Cardinal Kasper deeply concerned about the Synodal Path

He hopes the process can still follow the Catholic track.

"I am very worried": Cardinal Kasper criticises synodal track

According to Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Synodal Path "truly does not present a good picture". In an interview, the 88-year-old criticised the structure and themes of the process. He also warned against trying to put the universal Church on a German path.

The Cardinal Emeritus of the Curia, Walter Kasper has again criticised the Synodal  Path of the Catholic Church in Germany. In an interview with the "Passauer Bistumsblatt" (Sunday), Kasper said that the Synodal Way "really does not present a good image to the public". "I am very worried, but I am cautious with a final overall judgement. So far, we hear individual, partly shrill voices and individual publicly loud groups, but we do not yet have a resolution text," said the 88-year-old former president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

For a start, he said, it may have been good to let the different opinions have their unfiltered say in the reform process, which started in December 2019. "But it is beyond my imagination that demands such as the abolition of celibacy and the ordination of women to the priesthood could eventually find the two-thirds majority of the Bishops' conference or be able to reach consensus in the universal Church," Kasper continued. But he said he had not yet given up hope that the prayers of many faithful Catholics would help steer the Synodal Path onto Catholic tracks.

"Why has Pope Francis' letter not been taken more seriously?"

Kasper went on to criticise the Synodal Path as being structurally on weak legs: "It is neither a Synod nor a mere dialogue process. Now at the beginning it is a dialogue process, then the Bishops' Conference has the floor and finally, as far as universal Church demands are concerned, it is the Pope's turn, moreover, every Bishop is free to adopt in his diocese what seems appropriate to him." In view of the obvious disunity among the German bishops, it is difficult to imagine how all this can be brought down to a common denominator. In addition, there was the even more serious birth defect in terms of content: "Why did the Synodal Path not take Pope Francis' letter more seriously and, as befits a Synod, consider the critical questions in the light of the Gospel?" asked Kasper.

The Cardinal also warned the Church in Germany against trying to bring the universal Church onto a German path with the Synodal Path. "We Germans enjoy respect in the world for our clear thinking, for our organisational talent, our willingness to give to charity and also for theology. But I also notice that other peoples react irritably when we give the impression that we want to set the course for them according to the motto: 'The world shall be healed by German nature'." He repeatedly experiences that the topics discussed at the Synodal Path do not play a role in other countries.

"Without a doubt" deep crisis of the Catholic Church in Germany.

"We have no reason to appear only as teachers, others also have something to offer from which we can learn," Kasper continued. When he sees what is happening in catechesis in Roman parishes, in the United States or - under completely different conditions - in Africa, Germany is a "catechetical disaster area". He gave the example of marriage preparation and family catechesis: "Where it is done well, there are young people and young families with children in the Sunday services, who in Germany can often be counted on the fingers of one hand. Others take this for granted, don't find the current state of the Catholic Church in Germany particularly attractive and feel little desire to imitate us."

Kasper sees the Church in Germany "without doubt" in a deep crisis and an epochal historical challenge. "The proper response is a Synod that analyses the signs of the times and the very complex background of the crisis and prayerfully listens to what the Holy Spirit, as interpreter of the Gospel, has to say to us in this situation," the Cardinal said. The crisis and the challenge are too great to be solved by structural reforms alone. Without doubt, structural reforms are necessary not only today, but always. "But we cannot imagine that the Church can be 'made'. Renewal must come from an inner growth of faith, hope and love," said Kasper.

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