Pope's responses to 'dubia' pre-synod have made room for other discussion topics, participants say

ROME – Participants in the Synod of Bishops on Synodality selected by organisers to speak with the media have said Pope Francis’s comments on women priests and blessings for same-sex couples prior to the gathering eliminated the distraction of getting hung up on specific issues, thereby creating space for other topics to be addressed.

The pope’s spokesperson for the synod, Italian layman Paolo Ruffini, head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, also stressed that the synod is not a “talk show” in which participants respond to queries from the press but is rather a “spiritual conversation” aimed at discerning God’s will.