Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich-Freising, president of the German bishops' conference. (CNS photo/Sascha Steinbach, EPA)
Your Eminence:
I noted with interest your recent announcement of a “binding synodal process” during which the Church in Germany will discuss the celibacy of the Latin-rite Catholic priesthood, the Church’s sexual ethic and clericalism, these being “issues” put on the table by the crisis of clerical sexual abuse.
Perhaps the following questions will help sharpen your discussions.
1) How can the “synodal process” of a local Church produce “binding” results on matters affecting the entire Catholic Church? The Anglican Communion tried this and is now in terminal disarray; the local Anglican churches that took the path of cultural accommodation are comatose. Is this the model you and your fellow-bishops favor?
2) What does the celibacy of priests in the Latin-rite have to do with the sexual abuse crisis? Celibacy has no more to do with sexual abuse than marriage has to do with spousal abuse. Empirical studies indicate that most sexual abuse of the young takes place within (typically broken) families; Protestant denominations with a married clergy also suffer from the scourge of sexual abuse; and in any event, marriage is not a crime-prevention program. Is it cynical to imagine that the abuse crisis is now being weaponized to mount an assault on clerical celibacy, what with other artillery having failed to dislodge this ancient Catholic tradition?
3) According to a Catholic News Agency report, you suggested that “the significance of sexuality to personhood has not yet received sufficient attention from the Church.” Really? Has St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body not been translated into German? Perhaps it has, but it may be too long and complex to have been properly absorbed by German-speaking Catholics. Permit me then, to draw your attention to pp. 347-358 of Zeuge der Hoffnung (Ferdinand Schoeningh, 2002) the German translation of Witness to Hope, the first volume of my John Paul II biography. There, you and your colleagues will find a summary of the Theology of the Body, including its richly personalistic explanation of the Church’s ethic of human love and its biblically-rooted understanding of celibacy undertaken for the Kingdom of God.
4) You also note that your fellow-bishops “feel…unable to speak on questions of present-day sexual behavior.” That was certainly not the case at the Synods of 2014, 2015, and 2018, where German bishops felt quite able to speak frequently to these questions, albeit in a way that typically mirrored today’s politically-correct fashions. And I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering just when the German episcopate last spoke to “present-day sexual behavior” in a way that promoted the Church’s ethic of human love as life-affirming and ordered to human happiness and fulfillment, at least in the years since its massive dissent from Humanae Vitae (Pope St. Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical on the ethics of family planning)? But that, as I understand Pope Francis, is what he is calling us all to do: Witness to, preach, and teach the “Yes” that undergirds everything to which the Church must, in fidelity to both revelation and reason, say “No.”
5) The CNA report also noted that your “synodal process” (which, in a nice tip of the miter to Hegel, you described as a “synodal progression”) would involve consultations with the Central Committee of German Catholics. My dear Cardinal Marx, this is rather like President Trump consulting with Fox News or Speaker Pelosi consulting with the editors of the New York Times. If you’ll pardon the reference to Major Heinrich Strasser in Casablanca, even we blundering Americans know that the ZdK, the Zentralkomitee der Deutschen Katholiken, is the schwerpunkt, the spearhead that clears the ground to the far left so that the German bishops can position themselves as the “moderate” or “centrist” force in the German Church. You know, and I know, and everyone else should know that consultations with the ZdK will produce nothing but further attacks on celibacy, further affirmations of current sexual fads, and further deprecations of Humane Vitae (based, in part, on the ZdK’s evident ignorance of the Theology of the Body and German hostility to John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical on the renovation of Catholic moral theology, Veritatis Splendor).
Your Eminence, the German Church — the Catholicism of my ancestors — is dying. It will not be revitalized by becoming a simulacrum of moribund liberal Protestantism.
I wish you a fruitful Lent and a joyful Easter.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Oct. 5, 2016. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
CNA Staff, Mar 13, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
March 13 marks the anniversary of the election of Pope Francis as the 266th successor of St. Peter. Here is a timeline of key events during his papacy:
2013
March 13 — About two weeks after Pope Benedict XVI steps down from the papacy, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is elected pope. He takes the papal name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi and proclaims from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica: “Let us begin this journey, the bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust. Let us always pray for one another.”
March 14 — The day after he begins his pontificate, Pope Francis returns to his hotel to personally pay his hotel bill and collect his luggage.
July 8 — Pope Francis visits Italy’s island of Lampedusa and meets with a group of 50 migrants, most of whom are young men from Somalia and Eritrea. The island, which is about 200 miles off the coast of Tunisia, is a common entry point for migrants who flee parts of Africa and the Middle East to enter Europe. This is the pope’s first pastoral visit outside of Rome and sets the stage for making reaching out to the peripheries a significant focus.
Pope Francis gives the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2, 2013. Elise Harris/CNA.
July 23-28 — Pope Francis visits Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to participate in World Youth Day 2013. More than 3 million people from around the world attend the event.
July 29 — On the return flight from Brazil, Pope Francis gives his first papal news conference and sparks controversy by saying “if a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” The phrase is prompted by a reporter asking the pope a question about priests who have homosexual attraction.
Nov. 24 — Pope Francis publishes his first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). The document illustrates the pope’s vision for how to approach evangelization in the modern world.
2014
Feb. 22 — Pope Francis holds his first papal consistory to appoint 19 new cardinals, including ones from countries in the developing world that have never previously been represented in the College of Cardinals, such as Haiti.
March 22 — Pope Francis creates the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. The commission works to protect the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults, such as the victims of sexual abuse.
Pope Francis greets pilgrims during his general audience on Nov. 29, 2014. Bohumil Petrik/CNA.
Oct. 5 — The Synod on the Family begins. The bishops discuss a variety of concerns, including single-parent homes, cohabitation, homosexual adoption of children, and interreligious marriages.
Dec. 6 — After facing some pushback for his efforts to reform the Roman Curia, Pope Francis discusses his opinion in an interview with La Nacion, an Argentine news outlet: “Resistance is now evident. And that is a good sign for me, getting the resistance out into the open, no stealthy mumbling when there is disagreement. It’s healthy to get things out into the open, it’s very healthy.”
2015
Jan. 18 — To conclude a trip to Asia, Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Manila, Philippines. Approximately 6 million to 7 million people attend the record-setting Mass, despite heavy rain.
March 23 — Pope Francis visits Naples, Italy, to show the Church’s commitment to helping the fight against corruption and organized crime in the city.
May 24 — To emphasize the Church’s mission to combat global warming and care for the environment, Pope Francis publishes the encyclical Laudato Si’, which urges people to take care of the environment and encourages political action to address climate problems.
Pope Francis at a Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 17, 2015. Bohumil Petrik.
Sept. 19-22 — Pope Francis visits Cuba and meets with Fidel Castro in the first papal visit to the country since Pope John Paul II in 1998. During his homily, Francis discusses the dignity of the human person: “Being a Christian entails promoting the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living for it.”
Sept. 22-27 — After departing from Cuba, Pope Francis makes his first papal visit to the United States. In Washington, D.C., he speaks to a joint session of Congress, in which he urges lawmakers to work toward promoting the common good, and canonizes the Franciscan missionary St. Junípero Serra. He also attends the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, which focuses on celebrating the gift of the family.
Pope Francis speaks to the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 24, 2015. . L’Osservatore Romano.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis begins the second Synod on the Family to address issues within the modern family, such as single-parent homes, cohabitation, poverty, and abuse.
Oct. 18 — The pope canonizes St. Louis Martin and St. Marie-Azélie “Zelie” Guérin. The married couple were parents to five nuns, including St. Therese of Lisieux. They are the first married couple to be canonized together.
Dec. 8 — Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy begins. The year focuses on God’s mercy and forgiveness and people’s redemption from sin. The pope delegates certain priests in each diocese to be Missionaries of Mercy who have the authority to forgive sins that are usually reserved for the Holy See.
2016
March 19 — Pope Francis publishes the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which discusses a wide variety of issues facing the modern family based on discussions from the two synods on the family. The pope garners significant controversy from within the Church for comments he makes in Chapter 8 about Communion for the divorced and remarried.
April 16 — After visiting refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, Pope Francis allows three Muslim refugee families to join him on his flight back to Rome. He says the move was not a political statement.
Pope Francis at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Feb. 24, 2016. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
July 26-31 — Pope Francis visits Krakow, Poland, as part of the World Youth Day festivities. About 3 million young Catholic pilgrims from around the world attend.
Sept. 4 — The pope canonizes St. Teresa of Calcutta, who is also known as Mother Teresa. The saint, a nun from Albania, dedicated her life to missionary and charity work, primarily in India.
Sept. 30-Oct. 2 — Pope Francis visits Georgia and Azerbaijan on his 16th trip outside of Rome since the start of his papacy. His trip focuses on Catholic relations with Orthodox Christians and Muslims.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to Amatrice, Italy, to pray for the victims of an earthquake in central Italy that killed nearly 300 people.
2017
May 12-13 — In another papal trip, Francis travels to Fatima, Portugal, to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. May 13 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Marian apparition to three children in the city.
July 11 — Pope Francis adds another category of Christian life suitable for the consideration of sainthood: “offering of life.” The category is distinct from martyrdom, which only applies to someone who is killed for his or her faith. The new category applies to those who died prematurely through an offering of their life to God and neighbor.
Pope Francis greets a participant in the World Day of the Poor in Rome, Nov. 16, 2017. L’Osservatore Romano.
Nov. 19 — On the first-ever World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis eats lunch with 4,000 poor and people in need in Rome.
Nov. 27-Dec. 2 — In another trip to Asia, Pope Francis travels to Myanmar and Bangladesh. He visits landmarks and meets with government officials, Catholic clergy, and Buddhist monks. He also preaches the Gospel and promotes peace in the region.
2018
Jan. 15-21 — The pope takes another trip to Latin America, this time visiting Chile and Peru. The pontiff meets with government officials and members of the clergy while urging the faithful to remain close to the clergy and reject secularism. The Chilean visit leads to controversy over Chilean clergy sex abuse scandals.
