“The universal Church lives in and of the particular Churches, just as the particular Churches live and flourish in and from the universal Church. If they find themselves separated from the entire ecclesial body, they weaken, rot and die.” —Pope Francis, from his “Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany” of June 29, 2019, three years ago. Yesterday, on July 21, 2022, the Vatican Press Office cited these words when it issued a surprising brief communique warning German Catholics to keep these words of the Pope in mind as they continue on their “synodal path” in preparation for a global Catholic bishops’ synod on synodality to be held in Rome in October 2023, 15 months from now. The issue: not to introduce changes in Church teaching or practice until such changes have been discussed, and either accepted or rejected, by the universal Church, in order to maintain Church unity
“We regret with irritation that this direct communication has not yet taken place. In our understanding, a synodal Church is something else! This also applies to the way today’s communication has been handled, which has been a source of astonishment for us. It is not a good example of communication within the Church, if statements are published which are not signed by name.” —July 21 response of the German Catholic “Synodal Path” leadership to a Holy See “Declaration” published by the Vatican Press Office at mid-day on July 21 without a signature
Letter #91, 2022, Friday, July 22: Vatican to Germany: “Halt!”
So things are heating up.
Very grave dangers threaten the unity of the Catholic Church — and of all Christians with one another — in our “globalizing” world.
Why? Because many political, economic, intellectual and media leaders seem bent on leaving the Christian faith behind and creating a fully “post-Christian” (even “anti-Christian”) world culture.
Rome is aware of and concerned about this danger.
Evidence of this concern came yesterday in a quite unusual cautionary, unsigned, “Declaration” from the Holy See to the leaders of the “Synodal Path” of the Church in Germany, published unexpectedly at mid-day on July 21 by the Vatican Press Office (link to the official text, published in Italian and German).
Essentially, the Holy See in this “Declaration” publicly asks the Catholics of Germany to “slow down for a moment” and not to regard any of their recent “Synodal Path” proposals or decisions as “final” or “to be implemented” in Germany until the full Bishops’ Synod on Synodality meets in a year and three months, in October of 2023, and considers these matters.
Here are the actual words of the Vatican communique, which are quite striking:
“Declaration of the Holy See, 21.07.2022
“In order to protect the freedom of the People of God and the exercise of the episcopal ministry, it would appear necessary to clarify that the ‘Synodal Way’ in Germany does not have the power to compel the bishops and the faithful to adopt new ways of governance and new approaches to doctrine and morals.
“Prior to an agreed understanding at the level of the universal Church, it would not be permissible to initiate new official structures or doctrines in the dioceses, which would represent a wound to ecclesial communion and a threat to the unity of the Church.
“As the Holy Father recalled in his Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany: ‘The universal Church lives in and of the particular Churches, just as the particular Churches live and flourish in and from the universal Church. If they find themselves separated from the entire ecclesial body, they weaken, rot and die. Hence the need always to ensure that communion with the whole body of the Church is alive and effective.’
“It is therefore hoped that the proposals of the Way of the Particular Churches in Germany will converge with the synodal path being followed by the universal Church, for mutual enrichment and a testimony of that unity with which the body of the Church manifests its fidelity to Christ the Lord.”
Strong words, indeed: if the particular Churches (for example, in Germany, or in the United States, or anywhere) “find themselves separated from the entire ecclesial body, they weaken, rot and die.”
In fact, the strength of these words has raised eyebrows among some more traditional Catholics, who are saying they must be grateful to Rome, and so, to Pope Francis, for emphasizing the need to maintain Church unity.
Timothy Flanders, for example, at One Peter Five, wrote immediately yesterday (link):
“The Synod on Synodality has all the markings of the ‘dream’ of Cardinal Martini and the St. Gallen Mafia. If this true of the latest synod-in-the-works, it holds true a fortiori of the German ‘Synodal Way,’ which has openly supported heresy, provoking a rebuke from over 100 worldwide bishops, and making even Cardinal Kasper blush for shame.
Flanders continued:
“Now the Holy See has also rebuked the rebels from over the Rhine… We should give thanks to God for this forceful rebuke from the Holy See. That much is clear… We need to be grateful when we can be grateful.”
Interestingly, Flanders linked to an article on Catholic Arena which argues that this statement from the Vatican was prompted by a specific article: the July 17 publication of an article in a German original and an English translation by Marc Frings, General Secretary of the Central Committee of German Catholics, entitled “German synod should propose ‘clear readjustment’ of Church teaching on homosexuality” on a website called Outreach: An LBGT Catholic Resource, a website which is part of the America magazine media operation (America magazine is the magazine of the US Jesuits, and Fr. James Martin, S.J., is the magazine’s editor-at-large (link).
Frings quite openly is calling for a change in official Catholic teaching on homosexuality — that is, the teaching on homosexuality contained in the official Catechism of the Catholic Church — explaining that making such a change now seems needed, and so should be proposed.
He clarifies his position in this way: “At least that’s how I understand the Synodal Path. This is a conscious statement against the current Catholic catechism, which has been critical and disparaging of homosexuality since the mid-1970s and still reproaches homosexual activity as sin.” (link)
Among the things Frings urges is the following (link):
“The magisterium has recognized that homosexuality is an orientation—not something chosen. Catholics are increasingly being pushed into cognitive dissonance if they seriously try to reconcile official Church positions on homosexuality with their own real lives. For children and young people today, it is completely normal to be confronted with queer identities among fellow students, teachers and friends.”
