WORLD NEWS OCTOBER 28, 2018 / 6:46 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Blend faith, doctrine with activism, pope tells young at synod's end

Philip Pullella
3 MIN READ

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, ending a month-long meeting on the theme of Catholic youth, told young people Sunday that in order to be good members of the Church they should not be obsessed with “doctrinal formulae” but blend its rules with social activism to help those in need.

Francis said a Mass for about 10,000 people in St. Peter’s Basilica to ceremoniously close the Synod of Bishops, officially titled “Young People, Faith and Discernment of Vocation” and attended by some 300 bishops, priests, nuns and lay participants.

The gathering’s final document, issued late on Saturday night, called for women to play a greater role in Church decision-making as a “duty of justice”, but appeared to water down language that would have been more welcoming to gays.

“I would like to say to the young people, in the name of all of us adults: forgive us if often we have not listened to you, if, instead of opening our hearts, we have filled your ears,” Francis said in a lighter part of the homily of the Mass, which he co-celebrated with dozens of the bishops who took part in the synod.

-snip-