Aug. 2 — The Vatican formally revises No. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which concerns the death penalty. The previous text suggested the death penalty could be permissible in certain circumstances, but the revision states that the death penalty is “inadmissible.”
Aug. 25 — Archbishop Carlo Viganò, former papal nuncio to the United States, publishes an 11-page letter calling for the resignation of Pope Francis and accusing him and other Vatican officials of covering up sexual abuse including allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The pope initially does not directly respond to the letter, but nine months after its publication he denies having prior knowledge about McCarrick’s conduct.
Aug. 25-26 — Pope Francis visits Dublin, Ireland, to attend the World Meeting of Families. The theme is “the Gospel of family, joy for the world.”
Pope Francis at the 2018 World Meeting of Families in Ireland. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Oct. 3-28 — The Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment takes place. The synod focuses on best practices to teach the faith to young people and to help them discern God’s will.
2019
Jan. 22-27 — The third World Youth Day during Pope Francis’ pontificate takes place during these six days in Panama City, Panama. Young Catholics from around the world gather for the event, with approximately 3 million people in attendance.
Feb. 4 — Pope Francis signs a joint document in with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, titled the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” The document focuses on people of different faiths uniting together to live peacefully and advance a culture of mutual respect.
Pope Francis and Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, signed a joint declaration on human fraternity during an interreligious meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Feb. 4, 2019. Vatican Media.
Feb. 21-24 — The Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church, which is labeled the Vatican Sexual Abuse Summit, takes place. The meeting focuses on sexual abuse scandals in the Church and emphasizes responsibility, accountability, and transparency.
Oct. 6-27 — The Church holds the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, which is also known as the Amazon Synod. The synod is meant to present ways in which the Church can better evangelize the Amazon region but leads to controversy when carved images of a pregnant Amazonian woman, referred to by the pope as Pachamama, are used in several events and displayed in a basilica near the Vatican.
Oct. 13 — St. John Henry Newman, an Anglican convert to Catholicism and a cardinal, is canonized by Pope Francis. Newman’s writings inspired Catholic student associations at nonreligious colleges and universities in the United States and other countries.
2020
March 15 — Pope Francis takes a walking pilgrimage in Rome to the chapel of the crucifix and prays for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. The crucifix was carried through Rome during the plague of 1522.
March 27 — Pope Francis gives an extraordinary “urbi et orbi” blessing in an empty and rain-covered St. Peter’s Square, praying for the world during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pope Francis venerates the miraculous crucifix of San Marcello al Corso in St. Peter’s Square during his Urbi et Orbi blessing, March 27, 2020. Vatican Media.
2021
March 5-8 — In his first papal trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis becomes the first pope to visit Iraq. On his trip, he signs a joint statement with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani condemning extremism and promoting peace.
July 3 — Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis, is indicted in a Vatican court for embezzlement, money laundering, and other crimes. The pope gives approval for the indictment.
July 4 — Pope Francis undergoes colon surgery for diverticulitis, a common condition in older people. The Vatican releases a statement that assures the pope “reacted well” to the surgery. Francis is released from the hospital after 10 days.
July 16 — Pope Francis issues a motu proprio titled Traditionis Custodes. The document imposes heavy restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.
Dec. 2-6 — The pope travels to Cyprus and Greece. The trip includes another visit to the Greek island of Lesbos to meet with migrants.
Pope Francis greets His Beatitude Ieronymos II in Athens, Greece on Dec. 5, 2021. Vatican Media
2022
Jan. 11 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to a record store in Rome called StereoSound. The pope, who has an affinity for classical music, blesses the newly renovated store.
March 19 — The pope promulgates Praedicate Evangelium, which reforms the Roman Curia. The reforms emphasize evangelization and establish more opportunities for the laity to be in leadership positions.
May 5 — Pope Francis is seen in a wheelchair for the first time in public and begins to use one more frequently. The pope has been suffering from knee problems for months.
Pope Francis greeted the crowd in a wheelchair at the end of his general audience on Aug. 3, 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
July 24-30 — In his first papal visit to Canada, Pope Francis apologizes for the harsh treatment of the indigenous Canadians, saying many Christians and members of the Catholic Church were complicit.
2023
Jan. 31-Feb. 5 — Pope Francis travels to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. During his visit, the pope condemns political violence in the countries and promotes peace. He also participates in an ecumenical prayer service with Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Moderator of the Church of Scotland Iain Greenshields.
Pope Francis greets a young boy a Mass in Juba, South Sudan on Feb. 5, 2023. Vatican Media
March 29-April 1 — Pope Francis is hospitalized for a respiratory infection. During his stay at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, he visits the pediatric cancer ward and baptizes a newborn baby.
April 5 — The pope appears in the Disney documentary “The Pope: Answers,” which is in Spanish, answering six “hot-button” issues from members of Gen Z from various backgrounds. The group discusses immigration, depression, abortion, clergy sexual and psychological abuse, transgenderism, pornography, and loss of faith.
