Our Lady Defier of Gender Stereotypes, Patroness of the Synodal Path
The Synodal Path in Germany instrumentalises the Virgin Mary
"...The German Synod activists obviously don't want to know about this", "but you know what? It doesn't matter at all, because simply believing Catholics continue to stand faithfully by the Pope and the Church of the Lord."
(Cathcon: a time of choosing)
Admittedly, the so-called "basic texts" to be discussed and voted on in second reading at the upcoming Plenary Assembly of the Synodal Path hold few surprises for Roman Catholics who know themselves rooted in the creed of the Church of all times and places. The gender theory, for example, which is controversially discussed academically but is almost understood as secular revelation in this country, is explicitly acknowledged and integrated in the basic text Synodal Forum III "Women in Ministries and Offices of the Church": "Gender is (...) - in the sense of gender - to be seen multi-dimensionally." (p. 5) If you want to read up on gender theory, read the 2019 document of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education (link to PDF file in English) on this, which immediately quotes Pope Francis in Section 2: "This ideology promotes educational curricula and a legislative orientation that foster a personal identity and affective intimacy that are radically disconnected from the biological difference between men and women." This is clearly, distinctly and understandably as well as unequivocally formulated. Some German synodalists might take this as one-dimensional. But you know what, dear sisters and brothers in faith? It doesn't matter at all, because simply believing Catholics continue to stand faithfully by the Pope and the Lord's Church.
In the basic text of Synodal Forum III, biblical foundations are also looked at in their own way, sometimes in a striking, senseless and disturbing way. The holy Mother of God, Mary is presented here as a "God-friend". On Page 17 of the text we read: "The biblical woman whose impact on the Church is theologically and spiritually inexhaustible is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Historically, we know little more about her than her name and the hometown of Nazareth. Images of women and the Church throughout the centuries have been oriented towards Mary." She stands "today especially for a fraternal church, a friendly co-existence of the sexes in a liberating space of grace" and belongs to a "long tradition of biblical women" who "find strength in trusting God, defy gender stereotypes and sing of the end of unjust power relations through God's action". The authors' wealth of secular fantasy is considerable, the church-political instrumentalisation of the Mother of God unmistakable - what presumption is that! But the "basic text" does not speak of the holiness of the Mother of the Lord or of the Immaculate Conception, nor of Mary's Virginal Motherhood. In the Dogmatic Constitution "Lumen Gentium" in Section 57 it is affirmed that the birth of the Lord "did not diminish her virginal integrity, but sanctified it". The German synod activists obviously do not want to know anything about this. Let us also quote Section 487 of the - it cannot be emphasised often enough - bindingly valid Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church: "What the Catholic faith believes and teaches about Mary is based on faith in Christ, but it also illuminates faith in Christ." Mary is an example to us in believing obedience, an example of loving devotion and humility. In the Catechism we read in section 494: "By giving her consent to the word of God, Mary became the mother of Jesus. She made her own the divine will of salvation with all her heart, without any sin keeping her from it, and gave herself entirely to the person and work of her Son, in order to serve the mystery of salvation with the grace of God in dependence on the Son and in union with him [cf. LG 56]."
I have wondered what the Mother of the Lord would think about airy ideas discussed in the Synodal Path and set out in the Basic Texts. I don't think she would say, "Let's go on talking about all sorts of things instead of God." I continue to be very impressed by Mary's words at the wedding in Cana: "Whatever HE tells you to do, do it!" That is exactly what we should do today and nothing else. Don't you agree?
Dr Thorsten Paprotny taught at the Philosophy Department from 1998-2010 and at the Institute for Theology and Religious Studies at Leibniz Universität Hannover from 2010 to 2017. In 2018, he published the volume "Theologisch denken mit Benedikt XVI." (Thinking Theologically with Benedict XVI.) by Verlag Traugott Bautz and is working on a study on the relationship between systematic theology and exegesis in the work of Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI.
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