Publisher's Synopsis
This Instrumentum laboris for 14 Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops ( to be held October 4-25, 2015) strongly reiterates Church teaching on marriage as a sacramental, lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, attacks fertility treatment procedures, and foresees no change in Catholicism's views of gay couples. At the same time, it called for a different, more welcoming way to articulate those teachings: "It is necessary to adopt a style of communication that is clear and inviting, open and not moralizing, judgmental and controlling, which witnesses to the moral teaching of the Church while at the same time remaining sensitive to the situation of each individual person. The instrumentum laboris also kept open the possibility of a "penitential road" for divorced and remarried couples to return to the sacraments.
