Pope francis’ pontificate has two faces. Mercy is one. Acting tough in cleaning up the Roman Curia is the other. The Extraordinary Synod on the “Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelisation” opens soon after the Vatican’s indictment of criminal proceedings for abusing minors against the former nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski, and the firing of the Bishop of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, Rogelio Livieres Plano, accused of protecting an abusive priest.
When the Synod begins to debate matters of doctrine and church discipline we will begin to see how this mix of mercy and ruthlessness plays out. Its opening tomorrow is the first leg of a long journey that will include a year of further consultation throughout the Church and then an ordinary general Synod on the Family in October 2015.
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