Pope Francis complains of 'closed hearts' in Catholic Church following Synod defeat

Bishops decide church mustn't change its view towards gay people

Pope Francis looks on during a morning session of the last day of the Synod on the Family at the Vatican on October 24, 2015 (ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images)

Pope Francis has attacked conservative church leaders for buryig their heads in the sand and hiding behind rigid doctrine after a contentious meeting between bishops.

The Pope was speaking at the end of a three-week gathering, known as a synod, where bishops agreed to a qualified opening toward divorcees who have remarried outside the Church - but rejected calls for more welcoming language towards homosexuals.

The outcome of the gathering marks a victory for conservatives on homosexual issues and for progressives on the thorny issue of remarriage.

The final synod document restated Church teachings that gay people should not suffer discrimination in society, but also repeated the stand that there was "no foundation whatsoever" for same-sex marriage, which "could not even remotely" be compared to heterosexual unions.

Responding to the defeat of one of his key initiatives, Francis complained of "conspiracy theories and blinkered viewpoints" and "closed hearts which frequently hide even behind the church's teachings," the Catholic Herald reports

Two of around 13 small groups within the synod, or council, of bishops were adamantly opposed to taking action regarding divorcees, while others either failed to reach consensus or said the issue required further study.

Divorced and remarried Catholics currently face restrictions on a range of activities, such as serving as godparents and performing special roles at Mass.

Church law forbids divorced Catholics who remarry without an annulment to their first marriage from receiving communion, unless they abstain from sexual relations in their second union.

The church considers them adulterers if they do not.

After three weeks of debate, the final report of the bishops' meeting on the family omitted any mention of the question of communion.

Instead, it called for "pastoral accompaniment" for divorced and remarried Catholics to discern their moral culpability for not living up to the Catholic ideal, while "avoiding every occasion of scandal".

Similarly, there has been no change on the Church's stance on homosexuality.

Although the final document defends the dignity of homosexual people against "unjust discrimination," it also quotes an earlier Vatican document stating that "there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plans for marriage and family".