April 28-30 — Pope Francis visits Hungary to meet with government officials, civil society members, bishops, priests, seminarians, Jesuits, consecrated men and women, and pastoral workers. He celebrates Mass on the final day of the trip in Kossuth Lajos Square.
Pope Francis stands on an altar erected outside the Parliament Building in Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos’ Square during a public outdoor Mass on April 30, 2023. Vatican Media
June 7 — The Vatican announces that Pope Francis will undergo abdominal surgery that afternoon under general anesthesia due to a hernia that is causing painful, recurring, and worsening symptoms. In his general audience that morning before the surgery, Francis says he intends to publish an apostolic letter on St. Thérèse of Lisieux, “patroness of the missions,” to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth.
June 15 — After successful surgery and a week of recovery, Pope Francis is released from Gemelli Hospital.
Aug. 2-6 — Pope Francis travels to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day 2023, taking place from Aug. 1-6. He meets with Church and civil leaders ahead of presiding at the welcoming Mass and Stations of the Cross. He also hears the confessions of several pilgrims. On Aug. 5, he visits the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, where he prays the rosary with young people with disabilities. That evening he presides over the vigil and on Sunday, Aug. 6, he celebrates the closing Mass, where he urges the 1.5 million young people present to “be not afraid,” echoing the words of the founder of World Youth Days, St. John Paul II.
Pope Francis waves at the crowd of 1.5 million people who attended the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 6, 2023. Vatican Media.
Aug. 31-Sept. 4 — Pope Francis travels to Mongolia, the world’s most sparsely populated sovereign country. The trip makes Francis the first pope to visit the Asian country that shares a 2,880-mile border with China, its most significant economic partner. Mongolia has a population of about 1,300 Catholics in a country of more than 3 million people.
Pope Francis meets with local priests and religious of Mongolia, which includes only 25 priests (19 religious and six diocesan), 33 women religious, and one bishop — Cardinal Giorgio Marengo — in Ulaanbaatar’s Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul on Sept. 2, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media
Sept. 22-23 — On a two-day trip to Marseille, France, Pope Francis meets with local civil and religious leaders and participates in the Mediterranean Encounter, a gathering of some 120 young people of various creeds with bishops from 30 countries.
Pope Francis asks for a moment of silence at a memorial dedicated to sailors and migrants lost at sea on the first of a two-day visit to Marseille, France, Sept. 22, 2023. A Camargue cross, which comes from the Camargue area of France, represents the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. The three tridents represent faith, the anchor represents hope, and the heart represents charity. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Oct. 4-29 — The Vatican hosts the first of two monthlong global assemblies of the Synod on Synodality, initiated by Pope Francis in 2021 to enhance the communion, participation, and mission of the Church. Pope Francis celebrates the closing Mass of the synod at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29. The second and final global assembly will take place at the Vatican in October 2024.
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Vatican Media
Nov. 25 — Pope Francis visits the hospital briefly for precautionary testing after coming down with the flu earlier in the day. Although he still participates in scheduled activities, other officials read his prepared remarks. The Vatican on Nov. 28 cancels the pope’s planned Dec. 1–3 trip to Dubai for the COP28 climate conference, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech, due to his illness.
Dec. 18 — The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issues the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which authorizes nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and couples in “irregular situations.” Various bishops from around the world voice both support for and criticism of the document.
2024
Jan. 4 — Amid widespread backlash to Fiducia Supplicans, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, publishes a five-page press release that refers to Fiducia Supplicans as “perennial doctrine” and underlines that pastoral blessings of couples in irregular situations should not be “an endorsement of the life led by those who request them.”
Jan. 14 — Pope Francis for the first time responds publicly to questions about Fiducia Supplicans in an interview on an Italian television show. The pope underlines that “the Lord blesses everyone” and that a blessing is an invitation to enter into a conversation “to see what the road is that the Lord proposes to them.”
Feb. 11 — In a ceremony attended by Argentine president Javier Milei, Pope Francis canonizes María Antonia of St. Joseph — known affectionately in the pope’s home country as “Mama Antula” — in a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. The president and the former archbishop of Buenos Aires embrace after the ceremony. Pope Francis, who has not returned to his homeland since becoming pope in 2013, has said he wants to visit Argentina in the second half of this year.
Pope Francis meets with Argentina President Javier Milei in a private audience on Feb. 12, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Feb. 28 — After canceling audiences the previous Saturday and having an aide read his prepared remarks at his Wednesday audience due to a “mild flu,” Pope Francis visits the hospital for diagnostic tests but returns to the Vatican afterward.
March 2 — Despite having an aide read his speech “because of bronchitis,” the pope presides over the inauguration of the 95th Judicial Year of the Vatican City State and maintains a full schedule.
March 13 — Pope Francis celebrates 11 years as Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
Whatever else there is to say about the document and regardless of one’s personal, spiritual, or intellectual disposition toward Pope Francis, it is fair to […]
Carl R. Trueman (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove City College. A church historian and prolific Evangelical author (he is a member of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church), Trueman […]
28 Comments
Marx and Francis continue to do the plan of the McCarrick Establishment, which serves the will of Anti-Christ.
