“A permanent parliament in which Jesus Christ is no longer preached, conversion to Truth and Grace no longer called for”: Bishop Aguer on the Synod on Synodality

The Synodality of the Church

by Most Rev. Héctor Aguer

Archbishop Emeritus of La Plata, Argentina

January 21, 2022

(original Spanish)

The [preparatory phase of the] XVI session of the Synod of Bishops was recently inaugurated with a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica [October 10, 2021].

The agenda of the next Synod: Priestly Celibacy.

In mid-February Pope Francis will go to Chiapas, where hundreds of deacons with their wives are pushing to be ordained as priests. And in the Amazon as well the turning point seems to be near. It was all written down in the agenda of Cardinal Martini.

Sandro Magister, interviewed by Goffredo Pistelli

DANGER AHEAD. Synod document drafting committee member: Familiaris Consortio? "Circumstances have changed!" Divorced-and-remarried, "decentralization" still on the agenda

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, one of ten mostly-liberal prelates assigned by Pope Francis to the drafting committee for the final Synod relation, has unexpectedly emerged in recent days as a champion for greater "openness" to homosexuals. His comments in today's Vatican press conference are true to form, and given his role in drafting the Synod document hints at something that can be manipulated in favor of Kasperite and liberal concerns. 

It is telling that in speaking of decentralization he, and other champions of this idea, repeatedly refer to the problem of polygamy in Africa as an example of issues that need to be dealt with by local bishops' conferences. One has to ask if this is an agreed-on liberal talking-point to humiliate the African bishops into endorsing the "decentralization" option. 

Trial of St. Joan of Arc: History brings clarity with what's happening at the Synod

The following is a sermon delivered today, on the 21st Sunday after Pentecost, by a traditional mission priest. We provide you with the text of the sermon below, and you may click here to listen to the audio.

"... this second synod broke nearly every law known at the time, both canonical and civil, on how trials are conducted. Methods used against Joan included among other things, packing the court, confusion tactics and false contradicting statements, as well as a sort of shadow synod."

“There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job, simple and upright and fearing God; whom Satan besought that he might tempt: and power was given him from the Lord over his possessions and his flesh; and he destroyed all his substance and his children, and wounded his flesh also with a grievous ulcer”— Offertory Antiphon

There was a man named Job. St. Zeno of Verona (d. 380) and other fathers say Job is a type of Christ. St. Gregory the Great goes one step further in stating: “Holy Job is a type of the Church.” In other words, Job acts as a prefigurement of the future Passion of the Christ as well as His Mystical Body, the Church. We are now in one of the Job-moments of our Holy Mother, the Church.

Recall that a TYPE is a historical person, thing or event that really happened, but, at the same time, mysteriously prefigures a future reality that is bigger than itself. Our God is the Lord and Master of all History. Only He can work things out at one moment in time… such that it foreshadows another later moment. This is especially seen in the link between the Old and New Testaments. Listen to the Church Father St. Melito of Sardis: “It is [Christ] who endured every kind of suffering in all those who foreshadowed Him. In Abel He was slain, in Isaac bound, in Jacob exiled, in Joseph sold, in Moses exposed to die. He was sacrificed in the Passover Lamb, persecuted in David, dishonored in the prophets.” And so on with the entire Old Testament. (By the way, there are no such types to be found in any other writings. They are not in the Koran… nor in the book of Mormon. What does this mean? We are in the right place!)

Deutschland—Church of the Rich or Church of the Poor?

News reports have been showing us for some time now that the rich German church is the main mover and shaker behind the synodal armageddon, past and future.

As we know, there are two kinds of poverty: material and spiritual. The African church, in many ways materially poor (certainly as compared with Germany), is spiritually rich, with Catholics striving, often in terribly difficult circumstances, to live what Pope John Paul II called as “the Gospel of life.”

The German church, in contrast, appears to be spiritually impoverished in proportion to its immense material assets, once more establishing a law as old as divine revelation: “One is as it were rich, when he hath nothing: and another is as it were poor, when he hath great riches” (Proverbs 13:7). “Better is a little to the just, than the great riches of the wicked” (Psalm 36:16). “And that which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit” (Luke 8:14). The earthly riches of the German church will be the millstone that drags it down to Gehenna—all but the remnant that, despising these vain pomps, cleaves to the untarnished Word of God.

In his magnificent little work On the Perfection of the Spiritual Life, St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us about the dangers of material wealth and the urgent need to abandon them for the sake of Christ:

The Splendor of Truth Against the Darkness of Error

Not too long ago, as I recall, the Catholic Church throughout the world was singing the praises of John Paul II.

Is it not sobering, not to say hypocritical, that so many can pay lip service to a pope’s life while conveniently forgetting his unequivocal teaching on the absolutes of the moral law and the demanding requirements of the Gospel? Quite possibly the greatest doctrinal legacy of his pontificate is the sweeping Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor of 1993, the first comprehensive treatment of the foundations of moral theology in the papal magisterium. 

