The Synod has started....

And there is this. Keep praying.

http://blogs.new.spectator.co.uk/20...nod-could-lead-to-the-collapse-of-the-church/

 

TROUBLE BREWING ALREADY !

Thirteen cardinals confront Pope Francis over manipulation of Synod

ROME, October 12, 2015 (Voice of the Family) -- Thirteen cardinals have written to Pope Francis to protest about the direction being taken at the Ordinary Synod on the Family. The letter, which was handed to the Pope by George Cardinal Pell on Monday 5th October, is a devastating critique of the conduct of the synod. The cardinals state that:

• the Instrumentum Laboris cannot “adequately serve as a guiding text or the foundation of a final document” because of its “problematic elements”
• the new synodal procedures are seen as “lacking openness and genuine collegiality” and “not true to the traditional spirit and purpose of a synod”
• the “lack of input by the synod fathers in the composition of the drafting committee has created considerable unease”
• and a “number of fathers feel the new process seems designed to facilitate predetermined results on important disputed questions”.

They conclude:

Finally and perhaps most urgently, various fathers have expressed concern that a synod designed to address a vital pastoral matter – reinforcing the dignity of marriage and family – may become dominated by the theological/doctrinal issue of Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried. If so, this will inevitably raise even more fundamental issues about how the Church, going forward, should interpret and apply the Word of God, her doctrines and her disciplines to changes in culture. The collapse of liberal Protestant churches in the modern era, accelerated by their abandonment of key elements of Christian belief and practice in the name of pastoral adaptation, warrants great caution in our own synodal discussions.

Reports indicate that the Pope Francis addressed the synod the next day and told synod fathers “not to give in to the conspiracy hermeneutic, which is sociologically weak and spiritually unhelpful.” The pope’s remarks, which are sure to be interpreted as a public dismissal of his cardinals’ concerns, will heighten disquiet about his own role in the synodal process. As President of the Synod of Bishops the pope is ultimately responsible for the way the synod is conducted and for the documents issued by the Synod Secretariat.

The centrality of Pope Francis to the conduct of the synod has been underlined by Lorenzo Cardinal Baldisseri. In an interview earlier this year he said:

The pope is the president of the synod of bishops. I am the secretary general, but I don’t have anyone else above me, such as a prefect of a congregation or a president of a council. I don’t have anyone else above me, only the pope. The pope presided over all the council meetings of the secretariat. He presides. I am the secretary. And so the documents were all seen and approved by the pope, with the approval of his presence. Even the documents during the synod, such as the Relatio ante disceptationem, the Relatio post disceptationem and theRelatio synodi were seen by him before they were published.

The concerns raised in the cardinals’ letter have also been expressed by Voice of the Family. The approach adopted in the Instrumentum Laboris is wholly unacceptable and, as our analysis demonstrates, the document contains numerous passages that contradict the teachings of the Catholic Church. The synod fathers must refuse their assent to any final document that adopts the same approach as the Instrumentum Laboris.

The thirteen signatories, who deserve our thanks and prayers, are:

• Carlo Cardinal Caffarra, Archbishop of Bologna
• Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto
• Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York
• Willem Cardinal Eijk, Archbishop of Utrecht
• Péter Cardinal Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest
• Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
• Wilfrid Fox Cardinal Napier, Archbishop of Durban
• George Cardinal Pell, Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy
• Mauro Cardinal Piacenza, Prefect of the Major Penitentiary
• Robert Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
• Angelo Cardinal Scola, Archbishop of Milan
• Jorge Cardinal Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas
• André Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, President Delegate of the Synod

​

https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinio...front-pope-francis-over-manipulation-of-synod

 

I read the African Bishops say the Synod is too westernized.

 

Every moment spent reading gossip about the Synod is a moment stolen from prayer, and a distraction from the enemy. Knowing and sharing gossip won't promote God's Will in the Synod, but prayer certainly will. Please, brothers and sisters, man your battle stations!

 

I get the sentiment Kathy, but a signed letter is not gossip. Good to be informed what is going on too.

 

One prays that it is not too secularised!!

 

Kathy K,

I don't see what we said was wrong. That is how we learn by discussion. To totally just wait for final synod judgement is just not how Our Holy Father would want. I get it...when we had the extremest of Brian in our mists but to stop debate and discussion from what is going on in Synod is not from the Holy Spirit. The biggest reason i liked discussion is that it kept me informed about what was going on. Obviously some good and some bad. Now it has become almost non-existent almost a blip in history. There is a balance one must take...there is nothing greater then prayer but one needs knowledge to balance our soul.

I think some of you have missed the boat. This is a once in a lifetime moment. We should learn and enjoy the moment.

Brother al

 

My point is this - "being informed" doesn't help us. We are not participants in the Synod. It's enough to know that it is ongoing and what is needed is our prayers. Soon enough we will know the result.

 

Sorry, but if that letter was not addressed to us as individuals, we are reading someone else's mail. Jesus told us that there are some demons that can only be driven out by prayer and fasting. I'm called to fast from satisfying my curiosity about the process of the Synod, and pray for the outcome.

 

i can respect that

 

There is nothing to learn until we have an outcome. The process is not our business. To me, this seems like a birthing. I've had four children, and the moment to enjoy was the moment after the birth. Prior to that, it was hard labor. Let's all labor in prayer!

 

Excellent analogy. Just wait and see the end result, nothing at all to be gained parsing over all the tidbits that come out before the final product is ready.

 

In reply to those who are looking for some narrative about whats happening at the synod I would point you to these sites:
http://www.cruxnow.com
http://www.wdtprs.com
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com

And also for whats its worth here are a few points on what has happened so far and my apologies for going over the same ground as some posts above: (By the way I dont think its wrong just to discuss things, unfortunately its true that in some places on the net, and even offline, you get a type of discussion which is very judgemental and full of, negative, gossip but I don't think it follows that a quieter, and hopefully more helpful, type of discussion is impossible?):

Obviously the first thing that happened in Rome as the synod opened was that a Polish priest and theologian who lectures in two Pontifical Universites in Rome, and also works at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, announced he was gay, introduced his partner and launched a manifesto of gay friendly things that the Church should now do. He was immediately sacked by the Pope from his jobs and his fate as a priest was left up to his Polish Bishop.

Secondly the opening business of the synod was begun by a speech of Cardinal Peter Erdo, the Primate of Hungary, which was a ringing endorsement of the conservative position. He is the Relator of the synod and as such he should open every specific session - i.e. every specific part of the Instrumentum Laboris which is the already published working document of the synod - but its reported that he has not being allowed to speak again after his initial speech.

Remember what happened the last time was that the controversial interim document was introduced as a speech by him but actually it was written by Archbishop Bruno Forte and Erdo pointedly handed the mic to him when he was asked questions about the document at a press conference.

Furthermore it transpires that quite a number of the leading Cardinals have signed a letter arguing that the synod procedures should be changed (including e.g. Muller, Pell, Erdo, Napier, Sarah etc). Specifically they want the committee that will write the final report to be elected by the assembly (they were appointed by the Pope and there are no obvious traditionalists on it).

Also it seems that there are great changes to this synod that they object to. It appears that the main change is that the Instrumentum text will stand as the final text unless there is a two thirds majority against it whereas before this you could not introduce text, or propose changes to Church Law, without a two thirds majority in favour. So obviously its a subtle but very important difference. But in fact it seems the rules have changed quite a bit throughout the week of the synod so I'm not sure if that in fact is the present actual situation.

Then it was leaked (via tweets and blog posts of the synod Fathers) that the Pope indirectly replied to these concerns via a statement he made a the synod. He said that the "hermeneutic of conspiracy" approach was sociological weak and spiritually unhelpful and so he is not going to make those changes.

Incidentally what then happened was that the resulting press corps pointed out how the daily press briefings never managed to give them a clue about such interesting interventions at the synod. The papal press secretary replied that he has to abide by exact rules in his coverage of the synod (i.e. somebody higher up censors him!) and he wasn't permitted to reveal that. Also the press office is now cracking down on the tweeting and blogging synod fathers and advising them that yes they can refer to their own contributions but not to those of others.

Personally I think that Papal disparagaing of 'conspiracy theories' is an interesting insight into the Papal mind. As regards the spiritual aspect of the synod I believe the Pope is correct, there is no need to worry that some overarching haywork is going to change Church doctrine here. The Pope isn't going to stand for that, and neither are the vast majority of synod participants, so there is no need for concern there at all, I think.

But I would say that on political questions, like say migration flows, and even scientific ones, like say global warming or even evolution, the Holy Father might be guilty of an error in overlooking the possibility of a 'conspiracy' in these areas? I think many who are long in the tooth in looking at global political questions do indeed end up believing in the 'conspiracy theory' and I wonder if the Holy Father will in time come to that conclusion himself? In the meantime he may be making the odd mistake on some of the these political and scientific questions but definitely not religious ones?

Anyway its being quite exciting so far so fingers crossed for the rest of the synod!

 

Thank you for this

 

Thank you Glenn, Solaire Bocht and everyone else for you input and updating us as to what is going on in they synod. I have been watching it like a hawk. It is as vibrant a debate as was thought beforehand. I agree with those who say our part is prayer. It is, and a very important one, but to be informed is not wrong either. If it was wrong EWTN wouldn't be running a special show with daily coverage of it. During this confusing time we have to keep our eye on the ball.

To the list of sites to keep track of I would add:
EWTN on Youtube. They have a daily update on the synod as well as The World Over with Raymond Arroyo who gives a weekly synopsis on Thursdays:
https://www.youtube.com/user/EWTN/videos

Here is a good general update of the first week for any interested:



And a link to their last "daily update" show:

 

Its Oct 13 here in NZ. Great mass reading from St Paul to Romans. Great reading for the Synod

 

I like Raymond's insight and narration. It helps to know what to pray for. Seems much of the confusion initially is not having a good set of parameters to guide the discussions. Should be an interesting next two weeks. I will use EWTN as an objective resource.

 

I have to disagree very much with this view. I found the Arroyo program far from objective. Deliberately or otherwise I found the whole thrust of the program to be slanted in a critical way with the two guests giving very predictable responses from some loaded questions.
The second program was not as bad but Edward Pentin who has reported a lot on the the first synod and on the lead up to this one has, again, a somewhat critical standpoint.

 

Thank you...thats interesting to see how the Synod fathers are debating. Early on...i believe the Pope was upset with Cardinal Erdo because his opening speech left no room for debate. If they have three weeks to listen to all views... the Holy Father was not pleased with the opening speech being the concluding speech. The Holy Father wants the Holy Spirit to be present during these three weeks of prayer and debate... before a final conclusion is made. I think Cardinal Erdo has spoken his mind.

The real interesting segment of Cardinals are the Africans. That is where the church is most vibrant but they feel slighted by the western influence. They should have a major influence at this Synod.

Thank you scolaire...all that is interesting and helps me.

Brother al

 

not being informed and nothing to learn...that is sad.

The basis for our Catholic Faith



And we are participants in the Synod...Communion of Saints, we are all one