posts by Staff Reporter" rel="author">Staff Reporter</a></strong></div>
<div class="">posted Monday, 11 May 2015<br><a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/05/11/cardinal-pell-expects-synod-to-massively-endorse-church-teaching/">http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/05/11/cardinal-pell-expects-synod-to-massively-endorse-church-teaching/</a><br></div>
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<div class=""><img src="http://d2jkk5z9de9jwi.cloudfront.net/content/uploads/2015/05/Pell-800x500.jpg" class="" alt="Cardinal Pell spoke after the conference on the family (CNS)" height="500" width="800"> <div class="">
Cardinal Pell spoke after the conference on the family (CNS) </div>
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<p class="">The cardinal was speaking at the Voice of the Family conference in Rome on Saturday</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>Cardinal George Pell</b></span> has said he <span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>expects that the upcoming synod
on the family to “massively endorse” the Church’s traditional teaching.</b></span></p>
<p>The cardinal made his comments at the Voice of the Family conference in Rome on Saturday.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>“Christ is very clear about divorce and not quite as important, but
nearly as important, St Paul is very clear about the conditions that are
required for a proper reception of Communion,”</b></span> he said, <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-pell-i-expect-the-synod-will-massively-endorse-tradition-on-commun">according to LifeSiteNews</a>.</p>
<p>“I think in fact that the synod will massively endorse the tradition.”</p>
<p>Speaking during a question and answer section, he added: “The
teaching of St John Paul the Great is the teaching of the Church. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>I
believe that the (Synod) delegates will recognise that the Christian
tradition of St John Paul the Great, Benedict, the Council of Trent. I
don’t anticipate <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">any deviation.”</span></b></span></p>
<p>The Voice of the Family group, a coalition of pro-life and pro-family
organisations, is committed to supporting the bishops at the synod
which is scheduled to take place in October. </p>
<p>In an interview with <a href="http://www.news.va/en/news/cardinal-pell-speaks-on-challenges-facing-the-fami" target="_blank"> Vatican Radio</a>
after the conference Cardinal Pell said <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>secularisation had made it
harder for </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>the Church to present its teaching on family and sexual
matters.</b></span></p>
<p>T<span style="background-color:rgb(182,215,168)"><b>he family “is very resilient… but by the same token</b></span>, I think just
about <span style="background-color:rgb(182,215,168)"><b>everywhere in the western world its under pressure,</b></span>” he said,
adding that secularisation makes it “much, much harder” for the Church
to present her message. </p>
<p>Cardinal Pell also talked about the need for the focus of the Church
being not just on the clergy: “There are many, many different types of
Catholics – there’s the Pope and Bishops and priests. But I think
especially in family life, it’s an area for the witness of married, the
witness of spouses, of parents, and of their children.”</p>
<p>He continued: “<span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>We [must] explain the importance of faith.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(213,166,189)"><b>Often we
can be very, very understated</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b> about the importance of faith, prayer,
conversion.”</b></span> he said, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>“The secrets for religious prosperity, lie in the
Gospels and in the Catholic tradition. We’ve just got to go to them…</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> <b>And
adapting more and more to the society – they’ll all say that’s good,
but they won’t join, and it will put us out of business if we do it long
enough.”</b></span></p>
<p>Meanwhile, five American bishops have added their names to <span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>a
statement addressed to the delegates for the synod, urging them to
“stand firm on the Church’s traditional understanding of marriage, human
sexuality and pastoral practices”.</b></span></p>
<p>Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Bishop David Kagan of
Bismarck, Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Bishop Robert Finn, formerly
of Kansas City-St Joseph, and Rene Gracida, retired bishop of Corpus
Christi, Texas, have all signed the statement.</p>
<p>The statement was drawn up by <a href="http://www.credopriests.org">Credo Priests</a>,
a group organised by Fr Jerry Pokorsky, pastor at St Michael Catholic
Church in Annandale, Virginia, and about 850 priests have also added
their names to the website.</p><br><ul class=""><li class=""><ol class=""><li class=""><a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/05/11/cardinal-pell-expects-synod-to-massively-endorse-church-teaching/"><img src="http://d2jkk5z9de9jwi.cloudfront.net/content/uploads/2015/05/PA-19803293-355x225.jpg" class="" alt="The statue of Our Lady of Fatima is carried during a candlelit vigil at the shrine in Portugal (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)" height="225" width="355"></a><a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/05/09/secrets-of-fatima-lift-veil-on-anti-christian-persecution-says-vatican-cardinal/" class="">Secrets of Fatima ‘lift veil’ on anti-Christian persecution, says Vatican cardinal</a></li><li class=""><a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/05/11/morning-catholic-must-reads-100515/" class=""></a><br></li></ol></li></ul></div></div><div class="">
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