Synod assembly will be awash with Jesuits, who have tainted the Church with their modernist decadence

Pope appoints reformers and conservatives to Synod Assembly

Cardinal Hollerich

Cathcon: Cardinal Müller is already being called "the Pope's Synod Fig Leaf". There is no balance in the appointments as there would have been under Pope Benedict. The balance of his reign now has given the modernists their opportunity.  They should never had ecclesiastical preferment in the first instance.

Also surprises among appointed members for almost four-week deliberations in Rome in October - broad spectrum with potential for conflicts and solutions

When Pope Francis announced a worldwide synod on the subject of synodality in May 2021, even church experts could not help but yawn. Even the term "synodality" coined by Francis promised more of an event for insiders. It seemed to be a topic for canonists or for experts on ecumenism - after all, it was the Protestant and Orthodox churches that had always discussed, voted and elected their leaders at synods.

But how should the Catholic Church become "synodal" when it has been like a pyramid for centuries: the Pope decides at the top, a Bishop has the say in the individual dioceses, and the pastor in the parish. Since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the Popes have been concerned that this type of hierarchy is not the ultimate wisdom.

Cathcon: This is nonsense.  Pope Saint Gregory the Great called himself the Servant of the servants of God.

At that time, the sole decision-making power of the pope in questions of church doctrine and law was supplemented by a "collegial principle". From now on the College of Bishops was to discuss important questions of the time "together with and under the Pope", and so in 1965 the new organ of the "World Synod of Bishops" was created to advise the Pope.

Cathcon:  Collegiality has proven to be a Trojan horse for synodality, disrupting the normal bonds of Communion between Catholic Bishops and specifically with the Pope.

Of course, the Vatican administration ensured that this assembly of bishops, which meets about every two years, was never really able to discuss or vote closely. This has already changed under Francis, when the synod in 2014 and 2015 discussed at times controversially how the church should deal with Catholics who are living in a second marriage after a divorce. The voting result on this point was also close.

If the Pope now wants to enact a synodal constitution for the Catholic Church, in which not only the Pope and the bishops but also the "People of God" should have a say and have a say, that amounts to a revolution in some countries and in some Catholic traditions of thought. Elsewhere, for example in Germany or Switzerland, but also in religious orders or in the Eastern Churches united with Rome, there has long been experience with co-determination and synodal traditions.

It was therefore eagerly awaited which participants would end up on the list of "members" and "other participants" and what ways of thinking they represented. The tableau of around 370 names of the locally elected, ex officio and those appointed by the Pope, published on Friday, seems unmanageable at first glance.

But then some structures and outstanding individuals become visible. They provide information about the conflict and also the solution potential of the assembly, which meets in Rome in October.

"Three Faith Prefects"

One of the most surprising appointments is that of the "three faith prefects". The ex-religious prefect, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, who often appears as a conservative critic of the Pope, was appointed, as was his successor, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, and his more progressive successor Victor Fernandez.

The Pope is obviously trying to avoid later factional fights over the interpretation of the synod by including pioneers from both factions in the synod debate. The appointment of the Passau Bishop Stefan Oster should also be motivated in this way. Among the total of nine Germans (including the "adviser" Thomas Söding and the canon law scholar Myrjam Wijnens, who teaches in Erfurt), reformers, preservers and those "in the middle" are now equally represented.

Cathcon: The fighting has already started, the overall bias of the appointment showing this process for what it is, rigged from beginning to end and driven by an agenda.  The Holy Spirit is absent as the outcome is prejudged. 

The Pope proceeded in a similar way with the episcopal participants from the USA: The selection of the bishops' conference was rather conservative, now the pope added three cardinals close to him: Wilton Gregory, Robert McElroy and Blase Cupich.

Cathcon: A group of sycophants who have earned almost universal hatred from their fellow Bishops.

"Synod Veteran" Schönborn

One of the individuals who stood out from the crowd was the synod veteran par excellence, the Viennese Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. He helped forge the decisive compromises at the 2015 family synod. This time, too, he will be challenged with a great deal of synod experience and negotiating skills.

There are also other prominent figures, such as the LGBTQ minister James Martin from the USA, the former Dominican superior Timothy Radcliffe and the Jesuit chief ideologue Antonio Spadaro. If you count the pope, he is one of 20 Jesuits at the Synod. They are the strongest group among the orders, followed by the Dominicans with 6 members.

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