The country's senior clergymen met ahead of the October family synod but a spokesman has rejected speculation they were trying to gather support to urge a change in teaching on marriage.
Speaking to the Catholic News Service, Matthias Kopp, said: "It was a real fruitful discussion and very broad and that was important; it was not just about the hot topics," of divorce and same-sex relationships.
The meeting in Rome earlier this week brought together bishops and scholars as well as journalists and Vatican officials to talk about issues likely to come up in October's synod.
The presidents of the three conferences, German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, French Archbishop Georges Pontier and Swiss Bishop Markus Buche meet each year, and earlier in 2015 they had decided to bring together a host of experts from a range of countries, according to Matthias Kopp.
The day included a thorough look at Church law on the family, "not just on annulments" and on biblical visions of the family, he said.
In a press statement after the meeting, the bishops said they wanted to "enrich thinking about the biblical and theological foundations of the themes [of the synod] and clarify the issues at the heart of the current debates on marriage and family."
They said the session was designed for discussion rather than decision-making.
Theories discussed were reported to include Church teaching and discipline "a second marriage can be an authentic union", and the language that the Church uses to discuss situations that are not the same as the idea the Bible gives.
