The indissolubly of the Sacrament of Marriage and the sinfulness of sodomy and heterosexual cohabitation are not in question. Those are red-letter, literally carved-in-stone, back-to-Moses level Magisterial doctrines. That can't be changed any more than you could change the Law of Gravity.
The whole "maturing" has to do with pastoral practices.
A cohabiting couple wish to be married. How long do you require them to live separately and abstain from sex before they marry? Six weeks? Six months? Legitimate questions.
A teenage girl is enrolled in a Catholic high school. Her mother is divorced. For years, the mother has always participated generously in fundraising activities, in chaparoning the girls on school-sponsored trips and so forth. IN the course of the school year her mother "marries" another woman. Does the school permit both "mothers" to come to parents' conferences? Is mother #1 going to be allowed to do fundraising or chaparoning? Are both "mothers" allowed to? Does the school expell the girl? Legitimate questions.
A man and a woman are married in the Church. Years down the line, the man "transitions" via self-mutilation surgery to be a pseudo-woman. They stay together, the original wife saying they now have a same-sex marriage. Are they still married? Should they separate because they are now practicing lesbian sex? Is there an indissoluble bond or isn't there? Are they to be banned from coming to church? Legitimate questions.
Two elderly women Roz and Sally Smith, are living together. One is older (mid-70's) and disabled, the other younger mid-50's and very much the caregiver. The younger woman is a Eucharistic Minister who devotedly takes Holy Communion to Catholic people in nursing homes. Nobody really inquired, many assumed the two were mother-daughter.
It comes out that they are a lesbian couple. Those in the parish who know about it are scandalized by it. But Roz told the pastor in confession that the two of them haven't had sex for decades.(Naturally, he can't talk about this because of the Seal of the Confessional.) Should Roz and Sally split up? Should Roz's ministry of Nursing Home Communion visits be taken away from her? Should she be required to tell the whole community publicly that she and Sally haven't had sex for decades? Or should the scandalized parishioners be told it's none of their business? Legitimate questions.
You have a parish in a predominantly gay neighborhood. You are the new pastor. Does every member of the choir have to be questioned as to whether they are gay? Do all the addresses in the Parish Directory have to be examined to see if people are sharing apartments? If so, are they to be interrogated as to whether they are just normal roommates, or are they sexually involved? If people don't volunteer this information, do you surveil them somehow? Chgeck people's Facebook ages for PDA's? And how often do you preach on sodomy? Frequently? In a congregation which also has lots of children listening? Legitimate questions.
Pastoral questions.
Let the experienced and holy and soul-winning, solidly orthodox pastors speak.
Let the experienced and holy and soul-winning, solidly orthodox pastors speak.
Where are they? The few I know have been demoted and exiled to islands and beyond.
P.S. The indissolubility of marriage has been in question ever since Francis opened his mouth on his plane trip back from Rio.
As far as all of your hypothetical situations, how is convening with Muslims, Jews, and heretics going to help Francis and his hand-picked solidly heterodox bishops mature?
I don’t think those are the “pastoral issues” that are going to be discussed. All the evidence says that the Kasperites—Wuerl, Dolan, O’Malley, the Pope—are agitating simply to allow the unmarried and gay couples to receive Communion. That’s what Bergoglio did in Buenos Aires.
Sorry to say that I'm a Catholic that NEVER considered these pastoral issues and have been quick to condemn the Synod. You've done a spiritual work of mercy today!