Precision of terms in the field hospital

Precision of terms in the field hospital by Ann Schneible During my tenure as a journalist in Rome, I had the opportunity to cover the 2014 and 2015 Synods on the Family, and one of the topics of discussion was the Catholic Church’s languagesurrounding certain pastoral matters, particularly homosexuality. It wasn’t a question of Latin vs. modern languages that we were concerned with. Rather, it was the magisterium’s mode of expression (best translated by the Italian word “linguaggio”) when addressing this topic: specifically, the terms “objectively” and “intrinsically disordered” used to describe same-sex attractions (SSA) and same-sex intimate acts, respectively. In today’s cultural climate, where it is becoming increasingly easy to (even inadvertently) close someone off to constructive dialogue with the wrong word, these terms present a significant pastoral and communications challenge.