NATION/WORLD

The official midterm report from the Synod of Bishops, which uses strikingly conciliatory language toward divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and same-sex unions, has proven highly controversial inside and outside the synod hall, with some synod fathers saying it does not accurately reflect the assembly's views.

In strikingly conciliatory language on situations contrary to Catholic teaching, an official midterm report from the Synod of Bishops on the family emphasized calls for greater acceptance and appreciation of divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and homosexuals.

When the Supreme Court declined to review the appeals on rulings striking down same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional, many people were left second-guessing why this happened and what it means for the future of same-sex marriages and bans on such marriages.

The international prayer campaign that began in Texas 10 years ago is still going strong. The local fall campaign, which began Sept. 24, is taking place outside abortion and family planning facilities in Phoenix, Glendale, Tempe, Chandler and Flagstaff.

In official reports of the closed-door talks at the Synod of Bishops on the family, an emerging theme has been the call for a new kind of language more appropriate for pastoral care today.

Catholic couples who ignore church teaching on contraception "don't know what they are missing," said a U.S. couple invited to address the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family.

Alice and Jeff Heinzen, a lay couple participating in the synod on the family, discuss the importance of Natural Family Planning to the church's teaching on the family.

Archbishop Paul-André Durocher discusses the relationship between church teaching and pastoral care.

Families of 43 students who "disappeared" in Guerrero state spend their time praying at the teacher training college the students attended.

Parishioners at Rome’s Church of Santa Susanna discuss their hopes for the synod on the family.