VATICAN CITY (AP) — Catholic bishops have scrapped their landmark welcome to gays, showing deep divisions at the end of a two-week meeting sought by Pope Francis to chart a more merciful approach to ministering to Catholic families. The bishops failed to approve even a watered-down section on ministering to gays that stripped away the welcoming tone contained in a draft document earlier in the week. Two other paragraphs concerning the other hot-button issue at the synod — whether divorced and civilly remarried Catholics can receive communion — also failed to pass. Francis insisted in the name of transparency that the full document be published with the voting tally. The document is to serve as the basis for future debate leading up to another meeting of bishops next October.
The only way this Pope is going to fix the Roman Catholic Church is by
1. using his ability to speak for God. 2. Appointing better people as Cardinals and Bishops.
Pope Francis needs to do more. At 75, Pope Frank is likely to die and the current college of Cardinals will replace hiumn with another guy like this.
The Pope does have the power to unilaterally appoint Cardinals. Moreover, a Cardinal does not even need to be a male! This would be a good time to bring in some of the female leaders of the Church .. before Frank dies.
He also has the power to speak ex cathedra, changing Church doctrine in the ultimate way possible .. as the spokesman of his God. Many of the most deeply enshrined pieces of dogma, including the male priesthood and event the doctrine of infallibility itself, could be changed .. before Frank dies.
One last thing .. the practice of sanctification,. Here again he has unilateral power. He could sanctify Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez (a devout Catholic), Alan Turing (a gay man) and some of the great heroes who fought against the Nazis … Catholics and non Catholics …. before Frank dies.