Fireworks in Vatican Meeting

A gathering of 250 Roman Catholic Bishops is usually more reserved, sticking to the approved agenda. Yet news reports coming out of Rome this week were initially more frank. As Daniel Williams of the Washington Post put it in a wire article today

Hot topics emerged from the moment the bishops sat down Monday. Among them were a purported shortage of priests, the debate over letting priests marry, and whether communion should be offered to divorced Catholics or to politicians who support abortion rights.

But perhaps this should come as no surprise. The bishops had gathered to discuss Holy Communion. And communion should bring up other questions. As we draw closer to God in communion, it should heighten our concern for those with whom we share communion and for those with whom we can't yet share communion.

The Vatican has now clamped down on the more open reporting from the meeting. As CBC News Reported today

The Vatican clamped down on information emerging from a meeting of the world's Roman Catholic bishops Wednesday after some of the prelates had expressed concern that details of their debates had been released.

Yet, the 250 bishops are still considering some weighty matters and need our prayer. Why should non-Roman Catholics such as ourselves pray for the bishops? Out of concern for our fellow Christians. If it is God's will for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion, then of course we would want our friends and neighbors who this affects to receive the benefit of the sacrament. And if God is moving the Roman Catholic Church toward an end to clerical celibacy, then we would, of course, want that denomination to follow God's will for them. Our own understanding of the communion we share on Sunday and the Communion of the Saints necessitates our prayers for them. The Synod of Bishops will meet for three weeks.