Pope Francis told a key Roman Catholic meeting on family issues on Monday that the Church should not be a hidebound “museum of memories” but have the courage to change if that was what God wanted.
The three-week meeting of bishops from the around the world, known as a synod, will discuss ways to defend the traditional family and making lifelong marriage more appealing to young people while seeking common ground with disaffected Catholics such as homosexuals and those divorced.
The gathering, attended by some 300 bishops, delegates, observers and 18 married couples, has been preceded by intense jockeying between conservatives and liberals on a number of sensitive issues.
In his address to open the first working session, Francis said the bishops should not just talk but try to hear what God wanted for the Church of 1.2 billion members and to listen to differing opinions among themselves. He urged the bishops to humbly empty themselves of conventions and prejudices to listen to their brother bishops.