The story goes that at the Council of Nicaea in 325, St. Nicholas—yes, the original Santa Claus—upon hearing the bishop Arius deny the deity of Jesus, crossed the hall where the debate was being held, hauled off and punched his brother bishop in the face.
Those reading the headlines and blog posts about the two-week Vatican gathering called the Extraordinary Synod on the Family might think that similar contretemps are occurring right now in Rome. But they aren’t, despite some sensational reports. The incomplete information is due in large part to an unprecedented ban on the publication of the papers presented, which to some makes the synod seem even more mysterious. Yet on Wednesday the ban was lifted.
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