By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist opened with a papal Mass and an overview of the liturgical and pastoral issues up for discussion, including questions about married priests and shared Communion.

Pope Benedict XVI, celebrating an opening Mass Oct. 2 in St. Peter's Basilica, said the Eucharist was a privileged place to meet God. The problem today, he said, is that individuals are often indifferent to God, and Western society wants to banish God from public life.

He said the Eucharist offers an antidote to this attitude.

"God is waiting for us. He wants to be loved by us. Shouldn't this appeal perhaps touch our hearts?" he said.

The synod's twice-daily schedule of meetings began the next day with a meditation by the pope. He appeared to invite open discussion when he said that true collegiality sometimes necessitates "fraternal correction" among bishops.

"None of us sees himself very well, or his own defects," he said. The exercise of collegiality should help them all recognize gaps in their own thinking and become more open, he said.

Before it concludes Oct. 23, the assembly was to draw up a list of recommendations or propositions to present to the pope for his consideration in preparing a papal document on the subject.

Missing at the synod's opening events were four bishops from mainland China, who were recently named as synod members by the pope. Vatican officials said the bishops had not yet received government approval for the trip to Rome.

At the assembly's first session Oct. 3, Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice, synod recording secretary, delivered a lengthy report called a "relatio" that detailed items for discussion over the coming weeks.

Cardinal Scola's report said the synod will have to grapple with questions about ordaining married men, sharing Communion with other Christians and allowing divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive the sacrament. But he made clear to the synod, and to journalists at a press conference the same day, that he did not believe current church practice should change on any of those issues.

He said bishops should find concrete ways to explain that the Eucharist is a gift, not a right, and that receiving Communion requires fully sharing and living the Catholic faith.

Cardinal Scola read aloud in the synod hall about one-fourth of the 52-page, Latin-language "relatio." It said the synod should help Catholics rediscover a sense of awe in approaching the Eucharist as Christ's free, sacrificial gift of himself to the church.

The relatio said that, despite church rules against the practice, there was widespread reception of Communion by Catholics who have divorced and civilly remarried without an annulment of the previous marriage. It said the synod should face the question, weighing pastoral concerns with the need to defend the institution of marriage.

The "relatio" also raised the question of married priests as a topic for discussion. Citing the prophetic value of celibacy, it said it seemed reasonable for the church to maintain the celibacy rule even in areas that face a serious shortage of priests.

At the press conference, bishops from Asia and Latin America said the lack of priests was a serious problem that needs to be addressed.

Bishop Luis Tagle of Imus, Philippines, said that in his country there are "lots of neighborhoods and villages or barrios where people long for the Eucharist." Even though Philippine seminaries are full, there are still not enough priests to minister to the rising number of Catholics in the country, he said.

Bishop Tagle said bishops have tried to help by sending consecrated hosts to lay leaders, who then distribute Communion in local services.

Coadjutor Bishop Pierre-Antoine Paulo of Port-de-Paix, Haiti, said there were too few priests in his country, too. Communities promote Sunday gatherings of the faithful for prayer and readings, but without the Eucharist, he said.

The Vatican said there were 256 voting members of the synod -- 244 bishops and 12 priests -- including the four Chinese bishops who had not arrived. Of the total number of participants, 12 came from the United States and six from Canada.

Also attending the synod but without voting rights were 32 experts and 27 auditors from around the world. The Vatican said 12 non-Catholic churches and ecclesial communities had been invited to send their representatives to the synod as well.

The synod was convened by Pope John Paul II as the closing event of the "Year of the Eucharist," which aimed to renew understanding and appreciation of the Eucharist throughout the church.

After his election in April, Pope Benedict confirmed the synod but made several changes in the assembly's format. He shortened the synod from four weeks to three weeks, shortened individual speeches from eight minutes to six minutes, and added an hour of free discussion at the end of each day.

The pope presides over the synod, but does more listening than talking. Individual speeches, expected to take up the first half of the synod's agenda, were grouped thematically to favor a more focused discussion. In its second half, the synod meets primarily in working groups organized by language.

One time-saving innovation was electronic voting on motions and propositions -- backed up by a paper ballot on more important questions. The synod hall was renovated for the occasion, with improved lighting, air conditioning and audio-video services.

All the changes were designed to "make the synod more flexible and participative, and therefore even more collegial," Croatian Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, told reporters at a briefing Oct. 1.

In response to a question, Archbishop Eterovic noted that while the synod has always been advisory, it was within the pope's power to give it decision-making powers.

The archbishop defended the traditional secrecy of the synod's proceedings, saying bishops above all need to feel free to communicate with each other. The synod's final propositions are considered confidential; however, a final message is made public after being approved by the assembly. A commission of 12 bishops -- eight elected by the assembly and four appointed by the pope -- will write the message.

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Contributing to this story were Cindy Wooden and Carol Glatz.

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops