Hopefully we won't have any reason to close this thread down.
To begin, MSNBC has once again mistranslated what is happening at the Synod. It isn't a council -- it's a meeting of bishops spitballing what is currently being reviewed by laymen and so it is a way to figure out how to re-address family values within the Church. They will report on the tidbits, but they headline-bait with statements like "The Pope OK's Homosexuality within the Church" or "Vatican: Can We Accept Gays?"
...That said, there are many crooked bishops who are taking advantage of the Synod to try and change Church teaching on homosexuality, divorce, etc.
The Church has never turned homosexuals away, but they have never looked at homosexual as anything less than a sin, and the Church doesn't have the authority to change that either, so bishops who want to are going against what they were ordained to do.
Pope Francis, however, has been horrible when speaking as he does it so often off the cuff. Each time he speaks off the cuff, he seems to say something so unclear in regards to controversy that so many priests are left having to clean up the mess -- which is why many priests aren't as fond of him as they were with JP II or Benedict XVI. And I agree with them, Pope Francis often makes statements leaving people confused and misdirects them. This is why the Vatican almost always has to release an explanation a few days after his comments (but of course no one reads that nor does the media report them). I've been extremely disappointed with Pope Francis in the way he speaks because with today's culture really pushing for immoral changes, we especially need a direct, clear speaker who isn't afraid to say precisely what he means...I'm not sure Pope Francis is good with doing that. And not every priest will try to clarify -- some may even take the bait themselves...many do *cough* Timothy Dolan *cough cough*