The Archbishop of Westminster has told Premier that he was deeply humbled and strengthened by letters and emails that he read as part of the grand consultation process to hear the views of Catholics all over the world on family matters.
But he also emphasised his dismay and feeling of hopelessness that he often felt when reading about situations that the Church cannot solve.
"In order to be as realistic as possible we've had a lot of consultation and thousands of people have written in and expressed their views," he said.
As a result of the consultation he praised the passion that people had when sharing their thoughts, the Cardinal spoke on the one hand of the joy, satisfaction and great sense of fulfilment people got from family life, but also spoke with sadness about the pain, effort and struggle others endured when speaking about family relations.
He referred to some parents coping when their child came out as LGBT to them.
The Cardinal stressed that the Church cannot solve everything and sometimes people will have to live with and grow from problems and solutions.
Cardinal Nichols told Premier the Synod on the family is important because the family is the key between the work of God and someone's daily experience, he said the family is literally "faith in action."
A number of other controversial topics in the Church will be debated at the Synod, including the treatment of divorce and remarried Catholics, Holy Communion, sexuality, civil marriage and social isolation.
Speaking about the topic of sexuality within the Church, the Cardinal said that sexual ethics had never been a comfortable topic for the Church and the life giving nature of sexuality and sexual relations means that it is always going to be greatly debated.
He said: "I don't expect that the teaching of the Church, an attempt to be faithful to what Christ has given us will change, no - I think we will learn about sensitivity and openness and compassion."
He also spoke about Catholics that divorce and remarry and said the "criteria of a valid marriage" will be investigated.
At the Synod in three weeks two representatives from the Bishops Conference will attend: "also invited are about 40 married couples and other experts."
He continued: "At the end of this Synod there will be propositions, statements, that we'll all agree upon - and then they're all given to the Pope who will publish a teaching document, probably in the course of the next year - in other words in the context of the Year of Mercy."
He then quoted the Pope: "The Holy Spirit is our harmony.
"Only the Holy Spirit can arouse the diversity, plurality, multiplicity and at the same time create unity."
He finished by detailing a few of the other topics that might be touched on, warning that the Pope will speak of not simply binding wounds and treating the symptoms, but curing the root problems people are facing.
He added that Pope Francis had stressed that Bishops should not say lots of things when in fact what they are saying meanings nothing and should be more open and honest with church-goers.
The Cardinal did comment on the how different the Pope has been from other Holy Father's before him and said that Pope Franics has a vision and will make remarkable speeches over the conference because he "fully understands his role and the importance of it."
Listen to Premier's Hannah Tooley speak to Cardinal Nicholas here:
