should not force the innocent party to continue in a sexual marital relation   
   with him/her, because this damages the innocent party physically,   
   physiologically and socially".   
    Our Church allows divorce in cases of adultery and in cases of what we call   
   'legal adultery'; which is anything that is counted as adultery like:   
   homosexuality, intercourse against natural use, urging or compelling an   
   innocent   
   party into forbidden relations for materialistic gain or sexual exchange".   
    Metropolitan Iosif of the Patriarchate of All Romania described the family as   
   "the primary cell of the Church. ... All family characteristics derive from its   
   Eucharistic structure, based essentially on forgiveness nurtured by humility,   
   which favours the growth of mutual love and transforms both the person and   
   Christian life in the short and the long term. The divine greatness of marriage   
   resides in the fact that in marriage we find a living representation of the   
   union of the Word with human nature".   
    The Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley of the Baptist World Alliance remarked that "There   
   is no perfect family and no perfect marriage. In our broken world, families are   
   not only a source of great blessing, they can also be a source of great harm.   
   ...   
   This is the pastoral reality: families have their blessings and their   
   dysfunctions. Amidst such experiences people yearn for mercy". Therefore, he   
   affirmed, Hence, in Baptist hymnology the theme of Jesus as friend is   
   important.   
   "Hymns ... express for us the presence of God in the midst of our imperfections   
   and struggles. They remind us of the one who in his vocation of suffering   
   servant enters our woundedness. This is the one who invites sinners to sit at   
   his table; the one who is 'gentle and humble in heart, in whom we find rest for   
   our souls'; the one to whom we pray in all confidence, 'Lord, have mercy'".   
    Archbishop Yostinos Boulos Safar of Zahle and Bekaa commented on the   
   principle,   
   in the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, of economy. "This principle finds in   
   the sacrament of the Eucharist a medicine for wounded souls, as well as a help   
   for those who wish to recover their relationship with the Lord". He noted that   
   this sacrament, "which is salvific in effect", should not be withheld as "part   
   of the norms of punishment, other than in certain exceptional cases. The   
   Eucharist is not a prize or compensation, but the means by which the Lord Jesus   
   cures our weaknesses and attracts us towards Him".   
    Metropolitan Stephanos of Tallin and all Estonia, observed that "today   
   marriage   
   and family have changed direction. In a number of countries, new legislation is   
   being enacted regarding this issue. These mutations in the family are a   
   challenge to us. ... The law confirms, without doubt, a new social situation   
   but   
   for the Church, the sacrament of marriage, it is hoped, is not revealed as a   
   mere institution but first and foremost, it is hoped, as a mystery of life.   
   Marriage makes sense only in relation to faith in Christ, in the Gospel, in the   
   certainty that the actions of Christ continue in the Gospel, that is, in the   
   Sacraments. Our first task is therefore to evangelise". Perhaps, he added, it   
   would be useful to help the "young and not so young, often uncertain, sometimes   
   psychologically unwell, to adopt a different outlook, to free themselves from   
   too symbiotic a relationship, to become truly responsible for each other, in   
   the   
   hope, at times, of already being able to experience the resurrection in the   
   glory of the body".   
    The fraternal delegate Tim Macquiban, director of the Methodist Ecumenical   
   Office of Rome, remarked that "Sometimes in this Synod we seem to have   
   concentrated on one form of family, of parents and children, as defined through   
   sacramental marriage and its vocation. For some this fails to take account on   
   the different ways many people experience different forms of family in our   
   various contexts and cultures. ... Those who are single, with or without   
   children,   
   or in civil partnerships or co-habiting relationships, and even those within   
   marriages conducted in church and childless can easily feel excluded. The   
   Church   
   is challenged to accept that it can ... add to these difficulties with such a   
   stress on 'the Gospel of the Family'".   
    Bishop emeritus Ndanganeni Petrus Phaswana of the Evangelical Lutheran Church   
   in Southern Africa comments that "Frequently, politics, religion and culture   
   are   
   instrumentalised and used to divide people and nations. This has led to growing   
   alienation and disunity. In the midst of this isolation, it is our task as   
   Churches to proclaim and witness that God does not call us to isolation, but,   
   rather, to life in communion with Christ and with one another". He also spoke   
   about the great commitment on the part of both Catholics and Lutherans in   
   promoting Christian unity through theological dialogue, noting that "we should   
   therefore remain sensitive to how our theological discussions support   
   individual   
   Christians in the challenges and sorrows facing them in their everyday lives".   
    The Right Rev. Timothy Thornton of the Anglican Communion commented that the   
   first part of the Instrumentum Laboris "is too focused on the negative aspects   
   of family life", adding that "there is much joy in families and family life and   
   much to celebrate". He emphasised that "All families change. ... Change is a   
   key   
   part of Christian faith. Every day we are called to be converted to Christ, to   
   turn away from sin and turn to God. Every day we open ourselves to the   
   possibility of transformation. That is why all Christians are full of joy and   
   hope every day".   
    The fraternal delegate of the Disciples of Christ, Dr. Robert K. Welsh,   
   focused   
   on three brief reflections. "First, how do we understand marriage and family   
   life today? What can we do to respond to the growing number of divorces and the   
   impact on the children in those families? These are urgent issues before all   
   Christians, and all societies, that represent major theological, practical, and   
   pastoral challenges". Secondly, with regard to "mixed marriages", he observed   
   that in the Instrumentum Laboris, "mixed marriages are only named in the   
   context   
   of presenting problems; for example, at the pastoral level of religious   
   education of children and in the relation to liturgical life. My hope is that   
   this Synod might also identify 'mixed marriages' in a more positive and hopeful   
   context as 'great opportunities' for witnessing to God's gift of oneness in   
   Christ and God's love for all persons, especially for those marriages between   
   persons baptised as Christians". Finally, he focused on the challenge of facing   
   the difficulties that interreligious or interdenominational families experience   
   every day. "My regret continues to be that, when I attend Mass with my   
   grandson,   
   I am not allowed to partake of the Eucharist. It is personal, and it is   
   painful".   
      
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