Has the intervention of Pope Francis returned the Synod to heterodox trajectory?
The Ordinary
Synod on the Family moved much closer yesterday to a repudiation of the
teachings of the Catholic Church on human sexuality. The hopes of faithful
Catholics were raised on Monday by the reassertions of Catholic orthodoxy made
in the relazione introduttiva of the General Relator of the Synod,
Peter Cardinal Erdo, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest. Yesterday Erdo’s report
and position were seriously undermined after an intervention of Pope Francis
indicated to the synod fathers that the question of Holy Communion for the
“divorced and remarried” was still open. Cardinal Erdo was also undermined by
remarks made by synod fathers invited to a press conference organised by
Holy See press spokesman Fr Lombardi S.J.
Cardinal Erdo’s relazione introduttiva
In
his opening report, delivered on Monday morning, Cardinal Erdo upheld
Catholic doctrine across the whole spectrum of teachings pertaining to human
sexuality. The General Relator decisively rejected the proposal of Cardinal
Kasper on the admission to Holy Communion of those living in public adultery
and clearly restated Catholic teaching on issues such homosexuality, the
indissolubility of marriage and contraception. He also repudiated the false
understanding of mercy that has been increasingly prevalent in the lead-up to
the Ordinary Synod. “Mercy”, said the cardinal, “demands conversion.” A fuller
analysis of Erdo’s report can be found here.
Cardinal Erdo and
Archbishop Forte adopt divergent approaches at press conference
Cardinal
Erdo’s defence of Catholic teaching continued at the press conference held at
the Holy See Press Office on Monday afternoon. The conference was also
attended by Archbishop Bruno Forte, Special Secretary of the Synod, and by
Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris.
Cardinal
Erdo was asked by journalists to comment on his report in connection with the
reception of Holy Communion by the “divorced and remarried”. In response he
defended his decision to uphold Catholic doctrine and stressed that, far from
being unlimited, doctrinal development could only take place in accordance with
Tradition. He also rejected the suggestion that there was an Eastern Orthodox
alternative to Catholic doctrine and discipline by drawing attention to the
divisions that exist within the Orthodox Church. Most pointed perhaps, was his
remark that the Gospel reading on the day the synod opened was, coincidentally,
Our Lord’s teaching on the indissolubility of marriage as recorded in St Luke’s
Gospel.
Archbishop
Bruno Forte, who is known to have drafted heterodox passages on homosexuality
in last year’s relatio post disceptationem, responded to Cardinal Erdo at
the earliest opportunity. He ignored a question put to him by a journalist
about large families and instead returned the discussion to Holy Communion
for the “divorced and remarried”.
Archbishop
Forte stressed that the synod was a “pastoral synod” focused on
“pastoral care”. There was a need to find “new ways to approach the pastoral
challenges” because “times change, situations change”. He said the “pastoral
challenges are there and we must face them”. (The translation of Archbishop
Forte’s remarks is taken from the simultaneous translation provided
by the Holy See Press Office.)
Forte’s
remarks fit the general narrative pursued by dissenting prelates at the Synod.
Their modus operandi is to insist that the Church’s doctrine will
remain untouched but that pastoral practice will change. In fact, the so-called
pastoral changes that they propose, such as the readmission of unrepentant
adulterers to Holy Communion, do in fact contradict Catholic doctrine.
The intervention of Pope
Francis
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 Erdo’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 Erdo. 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.
Two archbishops
undermine the report of Cardinal Erdo and refuse to affirm Catholic faith
At
a press conference held in the Holy See Press Office yesterday afternoon
Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, President of the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications, was asked whether, following the report of Cardinal Erdo,
the question of the reception of Holy Communion by the “divorced and remarried”
was closed. By affirming that “the question is still open” Archbishop Celli not
only undermined the witness of Cardinal Erdo but, much more seriously,
repudiated the constant teaching of the magisterium of the Church.
Yesterday’s
press conference was also attended by Archbishop Paul-André Durocher,
Archbishop of Gatineau (Canada). Durocher was asked by a journalist whether it
could now be said that the issue of the reception of Holy Communion by the
“divorced and remarried” should be considered a matter of “pastoral practice”
rather than “doctrine”. Archbishop Durocher refused to take the opportunity
offered to him to affirm the teaching of the Church; instead he simply
stated that the synod fathers have different views on this point.
Fr Rosica’s summary of
the “progressive” revolution against Catholic doctrine
At
yesterday’s press conference Fr Thomas Rosica, English-speaking press spokesman
for the Holy See, gave what he described as a summary of the interventions of
the synod fathers. The interventions summarised by Rosica were almost uniformly
“progressive”.
Fr
Rosica’s summary stressed the need for “an end to exclusionary
language” and a need to “embrace reality as it is” and not to be
“afraid of new and complex situations”. One synod father is reported to have
said that “in the pastoral care of people the language of inclusion must be our
language, always considering pastoral and canonical possibilities and
solutions.” Rosica made reference to interventions calling for a “new
catechesis for marriage”, “new language to speak to the people of our time”,
new “pastoral approaches for those living together before marriage” and a new
approach towards homosexuality that would no longer give the impression that
Catholics felt “pity” towards homosexuals. Rosica also drew attention to a call
to extend the practice of general absolution for the Year of Mercy and to a
contribution that asked “are there new ways of using the permanent diaconate,
and those who are permanent deacons, to be real ministers of
mercy?” Another intervention asked “are we the masters of the table of the
Eucharist or the servants of that table welcoming people to it?”
One
of the most disturbing aspects of Rosica’s summary was the suggestion that the
question of Holy Communion for the “divorced and remarried” could be solved in
different ways in different parts of the world. This would lead to different
practices, and thus different doctrines, in different parts of the Church. Such
division is, of course, inseparable from schism.
Conclusions
The
opening report of the General Relator, Cardinal Erdo, raised hopes that it
might be possible for the Ordinary Synod to be reoriented in an orthodox
direction despite the heterodoxInstrumentum Laboris that serves as its
agenda. The undermining of Cardinal Erdo’s report by the intervention of Pope
Francis seems to place the synod back on a heterodox orientation. If theRelatio
Synodi and Instrumentum Laboris continue to be the basis for the
Ordinary Synod’s work, then those responsible for the synod, and those who
follow their lead, will remain on a trajectory towards formal repudiation of
the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
Reprinted with
permission of Voice of the Family.
