Pope Francis wanted open debate. With clashing cardinals, he’s got it

c. 2014 Religion News Service

(RNS) Leading up to a Vatican summit on family life that Pope Francis opens on Sunday (October 5), high-ranking churchmen have fiercely debated church teaching—and criticized each other—in sharp exchanges that offer a ringside seat to the kind of battles that Rome used to keep under wraps.

But amid all this verbal sparring, the opposing camps have found one point of consensus: airing their differences is good for the Roman Catholic Church.