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Pope Francis condemns 'hostile inflexibility' within the church

Pope says conservative Catholics risk indulging in "hostile inflexibility" by failing to modernize with society.

By Matt Bradwell
Pope Francis (top) greets bishops after a beatification ceremony for Pope Paul VI during a ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City near Rome on October 19, 2014. The beatification process is the third of four processes required by the Catholic church prior to a individual becoming a saint. UPI/ David Silpa
1 of 5 | Pope Francis (top) greets bishops after a beatification ceremony for Pope Paul VI during a ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City near Rome on October 19, 2014. The beatification process is the third of four processes required by the Catholic church prior to a individual becoming a saint. UPI/ David Silpa | License Photo

VATICAN CITY, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Pope Francis continued to call for cultural changes within the Catholic Church on Saturday, despite the council of bishops rejecting the notion of softening the church's stance on homosexuality and divorce.

"No grounds whatsoever exist for assimilating or drawing analogies, however remote, between homosexual unions and God's design for matrimony and the family," says the final report issued by the synod of bishops.

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The council also rejected potential changes to the church's stance on divorce, saying it needed "greater theological study" and "further consideration" in regard to whether divorced or remarried Catholics should still be considered adulterers.

On Saturday, while beatifying Pope Paul VI -- the Catholic leader who implemented the Second Vatican Council and radically changed the church in the early 1960s -- Francis alluded to Rome's current struggle to modernize, saying, "God is not afraid of new things."

Pope Francis also spoke directly the current tensions within the church, saying those opposed to welcoming homosexuals and the divorced risk indulging in the temptation of indulging in "hostile inflexibility."

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