As intended by the SEX ABUSER CONCLAVE of 2013, Pope Francis does NOT “hold and teach the Catholic faith, which comes to us from the Apostles.”
I would have written a different letter which goes as follows:
Your Eminence.
Since you and several of your Episcopal Colleagues in Germany do not believe in upholding the immutable truths of the Catholic faith, but instead seek to create a whole new religion based on moral relativism, I kindly suggest that you and your like-minded brothers leave the Catholic Church which you despise so much and start your own religion. At least then nobody would be able to accuse you of being dishonest and only staying in office solely to grow fat off the German Church Tax.
The German Church tax is 8 or 9 percent of the annual income tax. It garners the Catholic Church in Germany about $6 billion a year, while the Protestants, mostly Lutherans, take in slightly more than the Catholics. That’s a lot of money, ladies and gentlemen!
It’s all this filthy lucre that has destroyed the Catholic Church in Germany. The German bishops should imitate poor Judas and tell their Government to take their 30 pieces of silver and you know the rest….!
Matthew describes the scene in these words: “When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders…. ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,’ he said…. So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left” (27: 3-5).
It is high time that we faithful Catholics excommunicate these German anti Christ Catholic bishops. It is really not clear what they want. They seem to want to change the teachings of Lord Jesus Christ. For example Jesus said what God has joined no one shall separate. German theologians like Marx wants to change it as “ the husband and wife can decide their separation any time. Jesus said if you look a woman with lust you have already committed adultery in the heart. But Marx’s wants to change it as — you can look at women and enjoy sex, but do not rape her physically
He’s the vanguard of a bad lot. He’s worried the German people will not pay the church tax and his frumpiness won’t be able to afford his mansion and the season at Gestad.
A synod (noun) is one thing, a synodal (adjective) Church is something else.
On a morphed and synodal Church, the German Cardinal Marx falls far short of a Bavarian cardinal and then pope who clarified that even “a Council is only something that the Church DOES, but it is not what the Church IS.”
And bearing on the German Cardinal Marx and his Hegel connection, it was probably de Maistre (a surely insufficiently-dialectical Frenchman, but also resident in Switzerland, Italy and Russia!) who once observed that “when you pull off the miter, the head comes with it.”
:Your Eminence, the German Church — the Catholicism of my ancestors — is dying. It will not be revitalized by becoming a simulacrum of moribund liberal Protestantism.” I would suggest that it is not just the German Church that is dying—with the possible exception of the Church in Africa, I think the death knell has sounded on every other continent. And this seems to be happening in the blink of an eye.
These men have simply ceased to be Catholic, and I am concerned our Pope has, too, being afraid to discipline. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of which leads to perdition”. Justice is to be tempered with mercy, not trampled on because it is based on a hard teaching. How many disciples left Jesus when the teachings were hard?
A very good letter and equally good comments of people who love the Holy Catholic Church. I too, am at times despair, at the charges of sexual abuse by the clergy albeit a small number of them. But as on occasion in the centuries nay millennia past, God has His way of steering His Holy Church out of such depravities. I have the faith that the intrinsic goodness and sanctity will be restored at the time of His choosing. He shall watch his Holy Church
One prime area in which Our Lord encouraged his apostolic leaders to (loose and) “bind” was in regard to man’s life of sin and grace in consideration of each man’s willingness to repent. Jesus did wish that his followers be loosened from overwrought human religious traditions, but this relates only to man’s reliance upon devotions that overcome or prevent mercy; it is not the same as Tradition. Jesus clearly bound his followers to Tradition (Church teaching) by demanding that his followers adhere to the teachers of the Law by “observing what they tell you.” However, this was never an excuse to allow the apostolic office to tell us to do whatever they choose to do, since Jesus in the same lesson told his disciples to “not do what they do”.
Take heart George Weigel there are a brave few of the Elect within the German Hierarchy. They will likely be the nucleus of a Remnant. What transpires now before us is the modal of transformation of the Church planned, engineered, carefully executed according to plan to ‘ease’ change avoiding undo haste and reaction. Cardinal Carlo Martini’s stratagem to catapult Catholicism into an envisioned new paradigm of radical doctrinal revision in the guise of a more compassionate less legalistic form. Likely [my guess not being a Vatican insider simply a wary observer] Fr A Spadaro SJ’s advice [the Pontiff’s ‘brain’ similar to Carl Rove called Bush 43’s brain] a Sicilian from Catania [so not only ethnic Germans weep] to make change seem limited rather than universal. Although the Pontiff declared recently that the Feb Synod’s findings [whatever that means apart from his agenda] are Magisterial. Dr Fastiggi pointed out that Cardinal Gerhard Mueller was highly critical of the Pope’s declaration that Synodal conclusions are conclusive, meaning Magisterial and virtually binding. We all require great faith at this apparent apex moment in Church history. As all prev complaints to the Pontiff were placed in his circular file we can’t realistically expect a meaningful response to your well intended letter. Better to spend our energy imploring our bishops.
