Cabal of Modernists rather than Holy Spirit controlling the Synodal Path in Germany
The Continental Assembly in Prague is the worldwide synodal process and the ten German participants who will be present digitally are now also known.
According to the list of
participants completed on Friday and published by the German Bishops'
Conference (DBK), they are:
Marc Frings, Secretary General of
the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK)
Marc Frings has stated the Synodal Path is “a conscious statement against the current Catholic catechism, which has been critical and disparaging of homosexuality since the mid-1970s and still reproaches homosexual activity as sin.” This is part of a much longer article published on Father James Martin’s website.
Kerstin Fuchs, Managing Director
of the Johannesstift Youth Welfare Centre
She presides over a centre dedicated
to quite secularised social work. Good
work but she is no Maria Domenica Mazzarello, who founded the Salesian Sisters.
Sister Katharina Ganz, Superior General of the Oberzell Franciscan Sisters
"The genie is out of the
bottle" – indeed the Sister wants a Third Vatican Council!
Sister Katharina Ganz, Superior
General of the Oberzell Franciscan Sisters, hopes that the World Synod
initiated by the Pope "is ultimately a preliminary stage to a Third
Vatican Council". She is counting on courageous reforms.
In an interview with the "Süddeutsche
Zeitung" (Tuesday), she went on to say: "Perhaps we will experience
this within the next ten years. The door may just be closed but hopefully not
locked."
First, however, she hopes for
courageous reform steps at the next plenary meeting of the German reform
project Synodal Path starting Thursday in Frankfurt. Even the critical
objections from the Vatican and other Bishops' Conferences would not change
anything, the nun emphasised: "There have already been many attempts to
boycott, badmouth and discredit the Synodal Path. But the Synodal Assembly has
always shown itself to be very constructive and united, oriented towards
substantive issues, as a spiritual and theologically sound discernment
body."
Unjustified fear In her view,
this power cannot be turned back, she added. She believes in the transformative
power of the path taken: "They can't get this synodal spirit back in the
bottle. It's there now and you can't end it with a cry of STOP from Rome."
The fact that the Vatican says
that the German Synodal Path is not authorised to change the teachings of the
Church is possibly intended to unsettle bishops, Sister Katharina further
suspected: "Yet only things are said that no one has ever doubted in the Synodal
Path, which are even written in the statutes.
The Synodal Path does not change
the teaching of the Church, no one has doubted the teaching authority of the
Pope and the College of Bishops: "Everything that changes the teaching of
the Church is to be given as a vote to the Pope via the bishops. So fears are
being stirred up that are not justified at all."
Hope for renewal process
She said she hoped that many
bishops would not be intimidated, but that they actually cared about the
renewal process of the Church: "At this Synodal Assembly, it now comes to
the oath."
Most of the decisions taken by
the Synodal Assembly do not even need the Pope's blessing, the nun added:
"It is solely up to the German bishops to put the decisions taken into
effect in the 27 dioceses. For most of the concerns, neither doctrine nor canon
law needs to be changed. This applies, for example, to the selection of
suitable candidates for the episcopate.
Hendrik Johannemann, advisor in
the "Living in Successful Relationships" forum of the Synodal Path
Katharina Westerhorstmann, a theologian resigned
from this forum in protest at the way it was being run.
The theologian, together with
Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau, Auxiliary Bishop Herwig Gössl of Bamberg and
moral theologian, Johannes Brantl of Trier, published an alternative basic
paper in autumn 2021. In it, they had emphasised that unlike parts of the basic
text, which was adopted by a large majority, their proposal did not contradict
current Church teaching.
Westerhorstmann teaches
theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville’s campus in Austria.
Bishop Peter Kohlgraf (Mainz)
See Bishop calls for rethinkingof gender roles
Charlotte Kreuter-Kirchhof,
member of the Vatican Economic Council
"The Synodal Path knows no stop signs" – it is clear from the following debate that she wishes to overturn the hierarchy of the Church.
Kreuter-Kirchhof and Ohly
presented their points decisively, paid respect to each other, outlined
comprehensibly that the common starting point is Jesus Christ as the source. But in the aftermath, differences became just
as clearly visible.
