Bishop Strickland is hardly worth what Pope Francis did to him, but to him he did it. The German episcopate deserves far harsher penalties!
FROM CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY (CNA)
BREAKING: Pope Francis intervenes in German Synodal Way, expresses 'concerns' about threats to Church unity
Vatican City, Nov 21, 2023 / 04:55 am
Pope Francis has expressed deep reservations about the direction of the Catholic Church in Germany, warning that concrete steps currently being taken “threaten” to undermine unity with the universal Church.
In a striking personal intervention, the pope wrote a letter to four German Catholic laywomen that was published in the German newspaper Welt on Nov. 21.
“I, too, share concerns about the numerous concrete steps that large parts of this local church are now taking that threaten to move further and further away from the common path of the universal Church,” the pope wrote in his letter, which was written in German and signed “Francis.”
Chief among the pope’s concerns is a push to establish a permanent “Synodal Council,” a mixed body of laity and bishops that would govern the Catholic Church in Germany. The pope underscored that this kind of “advisory and decision-making body … cannot be reconciled with the sacramental structure of the Catholic Church,” and referenced a previous prohibition the Vatican had issued on the topic.
Leadership of the controversial German Synodal Way recently met in Essen on November 10. They aim to establish a Synodal Council in Germany no later than 2026.
The pope proposed a different path forward for the Church in Germany.
“Instead of looking for ‘salvation’ in ever new committees and always discussing the same topic with a certain self-absorption,” the pope urged the Catholic Church in Germany to “open up and go out to meet our brothers and sisters, especially those who are ... on the thresholds of our church doors, on the streets, in the prisons, in the hospitals, in the squares and in the cities.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
(My comment on the last paragraph): What the H? What is the synod on synodality and the gab fest/coffee and conversation for a solid month in Rome, if not a self—absorbed talking about the same topic already settled by previous popes!!!! Really, are we laity and clergy dumb a**** that we can’t see the duplicity here??????
4 comments:
"'Instead of looking for "salvation" in ever new committees and always discussing the same topic with a certain self-absorption,' the pope urged the Catholic Church in Germany to 'open up and go out to meet our brothers and sisters, especially those who are ... on the thresholds of our church doors, on the streets, in the prisons, in the hospitals, in the squares and in the cities.'"
I'm glad the Navel-gazing on Navel-gazingality is on ice, if this comment is meant to be taken seriously, as opposed to being lip service.
Also, I thought that Vatican dicasteries could be led by laypeople because the power of the pope, rather than the apostolic charism of governance, is the basis of the Vatican's activities. How is the Synodal Way different? If the pope put his authority behind the Synodal Way, would there be no issue with lay governance thereby?
Nick
It is called incoherence. I truly believe there are cognitive issues.
Father, sad to say you may be right.
Nick
I think Pope Francis poses questions to the Church as a professor would to students. Like a philosophy or math class, he expects us to develop the proof of the classical concept. But people go off the rails and he has to draw them back. The progressive and marginal Catholics get a sort of participation trophy for wrong answers, even if they are supporting heresy. Heterodox Catholics get hammered because they are expected to know better and, more importantly, the traditional minded will remain in the Church no matter what and their heterodoxy frightens off the marginal Catholics. So Strickland gets slammed and homosexual bishops get to bless same sex unions. It’s only fair.
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