Cardinal warns against ecclesiastical navel-gazing. Tells Synodalists to take it easy.

Schönborn on the Synod: Broadening the view - warning against ecclesiastical navel-gazing

Cardinal in an interview with Austrian journalists in Rome: - Schönborn on the German "Synodal Path": "More relaxedness would do us all good".

In view of the Synodal Path and the Synod of Bishops planned for October in Rome, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has once again called for keeping the view on the topics as broad as possible and not narrowing it to a specific, rather Western European set of reform questions. The synodal path initiated by Pope Francis is based on a form of "incompleteness" and openness, which the Instrumentum laboris also speaks of, Schönborn told Austrian journalists in Rome. In addition, in other regions of the world, the topics on the agenda are sometimes quite different from those in this country. Schönborn made his comments during a press trip with Austrian journalists who are visiting Rome and the Vatican until Wednesday.

The question of office is certainly "on the table", Schönborn admitted. He also spoke out in favour of strengthening the role of women: "The voice of women! Yes, urgently: when it comes to social justice; when it comes to the family issue; when it comes to the power imbalance. That's where the women's issue is quite essential." Nevertheless, he said, this should not lead to a fixation on a few conflicting issues. Otherwise there is a danger of "navel-gazing" and of the church "remaining too busy with itself".

Synodal Path: "Taking it easy would be good for all of us".

In concrete terms, he sees such a danger in the German Synodal Path, in whose papers "not a single economic question", "not a single really social question either; nothing on the refugee issue, nothing on ecology" is recognisable. "What happened there?" - At the same time, however, Schönborn was curious to see how the German way would continue: "It may well be, as some Synod members in Germany hope, that the German Synodal Path will have a pull effect; that it will prove attractive in other countries as well".

Certainly, Rome had set clear limits with regard to the Synodal Path - albeit with a wink, Schönborn recalled Francis' statement that Germany already had a Protestant Church and did not need a second one. "That was a casual word that was also meant to bring a bit of humour into the whole thing, which I personally also lack. Taking it easy would do us all good." The decisive factor for the German way will be whether one is prepared "to listen to these other voices and to respond to them." If one takes Synodality seriously, this will be necessary in any case.

Cardinal Schönborn is visiting Rome and the Vatican until Wednesday, accompanied by a group of journalists. The programme included visits to several dicasteries as well as talks on the coming Holy Year and the Synod of Bishops. The trip will conclude with participation in the general audience with Pope Francis and a meeting with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the head of the supreme governing body of the Curia, at the Apostolic Palace.

Source