As we have analysed at OnePeterFive, the Synod on Synodality has all the markings of the “dream” of Cardinal Martini and the St. Gallen Mafia. If this is 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.
Now the Holy See has also rebuked the rebels from over the Rhine:
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.
Catholic Arena speculates this is in response to the “Father James Martin SJ edited Outreach website, which proposed a ‘clear readjustment’ of the Catechism” a few days ago.
Meanwhile, readers of OnePeterFive may be familiar with this agonising saga of post-war Germany, which, in the words of Jacques Maritain, has been leading the charge to “kneel before the world” since Vatican II. Documented in The Rhine Flows into the Tiber, the German Modernists have attempted to bend the knees of the Mystical Body of Christ to the principalities and powers, the rulers of the world of this darkness, the spirits of wickedness in the high places (Eph. vi. 12).
To his great credit, the German Joseph Ratzinger opposed this excess even before the Council, and continued to do so in his official role under John Paul II and then as Benedict XVI.
The phrase from His Holiness in the statement above recalls the dispute between the aforementioned Cardinal Kasper and Cardinal Ratzinger, then head of the Holy Office, over the local church and universal church, back when Cardinal Kasper was pushing his communion for divorced-and-remarried agenda.
We should give thanks to God for this forceful rebuke from the Holy See. That much is clear. Even if His Holiness is indeed the Dictator Pope, and even if he says the right things in order to gain power… he still says the right things sometimes. We need to be grateful when we can be grateful.
But we can’t forget how the “mainstream” opposition to His Holiness began: the faithful “dubia Cardinals,” who submitted their dubia in response to the Francis-supported “Kasper agenda,” undermining Veritatis Splendor and the traditional doctrine on Marriage as a result of Amoris Laetitia.
Ultimately, actions always speak louder than words.
If His Holiness truly believed in the words quoted above about the “wound” in ecclesial communion, he would formally answer the dubia to repair the wounds that have appeared under his pontificate. Is this appeal to “converge with the synodal path being followed by the universal Church” just another promotion of another Rigged Vatican Synod?
For now, we are grateful for the words but beseech Almighty God for action.
V. Let us pray for Francis, our pope.
R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all the faithful, look mercifully upon Thy servant Francis, whom Thou hast willed to appoint shepherd over Thy Church: grant him, we beseech Thee, that by word and example he may profit those over whom he hath charge, so that, together with the flock committed to him, he may attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Read about the German reaction to the Holy See here.
