The Synod of Bishops closed with a strong call for eucharistic renewal, urging a deeper understanding of the Eucharist among the world's Catholics but no major changes in church rules on priestly celibacy or shared Communion.

Pope Benedict XVI, who presided over the three-week assembly, formally closed the synod Oct. 23 with a Mass in St. Peter's Square. He thanked the more than 250 bishops for their input and invited Catholics to contemplate the Eucharist as the key to revitalizing their faith.

Catholics should also understand that "no dichotomy is admissible between faith and life," he said.

The pope expressed his deep sadness that four Chinese members of the synod were not allowed to travel to Rome for the assembly and said the church in China was still on a "suffering path."

On Oct. 22 the synod handed the pope a list of 50 propositions, or final recommendations, which acknowledged a priest shortage in some parts of the world but said eliminating priestly celibacy and ordaining married men were not the solution.

"I think it is significant that there has been a massive restatement of the tradition in the Latin Church of mandatory celibacy for priests," Australian Cardinal George Pell of Sydney told reporters.

In an unusual move, the pope immediately ordered the propositions published; normally they are considered confidential. He said he would use the bishops' recommendations in preparing his own document sometime in the future.

The synod also published a final message, which asked Catholics to allow the Eucharist to transform their lives and the life of the world.

'Pastoral concern'

The message expressed "pastoral concern" and sadness for the situation of Catholics who have divorced and remarried civilly without an annulment, because their family situations "do not conform to the commandment of the Lord" regarding the unbreakable bond of marriage. But the bishops offered no relaxation in church rules that prohibit them from receiving Communion.

The bishops said that "while we do not endorse their choice" to live together without the benefit of a sacramental marriage "they are not excluded from the life of the church."

"We ask that they participate in Sunday Mass and devote themselves assiduously to listening to the word of God so that it might nourish their life of faith, of love and of conversion," the message said.

The synod's propositions echoed that statement, but suggested that some margin of flexibility might be found in further study of church law on the conditions for annulments.

The status of divorced and remarried Catholics was one of several sensitive pastoral issues raised by bishops on the synod floor, leading some to expect the synod to call for revision of church policies. But in the end the assembly recommended no significant changes.

Instead, the synod:

---Praised the value of priestly celibacy and called for a greater push in vocations as the answer to the priest shortage. It said ordaining married men in the Latin church was "a road not to follow."

---Reaffirmed that shared Communion with non-Catholic Christians "is generally not possible" and said an "ecumenical concelebration" of the Eucharist would be even more objectionable.

Closing Mass

The Mass to close the Synod, celebrated in a packed St. Peter's Square, brought together several threads that have tied together the pontificates of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict:

--The pope formally ended the Year of the Eucharist and the synod, both projects convened by his predecessor to refocus on the basic elements of the faith.

--He canonized five new saints and said they exemplified how the Eucharist was "the source of holiness and spiritual nourishment for our mission in the world." All the new saints' causes were advanced under Pope John Paul.

--He celebrated World Mission Sunday, an event for which Pope John Paul wrote a message before his death, and reminded Catholics of the sacrifice made by missionaries around the globe. of Bishops on the Eucharist, Pope Benedict XVI defended priestly celibacy and expressed his "deep sadness" that Chinese bishops were not allowed to attend the assembly.

In his remarks about the synod's work, the pope touched briefly on the issue of priestly celibacy, which was strongly affirmed by the synod despite acknowledgment of a priest shortage in some parts of the world.

"The celibacy that priests have received as a precious gift and the sign of undivided love toward God and neighbor is founded on the eucharistic mystery, celebrated and adored," the pope said.

"Eucharistic spirituality must also be the interior motor of all activity, and no dichotomy is admissible between faith and life in their mission of Christian animation in the world," he said.

After listening for three weeks as the bishops looked for ways to express the Eucharist's importance, the pope offered his own brief explanation. In the Eucharist, he said, Catholics contemplate how Christ fulfilled his own commandment to love God and to love one's neighbor as oneself.

"And this love of his, he communicates to us when we are nourished by his body and his blood," he said.

