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Brendan Hoban writing in his weekly Western People column worries about the type of church some church leaders are pushing on the faithful.
“What’s emerging is almost a church within a church where visions, novenas and relics skirt the edges of superstition, where questionable piosities are lauded and intellectual rigour is suspect, where asking a question is tantamount to betrayal, where pleasure is distrusted and sexual pleasure anathema, where Catholicism takes on an Amish-like appearance and where a series of ‘Catholic’ newspapers encourage a return to the severity, rigidity and judgementalism of the past.’

Chris McDonnell wonders which voice will be heard in the Synod. Those that haven’t been included in the past need to be; “we are now in the early days of the Synod, considering the statements that arose from discussions a year ago, the question of women’s place in the Church cannot be set aside.”

John J. O Shea writes an open letter to 300+ delegates and alternates who are going to the synod from the different countries.
John J. challenges all to speak freely, boldly, and without fear about the true status of women in our church.

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales have published an extraordinarily candid piece of criticism of the Church taken from a summary of responses to a consultation conducted in preparation for the forthcoming international synod of bishops in Rome next month, on the subject of marriage and family life.
An editorial in The Tablet states that “they want a Church that engages with married life and its messy difficulties realistically and humanely, not one offering idealistic textbook answers.”
One respondent is quoted as saying: “It would seem that right now the Church may well have more to learn from marriage and family life than to teach.”

One of the rich veins of wisdom in Francis’ words to the bishops of the U.S.A.
“Dialogue is our method, not as a shrewd strategy but out of fidelity to the One who never wearies of visiting the marketplace, even at the eleventh hour, to propose his offer of love (Mt 20:1-16).

The path ahead, then, is dialogue among yourselves, dialogue in your presbyterates, dialogue with lay persons, dialogue with families, dialogue with society.

I cannot ever tire of encouraging you to dialogue fearlessly.”

Francis A. Quinn, the retired bishop of Sacramento, has an interesting article in The New York Times in preparation for Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S.A.
One of the topics he broaches is that of the ordination of women.
“Recent popes have said publicly that priesthood for women cannot be considered because the gospel and other documents state that Christ ordained men only.
Yet women have shown great qualities of leadership: strength, intelligence, prayerfulness, wisdom, practicality, sensitivity and knowledge of theology and sacred Scripture.
Might the teaching church one day, taking account of changing circumstances, be inspired by the Holy Spirit to study and reinterpret this biblical tradition?”

With so many retired bishops speaking out recently on topical issues it raises the question why they haven’t done so when in office. What prevents bishops from expressing such views when they hold office? Whatever it is, it most certainly is not healthy and is damaging the office of bishop and the universal church.