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AP-National

Pope Francis opens a big Vatican meeting on the church’s future and says ‘everyone’ is welcome

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Published 9:04 pm

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has opened a big meeting on the future of the Catholic Church. He says the church is in need of repair to make it a place of welcome for “everyone, everyone, everyone.” He says it shouldn’t be a rigid barricade riven by fears and ideology. Francis presided over a solemn Mass in St. Peter’s Square to formally open the meeting Wednesday. Progressives are hoping it will lead to more women in leadership roles and conservatives are warning could split the church. The meeting won’t make any binding decisions and is only the first session of a two-year process. But it nevertheless has drawn an acute battle line in the church’s perennial left-right divide.

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