For this year's synod, Pope Francis encouraged hundreds of participating bishops, who will debate on a doctrine concerning divorcees and civilly remarried Catholics, to show mercy and open church doors for "those who knock."
At the opening mass held in St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday, the Pontiff raised the issue on family emphasizing that marriage should be a life-long union. Acknowledging the fact that some marriages do fail, he also stressed out that the Church should not judge and must "seek out and care for hurting couples with the balm of acceptance and mercy."
The Pope also added that the church is like a mother to its faithfuls - who always have "its doors open to welcome those who knock" and does not "point the finger in judgement."
The three-week gathering of 360 bishops will be the venue to continue the debate on whether or not to allow those who got divorced or cohabited outside the holy matrimony to have communion.
As conservatives strongly defend the Church doctrine as clear and unchanging, Pope Francis told the participants that the synod is "a place where the holy people of God move forward."
At the first working session on Monday, the Argentinian pontiff said the Church is "not a museum to keep or preserve" and that this debate should transpire in a spirit of "solidarity, courage and humility."
"The emotional intensity of the synod is amped up because of perceptions that the pope's position is still a work in progress," said Vatican watcher John Allen who predicts a stormy synod.
"What's new now is a sense, however exaggerated, that movement might actually be possible," he added. "That's elicited strong passions both from those who see such movement as desirable, and those who view it as alarming."
The first synod regarding this issue was held October of last year and ended without consensus.