Although in agreement with Roberto de Mattei it is the Bishops and Cardinals of the Church who are indebted both to Christ and the Pontiff to offer filial correction Laity also in accordance with canon law have a right even duty to address justice with Hierarchy. Thus in principle George Weigel’s letter has value. Furthermore any well written well intended statement from credentialed laity [not to dismiss petitions by ordinary laity] should have salutary effect on the general public.
My concern regarding the Pope is so great I lost track of who George Weigel addressed his letter to. O well I suppose Cardinal Marx perceives himself as the pope of Germany anyway. And I’m confidant he makes good use of his own circular file.
How can that which contradicts and thus denies The Deposit Of Faith be “Magisterial and binding”.? No validly elected Pope would make such an error in regards to our Catholic Faith and morals as informed by Christ Himself.
Does the cardinal care? Of course, he does. He is delighted, that’s what he wants, he is very thankful, because you confirmes what he already knows ver y well…
The Germans have been undermining Christian unity for over 500 years why stop now.Marx may live long enough to see the fruit of his work. Collapse could be sudden.
Thank you again George Weigel!! for your clear, intelligent and concise expression. In all these days of late I am still surprised that many so called leaders show their very lack of having moved into the powerful and beautiful spiritual experience of true living in our merciful God who gives us so many delightful, abundantly joyful, creative ways to live on earth. And they can’t even see how empty their words are. They are flatlanders and showing it wo well.
For example how can a morally empty criminal abuser be good marriage prospect???
She would have to be REALLY DESPERATE. His words are laughable. IT seems the really simple loving people in the pews that I know, are experiencing the truth more than this blundering Mark brother. (Sorry I couldn’t resist.)
As George Weigel was a great admirer of Father Maciel and the Legionaries of Christ, he has a track record of less than stellar judgement. Based on this record, his denouncement of Marx will have me looking a little closer at his proposals😀.
@Nick McCann, it is one thing to be duped by a crafty sociopath like Maciel (and, as in the case of Weigel, then make a correction of one’s position upon discovering the betrayal of trust) but another thing to willingly embrace a deceiver and corrupter like Marx after being duly warned about his path of destruction, one in plain view. Or perhaps you have no better arguments for addressing Weigel’s points than an ad hominem?
Marx is playing a dangerous game. The laity are bound to obey the bishop only in so far as the bishop is obedient to the Faith. If the bishops won’t be obedient to Scripture, Tradition and the authoritative teachings of the Church as outlined in the Catechism then the laity don’t have to obey them. The bishops will have “binding power” on no one. They don’t realize it, but proposals from bishops like Marx, will eventually result in their total irrelevance. If Church teaching is up for debate then so is the Church’s teaching on the authority of the bishop.
I know there are some issues with the SSPX, but given the crisis in the Church (especially Germany) I wouldn’t blame a German Catholic for choosing to go to an SSPX parish if the other option is the type of “Catholicism” that Cardinal Marx is promoting.
The trick of Card. Marx when he talks about sinodality, is to transform it , translating it ” de facto” for a more secular, still unpronounced, word : Confederation.
This way, we are again in 16th C. with the old motto ” Cuius regio, eius religio “.
What really matters is not the name but the content !.
Of course, a Synod cannot modify the Doctrine of the Catholic Church, but, who cares?.
Good old Luther will be happy wherever he may be.
The REFORMER, has already been recently honored in Rome in different ways, including a nice post stamp.
1)”What does the celibacy of priests in the Latin-rite have to do with the sexual abuse crisis?” Allowing married men to be priests would open up the pool of available candidates to the priesthood to be ordained to holy married men, so the church is not reliant upon only faithful celibate males, but also holy married men. It is supply and demand. It would free the church to weed out the pedophiles, and sexually active homosexual clergy who are causing people to lose faith and doing enormous damage to the church, yet would not leave the church without the sacraments. It is a solution to the clerical abuse caused by sexually active homosexual priests and pedophiles. I would personally would welcome this as a solution.
The other points made in this article are good, namely objecting to having a synod rule-maker, which seems to be another name for “clique” or small number of handpicked cardinals to change the rules. It is a built-in formula for division since rules are made without the consensus of the whole body of Christ. The Holy Spirit works out of consensus.
It is not necessary for the entire church to move, in lockstep fashion, at every moment. For German Catholics to allow married priests would be, first and foremost, a move to meet an urgent pastoral issue in Germany. It would also serve to offer a possibility for other regional churches.
Regional synods were held frequently in the patristic period and their decisions were binding. No one imagined that nothing could be decided prior to an ecumenical council or a papal decree binding upon the whole church. The first ecumenical council in 325 was the invention of Constantine. Universal papal decrees were unknown prior to the middle ages.
May I invite you to become conservative by embracing the practice of the patristic churches?
Marx and Francis continue to do the plan of the McCarrick Establishment, which serves the will of Anti-Christ.
As intended by the SEX ABUSER CONCLAVE of 2013, Pope Francis does NOT “hold and teach the Catholic faith, which comes to us from the Apostles.”
