Natural family planning, how to achieve unity in diversity and the media’s misunderstanding of a letter given to Pope Francis represent some of the highlights of the eighth day of the Synod of Bishops on the Family.

Vatican Radio is reporting on a press briefing given by Father Federico Lombardi in which he read statements from Cardinals George Pell and Wilfrid Napier concering a confidential letter given to Pope Francis that expressed the concern of 13 participants in the way the Synod was being managed. Specifically, the prelates worried about how there might not be sufficient time to debate and amend the final document produced by the Synod and how the persons who will draft this summary were appointed rather than elected.

Cardinal George Pell said that the letter was confidential and that what had been widely published by the media “does not reflect the text or the signatories.”

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier also said that what the media claimed he said about challenging the Holy Father’s right to appoint members of the drafting committee “did not reflect his thought at all.”

Whoever handed this letter and the names of the signatories to the media had disrupted the process of the Synod which has been conducted in a “good climate”, Father Lombardi said.

Once this business was dispensed with, other delegates from the Synod were given an opportunity to address the media.

Abbot Jeremias Schroder, General of the Benedictines of St. Ottilien, said the question of female ordination to the deaconate had come up but this was proposed by only one person and did not get much attention.

Mrs Thérèse Nyirabukeye of the African Federation of Family Action spoke at length about her experience teaching couples about natural family planning (NFP) in Africa. Mrs. Nyirabukeye, who has been teaching NFP since 1985, said she recently had 1500 couples from Rwanda register for classes. Teaching women these methods has helped them to come to a better understanding of their bodies and “gave them pride”, she said.

“I am very happy to tell the Fathers of the Synod that these [methods] work,” she said.

Numerous suggestions were also made about how to provide for “unity in diversity” in the Church for the many new forms of family that exist around the globe today. One way to approach this might be by allowing local bishops to address issues such as cohabitation and homosexuality in a way that is best suited for their own congregations rather than impose a more rigid plan.

Mrs. Moira McQueen, head of the Canadian Institute for Bioethics, said she could see many advantages and a number of disadvantages to such an approach but that the doctrinal aspects of these issues would have to be reserved to the Holy See.

The Synod will return to a plenary session today to listen to reports from small groups about the work accomplished in the past few days.

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