How can power in the space of the
church be sufficiently limited, controlled and shared so that church action
does justice to its mission, the foundation of a spiritual and solidary
community and the abuse of power can be prevented? Does the Catholic Church need to learn from
basic democratic principles here and incorporate them into its structure? But
is the Church comparable to a state in all dimensions? What is the relationship
between "power" and "authority"? The two jurists moved in
this field of tension and came to different assessments at a central point.
"The debate is on the
move"
It was reserved for
Kreuter-Kirchhof to "tune in" the participants of the well-attended
event to the Synodal Path. She is a member of the Synodal Forum and thus
closely involved in the process that has been going on for two and a half years
so far. At the beginning, however, she also recalled what was the starting point
for embarking on this path in the first place, namely the study which proved
that the Catholic Church had been abusing children as a systemic problem for
decades. She agreed with the assessment of Munich Cardinal and Archbishop
Reinhard Marx: "The Church is at a dead end."
Ohly completely dispensed with
the reasons why the Catholic Church has gone the synodal route in his
submission. He said he was surprised at statements by dignitaries who would
applaud and declare that they wanted to give away power. "Power they do
not have. They have been given authority - as Jesus Christ gave it to the Twelve Apostles."
Kreuter-Kirchhof devoted
particular attention to the question of "how the dead centre" could
be overcome. On the Synodal Path, bishops and faithful alike would face this
task. The special thing about the procedure: All texts and changes would have
to be decided by a large majority in the process. "Two-thirds of the
bishops must agree, two-thirds of the faithful," she noted. At the recent
Synodal Forum in Frankfurt, she said, this quorum was missed by the bishops on
one issue. "However, this was followed by an intensive discussion, which
shows me that the debate is on the move," said Kreuter-Kirchhof, remaining
hopeful that the Synodal Path could be successfully concluded in March 2023.
For the lawyer from Düsseldorf,
who is also a member of the Economic Council at the Vatican, the goal of
establishing a Synodal Council has a decisive radiant effect. "Bishops and
faithful deliberate together and decide together. This strengthens synodality in the long term:
"Pray together. Deliberate together. Decide together."
The Church is not a party where
power interests are pursued with majority votes. "Nor is it about being in
favour of something that is particularly popular with people," Ohly said.
He stressed the self-understanding of the Catholic Church and the
responsibility given to the dignitaries. "The obedience of all to Jesus
Christ is the guarantee of our freedom," he said. And: The spiritual authority is founded in
the awareness of the calling of the apostles. From this, the role of the
authorised - namely priests and bishops - in the leadership of the faithful
could also be derived.
And so, in the end, a striking
difference remained in this first "dispute": While Kreuter-Kirchhof
emphasised joint consultation and decision-making as the essence of the Synodal
Path, Ohly stressed that joint consultation - as in diocesan or parish councils
- was already practised. The decision remains with the bishop or pastor. "This authority is the mandate to serve
the salvation of people.”
Bother Andreas Murk, the very
young President of the German Conference of Superiors of Religious Orders
Here is an Account of the
Franciscan Provincial Chapter
Even if there were different
positions within the Province, the 60 delegates had spoken out in favour of it
"with a large majority" at their most recent Provincial Chapter. At
the same time, following their own practice in the religious community, they
wished for a time limit on leadership services in the Church and that these
should not necessarily be linked to sacramental ordination.
Great plans for the future
In their new position paper, the
Franciscans also advocated dialogue with other religions. The responsibility
for creation must be taken more seriously, just as it is important to show a
"prophetic commitment" to justice and peace. The "independent
investigation of the cases of abuse" in the religious community should
contribute to its own credibility, it says. In the past three years, a
comprehensive prevention concept has been developed and implemented to prevent
sexualised violence.
Support for the Synodal Path
Under the title "Being
Church in the Freedom of God's Children", the Franciscans list their
vision for the future. Based on Franciscan spirituality, they advocated for a
"Jesus-like and fraternal Church, a Church of diversity and powerlessness,
and a Church of dialogue, responsibility for creation and mission", it
says. The Franciscans supported the church reform project Synodal Path in
Germany and the related efforts to renew the church.
