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What Does Cardinal Marx Know That We Don’t?

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Back in September, I told you about the proposed Synod rules, which were being revised to reduce transparency and keep the inner workings a secret. There would be no controversial mid-term report, they’d keep the discussion in small groups to avoid cross-pollination, and no final report or post-synodal exhortation was expected.

In other words, those in control of the Synod were locking things down. They weren’t going to be embarrassed again by such strong backlash against their heterodox agenda. And they were doing this in the knowledge that it would be Pope Francis, not the Synod fathers, who would make the final determination on outcome. Everything would be in his hands. At the time, I said:

This is a power grab.
It’s an autocratic move, and it signals confidence on the part of the Synod managers, who have proven themselves at the very least to be sympathetic to the Kasper agenda, that the pope will give them exactly what they want. Otherwise, they would be doing all that they can to keep the proceedings transparent. I can’t stress enough how important that is. We can see what they’re doing by what they’re trying to hide, and where they’re placing their bets.
When the revised Synod rules came out, we saw at least a superficial attempt to assuage concerns over transparency. But as Ed Pentin pointed out, and as we demonstrated in our examination of Fr. Rosica, the Vatican’s English-language spokesman on the Synod, those in charge of the Synod are still very much in control of the message.
Now we have a new wrinkle.
You may recall that Cardinal Reinhart Marx, the president of Germany’s bishops’ conference, said something very bold back in February, long before this year’s procedures were hammered out:
Cardinal Marx, the archbishop of Munich and Freising, said as far as doctrine is concerned, the German episcopate remains in communion with the Church, but on individual issues of pastoral care, “the synod cannot prescribe in detail what we have to do in Germany.”

The German bishops want to publish their own pastoral letter on marriage and family after the synod, the article says.

“We are not just a subsidiary of Rome,” Cardinal Marx said. “Each episcopal conference is responsible for the pastoral care in their culture and has to proclaim the Gospel in its own unique way. We cannot wait until a synod states something, as we have to carry out marriage and family ministry here.”

This statement made serious waves. Cardinal Burke, in a video interview with Polonia Christiana, said:

“I don’t know what the…those German bishops who made that statement are trying to say but if they’re saying that they’re independent from the Universal Church, then they’re no longer Catholic. That can’t be.”

And yet today, as Pat Archbold has noted, Cardinal Marx has either had a Come to Jesus Moment, or he knows something we don’t about the Synod’s final outcome (already in progress!):

Cardinal Marx: “We must try to remain together,” he said. “The Church is the only institution in the world that can reach unanimous agreement. Thank God we have the pope. We bishops do not have to decide. Church unity is not in danger. And once the pope has decided, we will abide by his decision.

This is a complete reversal of his previous position. But has anyone heard Marx say he was wrong? That Kasper is wrong? That communion for the divorced and remarried is off the table?

Rather than a change of heart, could he, perhaps, have been reassured by certain private conversations, or perhaps even by the Holy Father’s intervention last weekend?

Pope Francis delivered an unscheduled intervention in the synod yesterday morning. He instructed synod fathers that they should consider the Ordinary Synod to be in perfect continuity with the Extraordinary Synod. He told them that they were to consider only three synodal documents as formal documents of the synod; these were his own opening address at the Extraordinary Synod, the Relatio Synodi of the Extraordinary Synod, and his own closing address of that synod. The heterodox nature of the Relatio Synodi, which received the Holy Father’spersonal approval, was discussed by Voice of the Family in our Analysis of the Final Report of the Extraordinary Synod. The Holy Father also said that the question of the reception of Holy Communion by the “divorced and remarried” was not the only one for the Synod to consider. This would indicate however that Pope Francis considers the question to be open, despite being clearly resolved by Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the teaching of his predecessors. The content of the Holy Father’s intervention was repeated a number of times by Fr Lombardi and other speakers at the press conference.

The intervention of the Holy Father yesterday has undermined the authority of Cardinal Erdő’s report and has signaled to the synod fathers that the Holy Father would prefer the discussions of the synod to proceed along the lines established by the heterodox Relatio Synodi rather than the orthodox introductory address of Cardinal Erdő. The Holy Father’s actions have gravely weakened the cardinal’s efforts to reorient the Ordinary Synod towards an affirmation and defence of Catholic doctrine.

Most of you reading this are by now already awake. But not all. Some of us are still trying to find some orthodox explanation for the actions of Pope Francis.

The signs, however, are there – if you only open your eyes to look for them.

This is Pope Francis’s Synod, and it has been from the beginning. He calls the shots, he appoints the fathers and the administrators, and he will have final say over what it produces. That the most vocal enemies of Christ and His Church are taking comfort from this fact is not at all reassuring.

26 thoughts on “What Does Cardinal Marx Know That We Don’t?”