Curiously, it seems to have escaped the notice of some members of the hierarchy that the authoritative teaching of this encyclical condemns ahead of time Cardinal Kasper’s outrageous “pastoral” proposals that violate Catholic doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage—proposals shamefully echoed once again in the Instrumentum Laboris of the upcoming Synod on the Family in October 2015.

Anyone who plans to engage these issues in a public way had better set aside a weekend for reading (or re-reading) Veritatis Splendor, because it exposes the deep roots of the entire discussion and shows clearly what is at stake: the mission of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the credibility of the New Covenant, the reality of God’s grace, and the infallibility of the Church.

While one might usefully quote nearly the entire encyclical, what follows are some passages particularly relevant to our times.

Excerpts from Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor (1993)

26. In the moral catechesis of the Apostles, besides exhortations and directions connected to specific historical and cultural situations, we find an ethical teaching with precise rules of behaviour. . . . From the Church’s beginnings, the Apostles, by virtue of their pastoral responsibility to preach the Gospel, were vigilant over the right conduct of Christians, just as they were vigilant for the purity of the faith and the handing down of the divine gifts in the sacraments. … No damage must be done to the harmony between faith and life: the unity of the Church is damaged not only by Christians who reject or distort the truths of faith but also by those who disregard the moral obligations to which they are called by the Gospel (cf. 1 Cor 5:9-13). The Apostles decisively rejected any separation between the commitment of the heart and the actions which express or prove it (cf. 1 Jn 2:3-6). And ever since Apostolic times the Church’s Pastors have unambiguously condemned the behaviour of those who fostered division by their teaching or by their actions.

49. A doctrine which dissociates the moral act from the bodily dimensions of its exercise is contrary to the teaching of Scripture and Tradition. Such a doctrine revives, in new forms, certain ancient errors which have always been opposed by the Church, inasmuch as they reduce the human person to a “spiritual” and purely formal freedom. This reduction misunderstands the moral meaning of the body and of kinds of behaviour involving it (cf. 1 Cor 6:19). Saint Paul declares that “the immoral, idolaters, adulterers, sexual perverts, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers” are excluded from the Kingdom of God (cf. 1 Cor 6:9). This condemnation — repeated by the Council of Trent — lists as “mortal sins” or “immoral practices” certain specific kinds of behaviour the wilful acceptance of which prevents believers from sharing in the inheritance promised to them. In fact, body and soul are inseparable: in the person, in the willing agent and in the deliberate act, they stand or fall together.

Could Francis eliminate 2/3 rule at upcoming Synod?

The well-respected and prolific Dr. John Rao, who also served as Rorate's credentialed correspondent at the last conclave, today sent us this chilling piece for our readers to ponder: 

Pope Francis and the Triumph of the Will

I just returned from three and a half months in a Europe as overwhelmingly indifferent as the New World to yet another traditionalist obsession---the survival of marriage and the family. Back in the States, I thought that I might share with Rorate readers a grave concern that I have been hearing expressed by a number of Catholics who still believe that that issue of marital and familial survival just might have a certain significance for mankind. This is the fear that Pope Francis, knowing that the majority of those who attended the Extraordinary Synod last year were in favor of Cardinal Kasper’s assault on Catholic morality, might personally change the rules this October to ensure that the voice of the mass of the People of God triumphs over the obstructionism of a minority of tyrannical orthodox nitpickers. 

I don’t know whether this is a real possibility, but, quite frankly, it would seem rather contradictory for the Holy Father to allow a pedantic 2/3 “rule” to stand in the way of the victory of democracy or any other contemporary consideration whatsoever. Pope Francis has repeatedly expressed his interest in listening and responding enthusiastically to the deeply felt needs of a world somehow more attuned than ever before to the innate dignity of the human person. Why not simply cut to the quick and use the coming Synod forthrightly to show his solidarity with the most basic underlying principle of the whole of modernity? 

John Paul II’s “Letter to Families”—Remember That One?

How quickly we forget… In an age of ephemeral communications and ever-multiplying pronouncements, even the finest papal documents can get buried in the sands of oblivion. I am as well aware as the next traditionalist of the many problematic elements in John Paul II’s pontificate—but, to be perfectly honest, as time goes on, I find he is looking better and better. It’s amazing what a contrasting backdrop will do for a man’s reputation. As the Polish pope’s overpowering personality and whimsical decisions recede into the background, certain of his writings acquire greater and greater relevance (one might even dare to use the word “prophetic”) for our contemporary situation, serving as tall guideposts for the orthodox and a fearful scaffolding for dissenters. 

One such nearly-forgotten but extremely rich and rewarding document is the “Letter to Families” of 1994, also known by its official Latin title Gratissimam Sane.

"An Act of Parliament, directly oppugnant to the laws of God and his holy Church..."

All which notwithstanding the jury found him guilty, and incontinent upon the verdict the Lord Chancellor [for that matter chief commissioner] beginning in judgment against him, Sir Thomas More said to him,

"My Lord, when I was towards the law, the manner in such case was to ask the prisoner before judgment, why judgment should not be given against him."

