The run-up was dominated by a row over a Vatican priest who on Saturday announced

he was in a gay relationship.

Poland-born Krzysztof Charamsa said he wanted to challenge the Church's "backward"
attitude to homosexuality.
He was later dismissed from his post at the Vatican's office in charge of guarding
Roman Catholic doctrine.
A Vatican spokesman said Monsignor Charamsa's decision to give interviews on the
eve of the synod was "grave and irresponsible" and would put Pope Francis under
"undue media pressure".

Media captionKrysztof Charamsa says he wants to challenge the Church's "backwards"

attitude to homosexuality

In an interview with the Corriere Della Sera newspaper, the 43-year-old

priest said: "It's time the Church opened its eyes and realised that offering gay believers
total abstinence from a life of love is inhuman."
The controversy has set the scene for what some fear could be a fractious three weeks,
says BBC religious affairs correspondent Caroline Wyatt.
The Synod - a defining moment for Pope Francis
Almost 300 Church leaders - and some lay people - will be discussing such issues as
the treatment of Catholics who are gay, and how to approach couples who live together
without being married or wish to take communion after being divorced.
Analysis: Caroline Wyatt, BBC News
It is the most highly-anticipated meeting of the leaders of the Roman Catholic church
since the Second Vatican council, some 50 years ago.
In his homily today, the Pope spoke of the importance of the family - and perhaps rather
pointedly, of the love between a man and a woman. He also said that the wealth of the
developed world hadn't led to greater happiness, but to loneliness, and higher rates of
abortion and divorce.
Many campaigners and more liberal Catholics would like to see a change in Catholic
doctrine on issues ranging from homosexuality to contraception.

But while some bishops here do want reform, others remain fiercely opposed. In the
end, though, the synod is not a democracy. It will be up to the Pope to decide what - if
anything - changes, and how the Church applies its teaching to its sometimes errant
flock.

The Pope has called for a more understanding attitude on sexual issues.
After his election in 2013, Pope Francis reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's
position that homosexual acts were sinful, but said homosexual orientation was not.
"If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?" he said.
The issue of homosexuality was also highlighted during the Pope's visit to the US last
week.
He had a private meeting with a gay former student of his and his boyfriend at the
Vatican mission in Washington.
The Pope also met Kim Davis, a Kentucky local official who recently gained attention for
refusing to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples