Picture this, a couple lecturing a whole conclave of cardinals, before Pope Francis himself, on the pleasure of sexual intimacy. Seems impossible? Not quite. An Australian couple on invitation by the pope himself got the rare chance to address the cardinals in what is being viewed as a pragmatic approach by the Catholic Church to demystify sex and to understand marriage and same sex unions. A married couple with four kids gave an unorthodox lecture on the values of sex to a whole conclave of celibate cardinals. The lecture was conducted by Ron and Mavis Pirola, a catholic couple from Sydney, Australia. The lecture was held as part of a two week conference called by the pope. The meeting, referred to as a ‘synod’ meaning “walk together” in Greek, is being attended by 191 cardinals and prelates. Pope Francis called the meeting so as to review the church’s policies on marriage. The high level synod, was for the first time not conducted in Latin. Another new addition to the whole affair was the invitation of lay men to speak, and even more stunning was the sensitivity of issues being discussed before the clergy men, the values of sex being one of them. “The little things we did for each other, the telephone calls and love notes, the way we planned our day around each other and the things we shared were outward expressions of our longing to be intimate with each other,” the couple said jointly to the closed meeting held late Monday. The two are shared intimate details on the role of sex in their marriage of 55 years. The Vatican handpicked the Pirolas and other Vatican couples to participate in the synod. Bishops and cardinals were split on the new modus operandi. Britain’s Cardinal Nichols said, “That’s not what we bishops talk about mostly, quite honestly.” Father Dorantes supported the new system saying, “Priests have so often condemned sexuality outside of marriage, that sex within marriage almost seems an imperfection that is permitted." Pope Francis encouraged the fathers to speak their minds, and they have done so in the last two days.