Whereupon the Lord Chancellor staying his judgment, wherein he had partly proceeded, demanded of him what he was able to say to the contrary. Who then in this sort mildly made answer:

"Forasmuch as, my Lord, this indictment is grounded upon an Act of Parliament, directly oppugnant to the laws of God and his holy Church, the supreme government of which, or of any part thereof, may no temporal prince presume by any law to take upon him as rightfully belonging to the See of Rome, a spiritual preeminence by the mouth of our Saviour himself, personally present upon the earth, to St. Peter and his successors, bishops of the same see, by special prerogative, granted, it is therefore in law amongst Christian men insufficient to charge any Christian."...

The Neo-Modernist Theology of Eberhard Schockenhoff

The Rev. Fr. Eberhard Schockenhoff

According to Edward Pentin, “the ‘mastermind’ behind much of the challenge to settled Church teachings among the German episcopate,” and “the leading adviser of the German bishops in the run-up to the synod” is Fr. Eberhard  Schockenhoff, professor of moral theology at the University of Freiburg, about whom we have had occasion to report in the past. It is a sign of the state of theology in the German speaking world that Fr. Schockenhoff is considered a theological “moderate.” He is careful to quote the Fathers and Doctors of the Church to support his positions, and always makes a show of respect for magisterial teaching. This is probably the reason why the German bishops have chosen him, and not one of his more extreme colleagues to help them make the case for changing the unchangeable teachings of the Church on sexual morality.

A Permanent Synod and Expanded Council of Cardinals for the Catholic Church?

The Servizio Informazione Religiosa (SIR) published an interview last Friday with Bishop Franghískos Papamanólis, the President of the Greek Episcopal Conference, that made its ad limina visit last week. Most of the interview is about the political and economic situation of Greece and the state of Catholicism (which is almost entirely of the Roman Rite) in that country, but towards the end touches on the ongoing reform of the Curia and Francis' push for 'synodality' in the Church. (The following translation of the final portion of the interview is courtesy of a theology professor and friend of this blog.)

The meeting with the Holy Father lasted an hour and 25 minutes. What else did you talk about?

“Ecumenism is close to the heart of the Pope and he suffers much because its importance is not being fully understood. I believe that the first thing to do would be to purify the structures in a way so that a right way of believing corresponds to the right way of operating. Even in the Catholic Church there are many things to correct and the Pope understands this well. To purify the structures is that which the Holy Father would want to do with the reform of the Curia. Many traditionalists within it, who are the expression of strong and powerful churches, do not understand the conditions in which the Catholic Church struggles in many nations of the world. Go and talk to the bishops of other Continents and listen to the things that they would say to you . . .” 

First, you cited the reform of the Curia, have you and the Pope spoken about it and in what terms? 

"We have spoken to the Pope of synodality, of a permanent Synod. How to do this should be studied, and it is here that the experience of the permanent Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church could be of help in understanding. How to render permanent the Commission of Eight Cardinals should be studied, expanding it before anything else (ampliandola innanzitutto). The reform of the Curia is not able to limit itself to increasing or diminishing the dicasteries, or replacing personnel.  The true reform of the Curia is the purification of its structures."

A Study in Contrasts: Francis, Benedict, Augustine

In the speech delivered at the end of the Synod, Pope Francis said something puzzling. It was another one of those invocations of “the God of surprises,” this time in the midst of a stark opposition between “the letter” and “the spirit”:

One, a temptation to hostile inflexibility, that is, wanting to close oneself within the written word (the letter) and not allowing oneself to be surprised by God, by the God of surprises (the spirit); within the law, within the certitude of what we know and not of what we still need to learn and to achieve. From the time of Christ, it is the temptation of the zealous, of the scrupulous, of the solicitous and of the so-called—today—“traditionalists” and also of the intellectuals.

When I read this, I scratched my head, recalling the quite different way in which the Pope’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, had spoken of the spirit and the letter of the Second Vatican Council, in the address he delivered only nine years ago today, December 22, 2005:

The Synod and the Ordinary Magisterium of the Church

 

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

10th December 2014

 

As the 2015 Synod looms ahead laden with the unknown and [many] problems, a prime question is up for discussion.  What is the authority of ecclesiastical documents which may be produced by the ordinary Magisterium of a Pope or Synod?

The progressives, or better the neo-modernists, attach an infallible character to all the acts of the present Pontiff and to the results of the next Synod, whatever they may be.  They say – we need to obey these acts, since,  as in the case of the Second Vatican Council, the Pope or the bishops united to him, cannot fall into error. On the other hand, the progressives themselves deny infallible value to the teachings of the Encyclical Humanae Vitae of Paul VI, and affirm that traditional morality in the marital field  needs to be up-dated, adapting to the “experienced convictions” of those Catholics that practice contraception, artificial insemination and non–marital cohabitation.