Appreciation regardless of gender
and sexual orientation
A church of diversity means
valuing different gender identities and sexual orientations. The same applies to talents and biographies as
well as different spiritual and liturgical forms. The goal must be a Church in which all the
baptised are invited to the communion of meals. - The Provincial Chapter took place from 6 to
10 June in Osnabrück. According to its
own information, the German Franciscan Province has 230 members.
Ralph Poirel, Head of the
Pastoral Division in the DBK Secretariat
Dr Ralph Poirel was originally Commissioner
for Ethical Investment at the German Bishops' Conference. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also!
As a man of the Church, you find yourself in an interesting area of tension: On the one hand, earthly possessions should no longer play a role. On the other hand, Jesus himself speaks in a well-known parable of the talents with which the faithful servant is to usury. This can certainly be read as a metaphor for faith, but it also has an economic component. How do church and profit go together?
Dr Poirel: First of all, the
Church is earthly and thus dependent on earthly, material goods for its ability
to act. It needs prosperity in order to finance its tasks in liturgy,
proclamation and, above all, charity in the long term. For this, it must be
able to acquire, own, manage and sell assets. The goal is to secure its actions
financially - it is thus not an end in itself. The proclamation of the Gospel
in word and deed requires material, financial means. This was already the case
in Jesus' time. From this point of view, profit and church can be very well
reconciled. Ownership, however, always means responsibility. Often the church,
as a moral authority, is critically questioned about its possessions. Property
is entrusted to the church to manage it sustainably and conscientiously. Waste,
greed and personal enrichment cannot be reconciled with a Christian value
orientation. Equally, an investment by the church in favour of, for example,
warmongering or pornography cannot be justified. An ethical investment has
exclusion criteria to prevent ethical contradictions between the consequences
of an investment and the purpose of the institution.
The idea of ecological sustainability plays a special role for the churches - they speak of the integrity of creation. How do you place climate policy goals in the overall concept of ethical investment?
Where can investors who want to
shift their focus to ethical investments get information?
Poirel: There are many different
access points to find out about this very topical issue, and there are some
banks that have deliberately specialised in ethical investments. The German
Bishops' Conference, together with the Central Committee of German Catholics,
has published an orientation guide on this topic. It provides both those
responsible for the finances of Christian institutions and private investors
with a suitable overview of criteria and target perspectives of
ethical-sustainable investing. In addition, the orientation guide shows steps
for determining and further developing one's own investment strategies.
Tübingen dogmatic theologian, Johanna Rahner
Professor Rahner’s plans for Reformation II to complement the plans for Vatican III above.
Lisa Holzer, Spiritual Federal
Leadership of the Catholic Young Community (KjG).
Here is a recent interview which she
gave
DOMRADIO.DE: Pope Francis is open
to the participation of women in episcopal elections, according to Tuesday's
headline. All baptised people would have a place here. Does that encourage you
when such reports come up and women are to be more involved in decision-making
processes in the Catholic Church?
Lisa Holzer (pastoral worker,
spiritual leader of the Catholic Young Community (KjG), expert/consultant in
Synodal Forum III: "Women in Ministries and Offices in the Church"):
Well, not really. Of course there are places in the church where people - not
only men - can somehow have a say. But they are very limited. We would like to
change that. It works differently with us, the associations, that we can help shape
content and have a say in decisions.
Lisa Holzer, pastoral worker
"The Church absolutely has
to reform itself so that the children and young people who are growing up now
can experience a place of home just as I did."
DOMRADIO.DE: You are not one of
the 15 young synod members under 30, you have no voting rights, but at the
time, for scheduling reasons, you said you were welcome to put your name on any
lists. For the Third Synodal Forum "Women in Ministries and Offices in the
Church", that is what happened. What are you going to work on now?
Holzer: In the women's forum, it is our turn today to introduce an action text on the topic of measures against abuse of adult women, which is not yet on the agenda. Then it is again about the basic text on women in ministries and offices in the Church.
German Catholics continue to
focus on reforms in the Synodal Path
In the midst of one of the most serious crises, the reform project of the Catholic Church in Germany is entering a preliminary round. From Thursday to Saturday, 230 bishops and lay people will meet for the fourth plenary assembly of the so-called Synodal Way in Frankfurt. The main topics will be how to deal with power, the role of women, the life of priests and a possible reorientation of Catholic sexual morality.