I would have written a different letter which goes as follows:
Your Eminence.
Since you and several of your Episcopal Colleagues in Germany do not believe in upholding the immutable truths of the Catholic faith, but instead seek to create a whole new religion based on moral relativism, I kindly suggest that you and your like-minded brothers leave the Catholic Church which you despise so much and start your own religion. At least then nobody would be able to accuse you of being dishonest and only staying in office solely to grow fat off the German Church Tax.
Or they could join the Anglican Communion, which communes perfectly with modern hedonism which is what they seem to want to do.
…and even so, the Anglican Catholics would disdain him, as they have split from the AC.
TAKE YOUR FILTHY LUCRE
The German Church tax is 8 or 9 percent of the annual income tax. It garners the Catholic Church in Germany about $6 billion a year, while the Protestants, mostly Lutherans, take in slightly more than the Catholics. That’s a lot of money, ladies and gentlemen!
It’s all this filthy lucre that has destroyed the Catholic Church in Germany. The German bishops should imitate poor Judas and tell their Government to take their 30 pieces of silver and you know the rest….!
Matthew describes the scene in these words: “When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders…. ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,’ he said…. So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left” (27: 3-5).
Cardinal Marx, now it’s your move.
It is high time that we faithful Catholics excommunicate these German anti Christ Catholic bishops. It is really not clear what they want. They seem to want to change the teachings of Lord Jesus Christ. For example Jesus said what God has joined no one shall separate. German theologians like Marx wants to change it as “ the husband and wife can decide their separation any time. Jesus said if you look a woman with lust you have already committed adultery in the heart. But Marx’s wants to change it as — you can look at women and enjoy sex, but do not rape her physically
Right on!
He’s the vanguard of a bad lot. He’s worried the German people will not pay the church tax and his frumpiness won’t be able to afford his mansion and the season at Gestad.
A synod (noun) is one thing, a synodal (adjective) Church is something else.
On a morphed and synodal Church, the German Cardinal Marx falls far short of a Bavarian cardinal and then pope who clarified that even “a Council is only something that the Church DOES, but it is not what the Church IS.”
And bearing on the German Cardinal Marx and his Hegel connection, it was probably de Maistre (a surely insufficiently-dialectical Frenchman, but also resident in Switzerland, Italy and Russia!) who once observed that “when you pull off the miter, the head comes with it.”
:Your Eminence, the German Church — the Catholicism of my ancestors — is dying. It will not be revitalized by becoming a simulacrum of moribund liberal Protestantism.” I would suggest that it is not just the German Church that is dying—with the possible exception of the Church in Africa, I think the death knell has sounded on every other continent. And this seems to be happening in the blink of an eye.
These men have simply ceased to be Catholic, and I am concerned our Pope has, too, being afraid to discipline. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of which leads to perdition”. Justice is to be tempered with mercy, not trampled on because it is based on a hard teaching. How many disciples left Jesus when the teachings were hard?
A very good letter and equally good comments of people who love the Holy Catholic Church. I too, am at times despair, at the charges of sexual abuse by the clergy albeit a small number of them. But as on occasion in the centuries nay millennia past, God has His way of steering His Holy Church out of such depravities. I have the faith that the intrinsic goodness and sanctity will be restored at the time of His choosing. He shall watch his Holy Church
One prime area in which Our Lord encouraged his apostolic leaders to (loose and) “bind” was in regard to man’s life of sin and grace in consideration of each man’s willingness to repent. Jesus did wish that his followers be loosened from overwrought human religious traditions, but this relates only to man’s reliance upon devotions that overcome or prevent mercy; it is not the same as Tradition. Jesus clearly bound his followers to Tradition (Church teaching) by demanding that his followers adhere to the teachers of the Law by “observing what they tell you.” However, this was never an excuse to allow the apostolic office to tell us to do whatever they choose to do, since Jesus in the same lesson told his disciples to “not do what they do”.
Take heart George Weigel there are a brave few of the Elect within the German Hierarchy. They will likely be the nucleus of a Remnant. What transpires now before us is the modal of transformation of the Church planned, engineered, carefully executed according to plan to ‘ease’ change avoiding undo haste and reaction. Cardinal Carlo Martini’s stratagem to catapult Catholicism into an envisioned new paradigm of radical doctrinal revision in the guise of a more compassionate less legalistic form. Likely [my guess not being a Vatican insider simply a wary observer] Fr A Spadaro SJ’s advice [the Pontiff’s ‘brain’ similar to Carl Rove called Bush 43’s brain] a Sicilian from Catania [so not only ethnic Germans weep] to make change seem limited rather than universal. Although the Pontiff declared recently that the Feb Synod’s findings [whatever that means apart from his agenda] are Magisterial. Dr Fastiggi pointed out that Cardinal Gerhard Mueller was highly critical of the Pope’s declaration that Synodal conclusions are conclusive, meaning Magisterial and virtually binding. We all require great faith at this apparent apex moment in Church history. As all prev complaints to the Pontiff were placed in his circular file we can’t realistically expect a meaningful response to your well intended letter. Better to spend our energy imploring our bishops.
