Vatican family synod takes new twist with disputed letter

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis’ divisive meeting on family issues has taken another odd twist with reports that several conservative cardinals wrote Francis with serious concerns about the meeting – only to have doubts arise over both the content of the letter and the cardinals responsible.

Veteran Vatican journalist Sandro Magister published the letter Monday on his L’Espresso blog. He said it had been signed by 13 cardinals and that one of them, the Vatican’s Cardinal George Pell, had hand delivered it to Francis Oct. 5 at the start of the three-week meeting on crafting better pastoral care for Catholic families.

The letter complained that the meeting procedures lacked openness, that the drafting committee was appointed, not elected, and that the overall process “seems designed to facilitate predetermined results on important disputed questions.”

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