DOMRADIO.DE: To what extent did you intend to make use of your right to speak in the context of your work for the Women's Forum? What do you want to say?
Holzer: In principle, I am interested in empowering women, but of course I also want to empower other genders, other people. My understanding of democracy is that I want to listen. That's why I don't set out to say anything necessarily, but when I think it's right, when it suits.
DOMRADIO.DE: A week ago you took
up your post as Spiritual Director of the KjG at federal level. What do you
wish for the young people in the Catholic Church and bring it into the process?
Holzer: The Church absolutely has
to reform itself so that the children and young people who are growing up now
can experience a place of home just as I did. As a leader, it is always a
dichotomy whether I can inspire children and young people from a framework that
is structurally conducive to abuse. That would be a big concern, that this is
changed structurally.
DOMRADIO.DE: A critical letter from the Vatican against the reform discussion, voices from the Catholic Church in Germany and the universal Church speaking of a German Sonderweg and fearing a schism in the Church - before the end of the reform process, doesn't it already look as if the project will fail?
Holzer: I don't think so. Pope
Francis himself has said that the Church is decentralised and that local
strengths must be supported. I think that should actually happen much more.
There is so much heart and soul in it. I don't think it is necessarily doomed
to fail. Of course, it would be nicer if it were also clear that what is
decided will definitely be implemented by the bishops.
DOMRADIO.DE: How feminine - if we
now refer to the forum in which they participate - or diverse and multifaceted
will the Catholic Church become through the Synodal Way?
Holzer: Optimally, of course,
much more feminine, much more diverse. In the text, where it is about sexual
morality, sexual identities are also recognised. Above all, however, it is also
about sexual orientations. That would of course be a great gain. It is always
an open discussion how to proceed and especially how to use this in the
language. In the KjG and in the associations, we use gender-appropriate
language. The question is always whether this also happens in the synodal way.
A lot of people do it, and especially in the women's forum, gender is used
inclusively.
Together with the four German
delegates who will be actually in Prague, they will take part in the first
section of the conference from 5 to 9 February.
The DBK had already announced at
the end of November that the delegation in Prague would consist of the
DBK President, Bishop Georg
Bätzing
The Bishop sharply criticised statements by Cardinal Koch on the Synodal Path for which the Cardinal also received death threats. More here.
ZdK President Irme Stetter-Karp
She has previously admitted that the Synodal Path is rigged.
ZdK Vice-President Thomas Söding
The Vice-president of the Synodal
Path of the Catholic Church in Germany, Thomas Söding, has defended the process
against criticism from the Vatican. Both the Vatican and Pope Francis are
unfamiliar with the Synodal Path, Söding told the Westfälische Nachrichten.
"It is not a top-down process, as the Catholic Church usually organises
it, but takes a broader approach, is sharper in its criticism of the Church and
more ambitious in its reform of the Church," the Bochum theology professor
explained. "I also see in the Vatican the great difficulty in recognising
the seriousness of the abuse issue."
Abuse of power in the Church has
systemic causes, he said. "Not everyone in the Vatican likes to hear that
- but it is important," Söding said. From other regions of the world,
however, there is also positive feedback on the German approach. In addition,
surveys of Catholics worldwide in the wake of the World Synod called by Pope
Francis had shown that more co-responsibility, less clericalism and the
promotion of women's rights were on the agenda everywhere. "German
Sonderweg? That was always wrong. Now it has been proven," Söding said.
In the Synodal Path, German
bishops and lay representatives have been discussing the future of the Catholic
Church since 2019. The starting point is
a church crisis that has lasted for years and was exacerbated by the abuse
scandal. The debate is mainly about
power, priesthood and sexual morality, as well as the role of women in the
church.
More here on Thomas Söding
DBK General Secretary Beate
Gilles
From 10 to 12 February, the
meeting will continue with the 39 Presidents of all the Bishops' Conferences in
Europe. One can only pray that the Bishops
from the rest of Europe are made of a better quality of material, the more rigid
the better.
Horror of Scandinavian bishops and Polish bishops for the Synodal Process
Other suggestions from my Facebook friends for a collective noun for modernists rather than cabal were a usurpation, a mausoleum, an arrogance, a propaganda and a safer space. Francis has indeed created a safe space for modernism in the Catholic Church.
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