Synod Leader: Don't Expect Changes in Catholic Church Policy

Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo, who is playing a key role in the Catholic Church's upcoming Synod of Bishops on the family, said there will be no changes in church policy coming as a result of the summit.

There has been talk of revisions on policy such as communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, and even on broad matters such as contraception, Erdo told the Catholic publication Crux, but that has come from "a pressure with no foundation to change Church teaching."

Erdo will return as relator, or chairman, after serving the same role at October's summit, and will work to shape the event's final document. He told a press conference in Rome that questions concerning the family are being considered with "responsibility toward the unity of the Church," but "all the possible solutions will be rooted in the faith."

Pope Francis called for a three-year reflection on the family during his first year as Pontiff, and has been addressing church teachings on family in his Wednesday audiences since January.

Erdo said the "gap between teaching and practice," specifically when it comes to artificial contraception and communion have already been addressed by other Popes, and that a bishop's work must not disregard the past.

Two questionnaires were sent out to dioceses and in April, the German bishop's conference supported changes, including on the communion issue.

However, a German cardinal has lambasted fellow church leaders who support admitting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive communion, calling them heretics who are putting the unity of the Catholic Church at risk.

Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, a former head of the Vatican’s commission for historical sciences, said those who support such a change are "irresponsible" and "in contradiction to the teaching of the church."

Erdo said he is also convinced the issue of making it easier to get an annulment will be "adequately addressed."

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