IF MISSION AND SYNODALITY ARE THE MAIN TOPICS OF THE CONSISTORY, THERE IS EVIDENTLY A REALIZATION THAT SYNODALITY NEEDS SOME REFINEMENT AS DOES THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

Despite Pope Francis’ protesting that synodality is not a parliament to lobby for this, that and the other in terms of changing the teachings and practices of the Catholic Faith, to most people, and I include myself in this category, it was precisely to change the doctrines, dogmas and morals of the Church. And political lobbies, one led by Fr. James Martin, SJ, was and is the political lobby in the Church and in secular society, the LGBQ+++ ideology, which if successful by manipulating synodality for their heterodox purposes, would have given progressive heterodox Catholics everything they want, a post-Catholic Church where every sexual sin becomes a virtue, where anyone gender or no gender secular category can get married in the Church, become a clergy or a religious and any type of creative liturgy is applauded. The only things to be condemned is the Catholic Church prior to Vatican II and prior to synodality after Vatican II, 

It seems to me that a correct synodality, is to discern how to follow the teachings of the Church, canon law and other aspects that require obedience rather than changing teachings to suit political ideologies. 

Why discuss things that can’t be changed? Why not discuss how to enable Catholics to embrace all that God wants to give us including the eternal salvation of our souls? 

The other thing that Pope Francis put on steroids, but which began in the 1970’s is pastoral theology. Pastoral theology is theology and can never become a doctrine or dogma. 

The problem, though, is when pastorally ministering to individuals, ideological groups become the focus. How do we please the world and worldly ideologies, rather than saving souls from the fires of hell.

Prior to Vatican II, when in the USA nearly 90% of all Catholics attended Mass every Sunday, bet your bottom dollar that a huge number of those Catholics were sinners, some discreetly so and others more in your face. But no one dragged their sins into the Mass and demanded that they and their sins be accepted. 

Everyone was accepted but flaunting one’s sin at Mass was not accepted. And in pre-Vatican II times we had more todas, todas, todas than we have today! 

Pastoral theology that ministers to ideological groups rather than to individuals in need of conversion, repentance and a holiness of life needs to be condemned in a synodal way! 

The mission of the Church is to promote the faith and morals of the Catholic Faith, the Deposit of Faith and to carry out as best as possible the Spiritual and Corporal works of Mercy.

Synodality should foster that and not be distracted from that by ideoogical concerns of secular and religious lobbies! 

The liturgies of the Church, old or novel, should be done by the book and without the personality excesses of the clergy or laity. Read the black and do the red and have great cantors and choirs to facilitate the patrimony of Chant of the Catholic Church.

To do what Sacrosanctum Concilium said to do, preserve some Latin and Gregorian Chant, require that the Introit, Offertory and Communion antiphons never be eliminated and in sung Masses that these are chanted in Latin using the variety of Gregorian Chants allowed. That preserves both Latin and Gregorian Chants, killing two birds with one stone. 

The Papal Consistory Mass on Thursday morning is a great model of what the Modern Mass can and should be!