This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Vatican CIty • The main author of a contentious Vatican draft report on welcoming gays and divorced people into the church has defended the document but acknowledged problems and said there was ample room for improvement.
Cardinal Peter Erdo read the working paper aloud to bishops on Monday. It was supposed to have synthesized their closed-door debate about marriage, family, divorce and contraception over the previous week, but some conservatives said it didn't reflect their views, was unacceptable and needed an overhaul.
Erdo told Vatican Radio on Wednesday that the 16 officials who drafted it struggled to synthesize positions of 30-40 bishops on any given topic and were rushed to finish on time. But he said the document at least covered the general themes to develop in a final report due Saturday.