Rome Newsroom, May 28, 2021 / 03:20 am
An Italian cardinal told journalists Thursday that his country’s “synodal journey” will not be focused on highly controversial issues like the “Synodal Way” taking place in Germany.
“Ours is not a synod, it is a synodal journey that starts from conditions that are very different from those in Germany,” Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, said May 27.
Bassetti said that unlike their German counterparts -- who are overseeing a Synodal Way pressing for changes on marriage, ordination, clerical celibacy, and sexual ethics -- Italy’s bishops hope to focus on how the Church can address societal issues, such as joblessness and family breakdown.
“The German synod dealt with some very particular problems and I believe that the basic problems of our people are quite different,” the cardinal said, according to ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner.