Pope Could Soon Approve Married Priests and Open a Schism

In October 2017, when Pope Francis announced a Vatican synod on the Amazon region "to identify new paths for the evangelization of God's people in that region," few people beyond those who had to attend marked it on their calendars. But over the course of the last two years, as the church prepared for the synod, which will run from Oct. 6 to 27 in Rome, it's become clear there may be no more important meeting in Francis' entire papacy.