JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: Scandalous omissions, ambiguities and confusion in Family Synod final report must be redressed

Tuesday, 3 February 2015

Scandalous omissions, ambiguities and confusion in Family Synod final report must be redressed

Matthew McCusker of
SPUC and Voice of the Family

Three members of SPUC's staff attended the Pontifical Council for the Family (PCF) conference on the Family Synod last month.

They were also representing Voice of the Family, an initiative of Catholic laity from 23 major pro-life/pro-family organisations worldwide, co-founded and funded by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. Last week Voice of the Family issued a statement criticising Cardinal Baldiserri, the organizer of the Synod on the Family, for further undermining Catholic teaching on the indissolubility of marriage.

Now in an new development, Voice of the Family has submitted proposals, (drafted by Matthew McCusker, pictured above) to the Pontifical Council for the Family's Family Synod consultation - proposals which strongly criticise the final report of the Extraordinary Synod for failing to refer to more than "one billion unborn human lives", at a conservative estimate, killed by abortion "since the proliferation of permissive abortion legislation around the world".

Voice of the Family's submission states:

Abortion is the gravest attack on the family because it attacks the relationship between a mother and father and their child. The profound love that should exist between parent and child is instead replaced by betrayal and death.

There was no reference to this deliberate killing in the final relatio of the Extraordinary Synod. Nor was there any mention of the destruction of human life caused by in vitro fertilisation or abortifacient forms of contraception.

It is perhaps even more scandalous that the only indirect mention of abortion was a reference to a “decline in population” partly due to “a mentality against having children promoted by the world politics of reproductive health” (No. 10) Here cardinals and bishops adopt the euphemism of the pro-abortion lobby and do nothing to explain what “reproductive health” really involves, namely, the killing of unborn children or the prevention of their conception.

The Ordinary Synod needs to face the reality of abortion – to call things by their proper name – and to call all Catholics and people of good will to combat the greatest violation of human rights in human history.

As well as destroying innocent life abortion wounds all other members of the family. Families marked by abortion are truly ‘wounded families.’ Pastoral care for these families, based on the truth about abortion, needs proposing with urgency (my emphasis).

Voice of the Family is equally strong in its criticism of omissions and ambiguities in the Extraordinary Synod final report's treatment of marriage, contraception, euthanasia and assisted suicide, natural law, homosexuality, gender theory, sex education and parents as primary educators, and calls for clear, unambiguous teaching on these issues.

The Voice of the Family submission concludes:

Concern is growing across the Catholic world. Parents fear that their children will grow up in a world where they will have to endure suffering and persecution if they strive to live according to the natural moral law and the teaching of the Church. This problem must be dealt with by the Ordinary Synod.

Matthew McCusker, SPUC and Voice of the Family researcher and writer, comments; "The scandalous omissions, ambiguities and confusion which characterise the final report of the Extraordinary Synod must be fully redressed in the Ordinary Synod later this year. Concerned laypeople wishing to help through prayer and action should contact enquiry@voiceofthefamily.info"

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 42 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.