Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops supports German Synodal Path

Cardinal Mario Grech is not happy with the way the Synodal Path of the Church is criticised in Germany. Fraternal corrections are something positive, he says - but not in the form the Polish bishops have chosen.

The Cardinal caught wearing "grandma's lace"

The Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Mario Grech, sees the open letters on the Synodal Path as a "public denunciation". In an interview with "Herder Thema" he stressed that fraternal correction and dialogue are something positive. However, he did not agree with the method used by the critics. "It does not help. It only polarises further," the Cardinal said. He did not comment on the content of the letters from the Polish and Nordic Bishops' Conferences. Grech said he had the impression that certain topics being discussed in Germany were also being discussed in other places.

In the interview, the Head of the Synod office also touched on the further organisation of the worldwide synodal process. The feedback from the Diocesan phase will be evaluated by a much larger circle of experts than usual. Until now, it had been usual for one or two theologians to be entrusted with the preparation of a Synod working document. Grech will instead bring together a group of 24 to 30 experts who will prepare the first draft of the Working Document in a two-week retreat. "It will be a synodal and spiritual experience," the Cardinal explained. The men and women selected come "from all over the world and from different areas" and are for the most part already involved in the synodal process.


Cathcon:  The numbers of Catholic laity consulted was tiny, now their statements will be examined by the distorting lens of 24-30 experts and re-projected onto the ecclesiastical screen.  A movement of the Holy Spirit, this is not!  The whole process is causing division. And don't blame the Poles or the Nordics, the problem is caused by the excessive demands of Germany.

It has not pleased God to save His people in disputation.
Non in dialecticâ complacuit Deo salvum facere populum suum St. Ambrose

On the frontispiece to Cardinal Newman's An Essay in aid of a Grammar of Assent



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