[Catholic Caucus] Synodality is the common thread linking the many controversies of the Francis pontificate

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Posted on 10/16/2024 11:22:12 AM PDT by ebb tide

As Cardinal Joseph Tobin stated in 2021, 'synodality is, in fact, the long-game of Pope Francis.' The process of 'listening and dialogue' leading to doctrinal revolution and relativism is the string which ties together not just previous synods, but the last 11 years.

Through the process and style of the Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis appears to be subtly but firmly trying to irreversibly implement the more controversial focus points of his papacy.

“The Synod on the Amazon has opened the path for the Synod on Synodality,” Cardinal Leonardo Steiner, Archbishop of Manaus in Brazil, told Vatican journalists October 15. It was a “journey built day after day,” he said.

Such a remark is notable as it fundamentally links the controversial Amazon Synod of 2019 – replete with calls for female deacons, married clergy, and the Pachamama ceremonies – to the multi-year Synod on Synodality which is approaching its official completion this month.

Steiner is well placed to make such a remark, given his position leading a diocese of vast geographical size in the Amazon, and himself being a proponent of many of the controversial issues of the Amazon Synod.

Praising the Synod on Synodality, Steiner said in Tuesday’s press conference at the Vatican that it “is opening up our understanding so that we can deepen every day our understanding of what it means to be a synodal Church.”

Pointing to his own Archdiocese of Manaus and the practice of synodality, Steiner said that “we pray together and decide together as to what are our pastoral goals and guidelines.”

“Synodality,” he argued, “explains to us that we must be increasingly open to inculturality and inter-religiosity.” Steiner also welcomed the synodal style of “being open to listen to religions and cultures so that the gospel increasingly becomes inculturated.”

Linking the Synod on Synodality to the Amazon Synod once more, he added that “this is what Pope Francis is asking of us in Queridia Amazonia,” the document which emerged following the 2019 synod.

READ: FULL coverage of the Synod straight from Rome

Steiner is not alone in linking the Synod on Synodality to other contentious aspects of Francis’ pontificate.

In the same Vatican press hall a few days before, American Cardinal Joseph Tobin made similar remarks. The 72-year-old cardinal suggested that Francis’ focus on synodality was tying together key themes and documents from his pontificate. Describing how Francis overruled the advice of the council of the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops to choose “synodality” as the theme of this current synod, Tobin said:

As he distilled wisdom that was presented in subsequent synods – Amoris Laetitia, Fratelli Tutti, Laudato Si’, it became clear to me that the Holy Father was not simply proposing a program, but that he was helping me and others to understand that in order to do to this, to respond to the Lord this way, you need to think differently about how the church lives and acts.

Now, added Tobin, Francis’ attention to synodality “is a great moment of grace for the Church and the world.”

Since 2018, Tobin has been a member of the ordinary council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.

Amazon Synod and Synodality

While linking two synods organized under the same pontiff might not initially seem noteworthy, the reality is anything but mundane. The very fact that the underlying link tying synodality to the most controversial aspects of Francis’ pontificate has been personally highlighted by two cardinals close to the Pope is, of itself, important.

The Amazon Synod was marked by calls for female deacons and married clergy – neither of which were officially present in the synod’s final document: something which Steiner told the press corps Tuesday was “a disappointment.”

But both of those issues have been repeatedly raised by members of the Synod on Synodality, even though they are not the focus of the event.

Amoris Laetitia is infamous for proposing Holy Communion for the divorced and “re-married.” While officially given the green light by Francis via a letter to the Argentinian bishops on the topic, the question remains a controversial one. Prioritizing the place of divorced and “re-married” in the Church has now also been raised in the Synod on Synodality, under the focus of listening to the “marginalized.”

Fratelli Tutti promoting human fraternity has been widely criticized for promoting fraternity divorced from religion and, as a result, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò condemned the text for promoting a “blasphemous” form of brotherhood without God as well as “religious indifferentism.” The theme of fraternity is also found strongly in the synod texts, as “unity in diversity” is sought as a key goal. “Throughout the synod process, the Church’s desire for unity has grown hand in hand with an awareness of its diversity,” the working document of the 2024 synod session reads.   

Meanwhile Laudato Si’, and its focus on “climate change” issues, has become the reference text for later Vatican and papal initiatives focused on the so-called “green” agenda. In it, Francis writes about a “true ecological approach” which listens to “both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” Such ecological concerns have been cited by various synod members, with allusions to their specific circumstances and how to orient the Church to them.

Indeed, while certain of Francis’ previous synods and documents have been met with much resistance from concerned Catholics – and welcomed among liberal activists – the structure of the Church as a whole is still not conformed enough to the goal envisaged by the synod leaders and most ardent activists for those same issues.

It is for this reason that the respective activists are renewing their calls for their personal goals. And thanks to the synod, they have more hope of achieving them than ever before.

READ: Synod proposal could give ‘doctrinal authority’ to local bishops’ conferences

With the Synod on Synodality promoting “inculturation” of the Gospel in ways particular to different countries, and even discussing allowing bishops’ conferences to decide upon doctrinal issues in variance with one another, a free-for-all situation could emerge to the delight of various activists.

The advocates of female ordination can forge ahead (as they already are) citing their geographical needs. So too could the “listening and dialogue” of synodality result in an official “inclusion” of LGBT ideology in certain dioceses, and be defended under the principle of “unity in diversity.”

This Synod on Synodality presents a new manner of ecclesial life and governance, one in which endless questioning, round-table discussions, and joint decision making becomes the norm while the traditional hierarchy and unchanging teachings of the Church are sidelined.

Altering Church structure, life, and de facto altering its teachings by allowing wildly different practices throughout the Church is a most effective way to reduce opposition to any one point in particular.

As Cardinal Tobin stated in 2021, “synodality is, in fact, the long-game of Pope Francis.” The process of “listening and dialogue” leading to doctrinal revolution and relativism is the string which ties together not just previous synods, but the last 11 years.

Full coverage of the Synod on Synodality can be found at this link here on LifeSiteNews, and on the X account of LifeSite’s Vatican correspondent.

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As Cardinal Tobin stated in 2021, “synodality is, in fact, the long-game of Pope Francis.” The process of “listening and dialogue” leading to doctrinal revolution and relativism is the string which ties together not just previous synods, but the last 11 years.

1 posted on 10/16/2024 11:22:12 AM PDT by ebb tide

To: Al Hitan; Fedora; irishjuggler; Jaded; kalee; markomalley; miele man; Mrs. Don-o; ...

2 posted on 10/16/2024 11:22:38 AM PDT by ebb tide ("The Spirit of Vatican II" is nothing more than a wicked "ideology" of the modernists.)

To: ebb tide

3 posted on 10/16/2024 11:25:26 AM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)

To: ebb tide

4 posted on 10/16/2024 11:26:25 AM PDT by yuleeyahoo (“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” - the deep-state)

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