Jeers for Catholic Church’s gays decision

Activists lashed out Sunday at the Catholic Church’s failure at a major synod to open its doors to gay people, but praised Pope Francis for getting bishops to confront “taboos.” After two weeks of fierce debate, the prelates approved a final document but sidelined 3 paragraphs touching on the hot-button issues of being more welcoming towards gays and allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion. That disappointed gay activists who had hoped the liberal-leaning Pope would be able to bring groundbreaking change at the conference of bishops. Observers said the synod was unprecedented in its openness of debate, while Pope Francis, in closing remarks Sunday, called on participants to “overcome their fear in the face of God’s surprises.”

Read the full story on Rappler.