On Thursday the Vatican published reports prepared by Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer and Cardinal Marc Ouellet which condemned the direction of Germany’s Synodal Path.
Cardinal Ladaria, a Spanish Jesuit who serves as the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal Ouellet, a Canadian who serves as the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, presented the reports to Germany’s bishops on the final day of their ad limina visit to Rome on 18th November. Originally written in Italian, the texts were also published in German by Vatican News.
The reports form part of the Vatican’s response to the German bishops own synodal process, Der Synodale Weg (Synodal Path), which is a series of conferences to discuss a range of contemporary theological and organisational questions, and as a response to the sexual abuse crisis in the German Church.
The process has drawn criticism from bishops outside Germany as participants have endorsed texts which call for a radical departure from Catholic teaching on a number of key issues. Just how radical the departure is becomes clear reading the two cardinals’ comments.
Cardinal Ladaria identified five main concerns about the Synodal Way in his 2,000-word report. Initially stating that the Synodal Path’s documents needed to be summarised in a final document in order to form a coherent whole, he then makes the point that the texts appear to present the Church “from the outset as a structurally abusive organisation, which must be brought under the control of supervisors as soon as possible”.
His third concern is that the texts of the Synodal Path give the impression that, with regard to the Church’s doctrine on human sexuality, “there is almost nothing to save in this area of Church teaching. Everything must be changed”.
He asks, “how can one not think of the impact all of this has on so many believers who listen to the voice of the Church and strive to follow its guidelines for their lives? Should they perhaps think that they have done everything wrong so far?”Cardinal Ladaria then scolds the Germans for the lack of confidence in the vision of the Magisterium as expressed by the Synodal Path.
Next, Ladaria condemns the reductionism inherent in the German process which diminishes the Magisterium to a single statement: “the fundamental dignity of women is not respected in the Catholic Church because they have no access to priestly ordination”.
Quoting St. John Paul II’s Ordinatio sacerdotalis, Ladaria explains that in this reality the Church is being faithful to “the express will of the Lord Jesus”. He does offer his gratitude for a more conciliatory reflection on this matter offered to the Holy Father, which, Ladaria says will “certainly dampen the very polemical tones of the relevant text on the access of women to priestly ordinations”.
His fifth concern, the cardinal explains, is that the texts overlook the stipulation in Dei Verbum, “So that the gospel may be preserved forever in the church intact and alive, the apostles have bishops as their successors left behind and passed on to them their own teaching” (DV, 7).
He explains that the Magisterium is under the judgement of the Word and therefore it is through the exercise of the Magisterium that the Word comes alive through the bishops “cum Petro and sub Petro”. This means that it is not for theologians and “experts in other sciences” to discern the Magisterium, but for the bishops in union with the pope.
Cardinal Ouellet’s intervention is much more of an iron fist in a silk glove. It opens with emphasis on the fraternal bonds of the episcopacy “with an eye to the needs of ordinary believers”.
It begins with praise for the seriousness of the bishops response to an abuse crisis which is widely considered to have contributed to a collapse in membership. However, the cardinal says that the Synodal Way’s proposals raise “serious difficulties from an anthropological, pastoral, and ecclesiological point of view… It is difficult to avoid the impression that the extremely serious matter of the abuse cases has been exploited to push through other ideas not directly related to it.”
Ouellet acknowledges the German bishops’ claim that they are not seeking a break with the universal Church, seemingly a direct reference to comments made by the German Bishops’ Conference president, Georg Bätzing, who told journalists at a press conference on Saturday morning that there was no departure from Catholicism intended. Instead, he said, supporters of the Synodal Path wanted to remain Catholic, “but we want to be Catholic in a different way.”
In response to statements by Bätzing saying they “want to be Catholic in a different way”, the cardinal says that although he knows it is not the German intention to “advocate a condensed Christian life that would be more in keeping with the ‘zeitgeist’ than the gospel” they are nevertheless capitulating to the spirit of the age, making “concessions” under “very strong cultural and media pressure”.
Ouellet says, “It is striking, however, that the agenda of a limited group of theologians from a few decades ago has suddenly become the majority proposal of the German episcopate: abolition of compulsory celibacy, ordination of viri probati, access of women to the ordained ministry, moral re-evaluation of homosexuality, structural and functional limitation of hierarchical power, reflections on sexuality inspired by gender theory, major proposed changes to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, etc.”
The cardinal remarked that the Synodal Way appeared to seek the “transformation of the Church” and “not only pastoral innovations in the moral or dogmatic field”, which “hurts the communion of the Church because it sows doubt and confusion among God’s people”.
Cardinal Ouellet accused the Germans of ignoring Pope Francis’ 2019 letter to German Catholics in which he reflected on the principles of genuine reform. He calls this a “distancing from the papal magisterium”.
He suggests that the German attitude “reveals a problem of faith in relation to the Magisterium and a certain pervasive rationalism that adheres to decisions only when they appear personally convincing or are accepted by mainstream thinking”.
The cardinal calls for the initiative to be suspended and followed by “a fundamental review at a later date” in light of the outcome of the global Synodal Process.
“It is clear that the method of the World Synod differs from that used in Germany: it is certainly less parliamentary, more oriented towards global participation and towards reaching a consensus based on a deep spiritual listening to the people of God,” he said.
Ouellet added, “The fundamental motive for this moratorium is concern for the unity of the Church, which is based on the unity of the bishops in communion and obedience to Peter.”
“The endorsement of this controversial proposal by an episcopate in difficulty would sow even more doubt and confusion among the People of God.”
The press were first made aware of these reports in a joint statement from the Vatican and German bishops issued on 18 November.
On Saturday, before the texts above were released, German bishops insisted that their reform process wouldn’t lead to a schism and vowed to see it through in spite of Vatican requests for a moratorium.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.