Frings sums up:
“The Church must claim to be a home for all people. Discrimination and homophobia can have no place where people want to feel safe. Queer Christians do not want to be treated like this, and heterosexual Christians do not feel represented by a church that presents itself in this way. Such a change in the position of the magisterium cannot take place in a local church, but it can give it an important impetus. For this reason, the synodal assembly in September will discuss a text that recommends that the Pope examine more precisely and reassess Church doctrine on homosexuality.”
The Catholic Arena website writes (link):
“After months of the German Synod pushing the limits of what was permitted during the Synodal process, the Vatican has finally responded to some of the schismatic declarations emerging from the money- and status-obsessed German church.
“In a statement today, the Holy See Press Office states:
the “Synodal Way” in Germany does not have the power to oblige the Bishops and the faithful to adopt new ways of governance and new approaches to doctrine and morals.
“The statement appears [Note: this is for the moment only speculation] to have been ushered in in response to comments published in Father James Martin SJ edited Outreach website, which proposed a ‘clear readjustment’ of the Catechism. Most controversially, it also stated, ‘This is a conscious statement against the current Catholic catechism.’”
***
Of course, what remains to be seen is what the synod on synodality in October 2023 will decide. Will it take into consideration all of the ideas, wishes and concerns of all the local Churches from around the world, and yet maintain the perennial, orthodox Catholic teaching and practice, perhaps explaining it in a new and more profound way due to the needs of our time? Or will there be a push to change the official teaching?
Pope Francis was right to say in 2019, and the Holy See is right again to repeat it in the Declaration of yesterday, that “the particular Churches live and flourish in and from the universal Church” and “if they find themselves separated from the entire ecclesial body, they weaken, rot and die.”
All the more important, then, that the universal Church hold fast to that faith once handed down, without alteration or change, so that the Church throughout the world may be able to have a standard by which to judge the rightness and goodness and orthodoxy of the Christian response to the needs of our complex, confused, fallen world, and the concerns and troubles of souls in our time.
***
The Germans respond
The Vatican communique elicited a quick, indignant response from the German syndodal path leadership, which expressed “irritation” that the matter had not been dealt with more privately (text below).
All this suggests that the “Synodal Path” will not be an easy one, and the first salvos have now been fired in what may become a very contentious process of discernment, with central matters of Church doctrine at stake.
Here below in the response of the German Catholics to the Vatican’s Declaration of July 21….
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Statement by the Presidents of the Synodal Path on the statement presented by the Holy See (link)
July 21, 2022
Statement given by the Presidents of the Synodal Path, Dr Irme Stetter-Karp, President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), and Bishop Dr Georg Bätzing, President of the German Bishops’ Conference on today’s (21 July 2022) statement on the Synodal Path presented by the Holy See:
We welcome that the Holy See once again emphasises what we have already committed to in the Statutes and Rules of Procedure before the start of the Synodal Path in 2019:
‘Resolutions passed by the Synodal Assembly have no legal effect of their own accord. The authority of the Bishops’ Conference and of the individual diocesan Bishops to issue legal norms and exercise their magisterium within their respective spheres of competence remains unaffected by the resolutions.’
‘Resolutions whose topics are reserved for an all-church regulation are transmitted to the Apostolic See as a vote of the Synodal Path’. (Articles 11 and 12)
We never tire of underlining that the Church in Germany will not follow a “special German path.” Nevertheless, we see it as our duty to clearly state where we believe changes are necessary. In doing so, we already sense that the problems and questions we have named are similar worldwide.
We would also like to recall that the Synodal Path is the result of the study “Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests, Deacons and Male Religious in the Domain of the German Bishops’ Conference” (MHG Study) and we are grateful that the bishops and the ZdK are walking this path together and can be sure of the support and active cooperation of the pilgrim people of God.
In 2021, Pope Francis has opened a worldwide synodal process. We will, of course, as planned — and today’s statement also encourages us to do so — contribute to the synodal process of the universal Church with the experiences and results gained from the Synodal Path. We have always stressed that we want to actively shape this process through our work. Because we are convinced that this leads to a “mutual enrichment” (declaration of the Holy See).
In the Rules of Procedure and Statutes of the Synodal Path we formulate the communication with the Apostolic See which we consider necessary and which we are looking for. The Apostolic Nuncio in Germany is invited to participate in the Synodal Path as a permanent observer. Since the beginning of the Synodal Path, the Synodal Committee has endeavoured to find direct ways of communication with the Roman bodies. In our opinion, this would be the right place for such clarifications.
Unfortunately, the Synodal Committee has not been invited to a discussion to date. We regret with irritation that this direct communication has not yet taken place. In our understanding, a synodal Church is something else! This also applies to the way today’s communication has been handled, which has been a source of astonishment for us. It is not a good example of communication within the Church, if statements are published which are not signed by name.
The next Synodal Assembly will be the place to take up as well as discuss the Holy See’s concern.
Once again, as Presidents of the Synodal Path, we would like to emphasise that we are interested in an early discussion with as many authorities within the Roman Curia as possible.”
[End, July 21 response of the German Catholics to the Holy See’s July 21 Declaration]
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