    • If I had to make a guess, I would say that they will make it clear that anyone who does not agree with the Pope’s decision(s), is therefore out of communion with him and the Church. The schismatics will be those who hold to the Magisterium (before Francis the First).

      Reply
      • At this point, I hope you’re right. I would welcome clarity. I’m sick of the sneakiness and confusion. I feel loathing for these queeny clerical liars.

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        • “Queeny clerical liars” — great phrase!
          I’m reminded of General Sherman’s description of the media of his day as “sneaking croaking scoundrels.”

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      • If only it could be that easy. Unfortunately it will probably end in more confusion with most priests and laity going back to business as usual. Those who know something is amiss will likely, out of fear, remain where they are. The courageous will carry the cross and suffer with the label “schismatic”, perhaps losing friends, family and having to move or drive long distances to get to Mass.
        As for all the rest, they could care less. I fear the Traditional movement is going to be back underground.

        Reply
  1. “Cardinal Marx: “We must try to remain together,” he said. “The Church is
    the only institution in the world that can reach unanimous agreement. Thank
    God we have the pope. We bishops do not have to decide. Church unity is
    not in danger. And once the pope has decided, we will abide by his
    decision.” ”

    I thought this was a “Synod”? What happened about collegiality and the Pope only being primus inter pares? They could have just saved everyone a lot of trouble and time. Just have Pope Francis issue an editc and be done with it.

    Reply
  2. Collegial sometimes. Full papist when the right man is in office.
    The heterodox change their tune whenever it suits them.

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  3. I predict that Marx and co will get their way in the form of a regional ‘settlement’ that makes his “we are not a subsidiary of Rome” statement moot. It’s already on the table by the look of things. The Africans will be free to keep their “taboos” as Kasper the unfriendly post-modernist racist ghost would have it, and the Germans can keep their encounter with the Other (that is, with the Other’s income tax).

    The Pope will make it so, thus avoiding formal schism, and the vulgar cretins will be in full-on Rome Locuta Est mode for the first time in their lives.

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  4. I do not espouse the sedevacantist position but the Pope’s actions at the moment must be leading many souls towards this erroneous position.

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  5. I don’t think it matters anymore. Back in the 70’s, we were lied to about the NO Mass. We went along because the priests, bishops and pope told us that the Traditional Mass was abrogated. They would never lie; they’re holy guys! Well, today, we know better. History shows that they may be priests, bishops and popes but they’re not all holy. And, we have the internet to go through history to see and read what real holy men said and wrote and we can follow them since they followed God. No matter what the pope does or says, I will follow the “old” dogmas of the Church. I hope Francis does, too. As for Cardinal Marx, when it all comes down to it, he’s just a fart in the wind.

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    • I kind of doubt all those priests and bishops back in the ’70s were lying to us. I think they probably were just clueless. Kind of like doctors today, who never bother to tell their female patients that the Pill works at least some of the time through an abortifacient mechanism. Are they lying? Probably not. Their medical school professors never told them, and most of them are just as surprised to learn this fact as non-medical people are. I think something similar happened with most priests post-Vatican II. The changes were like a tsunami that everyone was going along with, and nobody knew any different.

      Reply
  6. This is a Synod, not a council. No doctrine can be developed here, but practice can be changed. That seems to be what is afoot. The rebels have noticed that their intellectual forebears had much more success after Vatican II by simply “interpreting” all that rich store of vagueness there to their own taste. They are about to do the same, and given what we have seen about Pope Francis’ ability with language to date, I suspect they will be able to mine the final document for all it’s worth.

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  7. Does anyone think Pope Benedict xvi will come in to play before this whole thing is over? He is still breathing and wearing white in the Vatican. Its hard for me to believe he is taking this well.

    Reply
    • I believe Bergoglio is the setup man to the False Prophet (Yeshua Ben Joseph aka “Master Jesus”), who will come on to the scene once Bergoglio “resigns” (remember he keeps saying he may retire soon?). The False Prophet will unite all humanity and religions via an invalid/illicit ex cathedra. This will formally be the false Church of darkness prophesied by Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich, which is separate from the “new heterodox Church of Rome” (Vatican II New Church) that she also prophesied would happen.
      Google “TradCatKnight False Prophet”.

      Reply
      • I have seen that material you referenced. It is not correct. Francis is the False Prophet, the second beast of Revelation 13. He is setting the stage for the Antichrist, who is Maitreya of Share International, also promoted to the pagans by Benjamin Creme as the pagan anti-John-the-Baptist. Francis is the Christian focused anti-John-the-Baptist. Yes, Francis will make the one world religion and push all to worship Maitreya, likely beginning in June 2016, and the abomination of desolation in May 2016. The abuse of Vatican II is the main problem, not Vatican II per se, which did help the evil cause by ambiguous text which is easily abused. The real false church will occur sometime after the Synod when sin is approved under the guise of mercy and the great schism occurs.

        Reply

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