One of the main challenges facing Catholic bishops today is to be clear about the church’s moral teachings but then also to meet people where they are in life without just admonishing them, Washington’s Cardinal Donald Wuerl has said.Wuerl — one of nine Americans attending the ongoing Oct. 4-25 Synod of Bishops — said one concern facing the prelates is wanting to have clarity about church teachings while knowing how to apply the teachings to where people are in their lives.”I think that’s where the heart of the tension is, as if you can’t do both,” said the cardinal, speaking in an NCR interview Sunday.”The church’s teaching is quite clear,” said Wuerl. “But the church’s pastoral life is the application of the teaching to where people are. And that’s always been the pastoral challenge of the church.”

Source: Cardinal Wuerl: Bishops and synod should meet people where they are | National Catholic Reporter