'We cannot change the rules'

At a closing press conference, French Archbishop Roland Minnerath of Dijon, the synod's special secretary, said it was a mistake to have expected major changes on issues like divorced Catholics.

"Obviously, the aim of the synod is not to introduce doctrinal or disciplinary innovations in the life of the church, but to renew pastoral support for these situations," he said. "We cannot change the rules."

While the church cannot ignore their irregular situation, the archbishop said, the bishops were aware that the church must find ways to "draw near to these persons, to understand individual situations, to study case by case how a person in such a situation can continue to develop his or her faith life."

Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec, chairman of the drafting committee, said the theme was "among the most delicate" and most discussed issues of the synod. "There was a real concern to express compassion and understanding for the situation of the divorced and remarried. At the same time, a balance had to be maintained between the doctrine of the church" on the indissolubility of marriage and a recognition of the suffering and sadness of those who cannot receive Communion.

Liturgical reforms endorsed

Overall, the synod offered a strong endorsement of the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, saying they had greatly benefited the church. Abuses have occurred in the past, but have substantially diminished today, it said.

The bishops' message said the Second Vatican Council, which ended 40 years ago, "provided the basis for an authentic liturgical renewal," which must be cultivated and purified of "abuses that have crept into liturgical practice."

"We are convinced that respect for the sacred character of the liturgy is transmitted by genuine fidelity to liturgical norms of legitimate authority," they said.

Despite recent speculation over wider latitude for celebrating the pre-Vatican II Tridentine Mass, the synod's final documents did not even mention that possibility.

The synod encouraged promotion of eucharistic adoration, but stressed that the practice should be seen in relation to Mass.

To promote better Mass attendance, the bishops recommended better liturgies, strong preaching and improved education of Catholics in their understanding of the Eucharist.

They also emphasized that while the Eucharist is the center of Christian life not everyone has an automatic right to receive it at all times.

The question of Communion and Catholic politicians received some attention at the synod. One final proposition called for "eucharistic coherence" and said Catholic lawmakers cannot promote laws that go against human good, justice and natural law.

But it indicated pastoral flexibility in determining whether specific politicians should receive Communion, saying bishops should "exercise the virtues of fortitude and prudence" and take into account local circumstances.

Archbishop Minnerath said the synod was not trying to single out politicians as a special group. Every Catholic is called to live the faith coherently and to consider that when it comes time for Communion, he said.

The synod's other recommendations included:

---Better emphasis on the missionary aspect of the Eucharist.

---Study and possible change in the order of the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist.

---Possible relocation in the liturgy of the sign of peace exchange.

---Reminding the faithful of the importance of genuflection or other gestures of adoration before the consecrated host.

---Better awareness of the Eucharist's connection with social justice issues, including ecological concerns.

With the end of the synod came the close of the Year of the Eucharist convened by Pope John Paul II. The bishops said they hoped the special year might be "a point of departure for a new evangelization of our globalized humanity that begins with the Eucharist."

New saints

The newly canonized were:

-- St. Jozef Bilczewski, 1860-1923. During World War I, as Polish archbishop of Lviv, in what is now Ukraine, he helped numerous Catholics, Orthodox and Jews.

-- St. Zygmunt Gorazdowski, 1845-1920, also a Pole. As a priest in Lviv, he was known as the "priest of the homeless," founding two homes for the hungry and destitute. He also founded a home for abandoned children and single mothers with children. In 1884, he founded the Sisters of Mercy of St Joseph.

-- St. Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, 1901-1952. After growing up in poverty in Chile, he became a Jesuit priest and began teaching and working with the poor. He would roam the streets with his green pickup truck searching for homeless children to take to the shelter he founded. He eventually founded the Hogar de Cristo movement, which provides vocational training and other services for young people.

-- St. Felice da Nicosia, 1715-1787. As a Capuchin friar in Sicily, he often was humiliated, even by his fellow brothers, for his illiteracy. He collected donations for the monastery and visited jailed prisoners every Sunday.

-- St. Gaetano Catanoso, 1879-1963. The Italian founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Veronica, he was dedicated to the holy face of Christ. He revived Marian and eucharistic devotions in his local parish and founded an organization to help subsidize education for poor seminarians.

---CNS