VATICAN CITY — Meeting the press after the reading of the synod’s midterm report, leaders of the assembly told reporters the document is very much a work in progress and that already that morning many synod members suggested changes and phrases that need more precision or greater study.

Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, the synod relator who led the drafting of the report and read it to the assembly this morning, said it was a huge challenge, for example, to take a theme 30 bishops spoke about — in different languages and with different terminology — and synthesize it.

Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio ”Chito” Tagle, one of the synod presidents, described the report as “a mirror,” reflecting…