Bishop: God moves along synodal paths

 - In the disrespectful reactions to the Synodal Way, Bishop Bertram Meier of Augsburg sees a "chariot mentality" - and the line to ideology crossed. He sees fear as a sign of a lack of trust in God.

Bishop Bertram Meier of Augsburg has criticised the apodictic rejection of the Synodal Way. According to the sermon manuscript, Meier said on Sunday that the Sunday Gospel reminds him of the "insecurity of so many people in the Church who already want to recognise a turning away from the faith in the deliberations and resolutions of the Synodal Way, who cannot stand differences of opinion and speak of division without making an effort to reach a consensus or even a workable compromise." "But if I give up right away, if I declare the conversation useless and pointless, can I appeal to the Gospel with a clear conscience?"

In the "mostly apodictic and not very respectful" reactions, he recognises a flight from reality into a "chariot mentality" that wants to establish an opposition between Catholics. "Such an opposition no longer has anything to do with the Gospel. Here the border to ideology, to doctrines that have become ossified and lifeless, has already been crossed," the Bishop criticised.

Combining hierarchy and synodality

Pope Francis had initiated the worldwide synodal process because he had recognised that "in some parts of the world the structures had begun to lead a life of their own" and that many church representatives had no longer listened to the calls of the needy. The Pontiff kept reminding the universal Church of the time of the Church Fathers, "when structures were still flexible enough to combine hierarchy and synodality", Meier explained. "Back to the sources - ad fontes - that is always necessary, all the more so in such a noisy and polyphonic, such a fast-moving time as ours."

Fear is not only a bad advisor, but also a sign of a lack of trust in God. "Today, in the midst of controversy and impatience, of the will to persevere and the mood for new beginnings, let us trust that God will accompany us on all paths (A. Delp) - even the synodal ones! - and that nothing escapes his hand," said the Bishop.

Source

Cathcon:  It is synodality that has created polarities within the Catholic Church and given platforms to the simply unacceptable in any Catholic sense. 

The Bishop said at the time of the Fifth and last Synodal assembly  in Frankfurt am Main, which brought with it fears that the church could split and German bishops arguing  on the open stage. "The climate has become rougher, the atmosphere seems tense, the arming of words is growing."  Whatever he says, he knows the Synodal process is to blame.