Although in agreement with Roberto de Mattei it is the Bishops and Cardinals of the Church who are indebted both to Christ and the Pontiff to offer filial correction Laity also in accordance with canon law have a right even duty to address justice with Hierarchy. Thus in principle George Weigel’s letter has value. Furthermore any well written well intended statement from credentialed laity [not to dismiss petitions by ordinary laity] should have salutary effect on the general public.
My concern regarding the Pope is so great I lost track of who George Weigel addressed his letter to. O well I suppose Cardinal Marx perceives himself as the pope of Germany anyway. And I’m confidant he makes good use of his own circular file.
How can that which contradicts and thus denies The Deposit Of Faith be “Magisterial and binding”.? No validly elected Pope would make such an error in regards to our Catholic Faith and morals as informed by Christ Himself.
Does the cardinal care? Of course, he does. He is delighted, that’s what he wants, he is very thankful, because you confirmes what he already knows ver y well…
The Germans have been undermining Christian unity for over 500 years why stop now.Marx may live long enough to see the fruit of his work. Collapse could be sudden.
Thank you again George Weigel!! for your clear, intelligent and concise expression. In all these days of late I am still surprised that many so called leaders show their very lack of having moved into the powerful and beautiful spiritual experience of true living in our merciful God who gives us so many delightful, abundantly joyful, creative ways to live on earth. And they can’t even see how empty their words are. They are flatlanders and showing it wo well.
For example how can a morally empty criminal abuser be good marriage prospect???
She would have to be REALLY DESPERATE. His words are laughable. IT seems the really simple loving people in the pews that I know, are experiencing the truth more than this blundering Mark brother. (Sorry I couldn’t resist.)
Was supposed to say,”Marx” brother, as in Groucho and Harpo. duh
As George Weigel was a great admirer of Father Maciel and the Legionaries of Christ, he has a track record of less than stellar judgement. Based on this record, his denouncement of Marx will have me looking a little closer at his proposals😀.
@Nick McCann, it is one thing to be duped by a crafty sociopath like Maciel (and, as in the case of Weigel, then make a correction of one’s position upon discovering the betrayal of trust) but another thing to willingly embrace a deceiver and corrupter like Marx after being duly warned about his path of destruction, one in plain view. Or perhaps you have no better arguments for addressing Weigel’s points than an ad hominem?
Marx is playing a dangerous game. The laity are bound to obey the bishop only in so far as the bishop is obedient to the Faith. If the bishops won’t be obedient to Scripture, Tradition and the authoritative teachings of the Church as outlined in the Catechism then the laity don’t have to obey them. The bishops will have “binding power” on no one. They don’t realize it, but proposals from bishops like Marx, will eventually result in their total irrelevance. If Church teaching is up for debate then so is the Church’s teaching on the authority of the bishop.
I know there are some issues with the SSPX, but given the crisis in the Church (especially Germany) I wouldn’t blame a German Catholic for choosing to go to an SSPX parish if the other option is the type of “Catholicism” that Cardinal Marx is promoting.
The trick of Card. Marx when he talks about sinodality, is to transform it , translating it ” de facto” for a more secular, still unpronounced, word : Confederation.
This way, we are again in 16th C. with the old motto ” Cuius regio, eius religio “.
What really matters is not the name but the content !.
Of course, a Synod cannot modify the Doctrine of the Catholic Church, but, who cares?.
Good old Luther will be happy wherever he may be.
The REFORMER, has already been recently honored in Rome in different ways, including a nice post stamp.
1)”What does the celibacy of priests in the Latin-rite have to do with the sexual abuse crisis?” Allowing married men to be priests would open up the pool of available candidates to the priesthood to be ordained to holy married men, so the church is not reliant upon only faithful celibate males, but also holy married men. It is supply and demand. It would free the church to weed out the pedophiles, and sexually active homosexual clergy who are causing people to lose faith and doing enormous damage to the church, yet would not leave the church without the sacraments. It is a solution to the clerical abuse caused by sexually active homosexual priests and pedophiles. I would personally would welcome this as a solution.
The other points made in this article are good, namely objecting to having a synod rule-maker, which seems to be another name for “clique” or small number of handpicked cardinals to change the rules. It is a built-in formula for division since rules are made without the consensus of the whole body of Christ. The Holy Spirit works out of consensus.
Dear Dr. Wiegel,
It is not necessary for the entire church to move, in lockstep fashion, at every moment. For German Catholics to allow married priests would be, first and foremost, a move to meet an urgent pastoral issue in Germany. It would also serve to offer a possibility for other regional churches.
Regional synods were held frequently in the patristic period and their decisions were binding. No one imagined that nothing could be decided prior to an ecumenical council or a papal decree binding upon the whole church. The first ecumenical council in 325 was the invention of Constantine. Universal papal decrees were unknown prior to the middle ages.
May I invite you to become conservative by embracing the practice of the patristic churches?
Fraternally,
Aaron