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Fri Jun 27, 2014, 11:11 AM Jun 2014

The Explainer: what does the new synod working document tell us about what will happen in October?

A guide to the harder-to-grasp aspects of Catholic news stories

By Luke Coppen on Friday, 27 June 2014

The Vatican has released the eagerly awaited instrumentum laboris, or working document, of the family synod in October. The 73-page text, which takes about an hour to read, consists of 159 numbered paragraphs, divided into three sections. The first is devoted to “the Gospel of the Family”, the second to challenges to family life, and the third to “openness to life” and parental responsibility.

The document is based on responses to questions in the synod’s preparatory document, released last November. It’s written primarily for the select group who will take part in October’s synod. The text was put together by the general secretariat of the synod of bishops and the ordinary council of the general secretariat, which explains why it’s written in the slightly stilted dialect known as Vaticanese.

How will the working document be used at the synod?

The instrumentum laboris says the synod fathers’ task in October is to “thoroughly examine and analyse the information, testimonies and recommendations received from the particular Churches in order to respond to the new challenges of the family”.

The document’s aim is to offer a coherent overview of the unprecedented number of responses to the preparatory document from around the world “for an orderly treatment at the synodal assembly”.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2014/06/27/the-explainer-what-does-the-new-working-document-tell-us-about-the-family-synod/

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20140626_instrumentum-laboris-familia_en.html

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