German bishops will light ‘Synodal Candle’ to launch controversial process  

Bonn, Germany, Nov 25, 2019 / 12:55 pm (CNA).- The German bishops’ conference announced Monday that a ceremonial “Synodal Candle” will be lit on the first Sunday of Advent to officially launch the nation’s “synodal process,” which is scheduled to run over two years and pass resolutions about Church life in Germany.

The launch ceremony will be hosted by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who will light a candle together with lay leader Karin Kortmann in Munich’s famous Frauenkirche, or “Cathedral of Our Dear Lady.”

Draft statutes of the – no longer binding – “synodal process”  were approved Nov. 22 by a majority of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) at the lay group’s plenary assembly.

During deliberations, a motion to amend the statutes to include a focus on evangelization was rejected.

CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German language news partner, reported Nov. 25 that ZdK member Karl zu Löwenstein reminded fellow delegates of Pope Francis’ call for a new evangelization during Nov. 22 deliberations regarding the synod. Before debating and passing resolutions about the structure of the Church, one should first put Christ’s message at the center, he argued.

However, two vice presidents of the lay Catholic organization disagreed. Both Claudia Lücking-Michel and Karin Kortmann, both German politicians, argued that any amendment would delay the start of the synodal process.

The German bishops had initially planned a “binding” synodal process for German Catholics, which would pass normative resolutions on moral and ecclesiastical issues. But a Vatican intervention raised concerns that the proposed process constituted a particular council, and could not take place without permission from the Vatican. After that intervention, the initial draft statues were amended to ensure they were no longer canonically binding.

On a visit to German last week, Cardinal Robert Sarah expressed concerns about the planned synod.  Sarah has gone so far as to offer a special prayer for the Church in Germany, given developments there, warning “If a synod aims to change the doctrine of faith, then it is no longer a synod.”

In an unusual move, Pope Francis in June personally wrote a letter to all German Catholics, warning of meaningless structural maneuvering and reiterating a call to evangelization ahead of the announced process.

In addition to concerns about a lack of focus on spreading the Gospel, the actual agenda of the process – which exclusively targets the topics of sexual morality, power and ecclesial offices – and public demands of the ZdK for the blessing of homosexual couples and the ordination of women, have come in for sharp criticism from noted theologians.

CNA Deutsch contributed to this report.


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.


2 Comments

  1. Germania will light a “synodal candle” on the first Sunday of Advent, but in truth doesn’t really hold a candle to the Liturgy of the Hours reading for last Sunday–the Feast of Christ the King. This from the Last Sunday in Ordinary Time and “a notebook On Prayer by Origen, priest”:

    “Therefore, let us pray unceasingly with that disposition of soul which the Word may make divine, saying to our Father who is in heaven: Hallowed by your name; your kingdom come.”

    As for the tandem Amazonian embarrassment, of which ventriloquist-Germania now predictably claims to draw inspiration, there’s this as pertains to time-sharing with the celebrated Pachamama fertility cult:

    “Note this too about the kingdom of God. It is not a sharing of justice with iniquity, nor a society of light with darkness, nor a meeting of Christ with Belial. The kingdom of God cannot exist alongside the reign of sin.”

    Synod = sin-nod.

  2. “However, two vice presidents of the lay Catholic organization disagreed. Both Claudia Lücking-Michel and Karin Kortmann, both German politicians, argued that any amendment would delay the start of the synodal process.”

    Machen Sie schnell! The voluntarist must act! “Reality over ideas!”

    And why delay at all? An additional 2 plus years of Kabuki theater (following Bergoglio’s visit to Japan)…following Bergoglio’s previous Kabuki theater expressed as “concern” a personal, papal letter “to all German Catholics” complete with a winking emoji.

    Just print it out! The already “discerned?” The already decided…the willed. The blessing of the “already.”

    Machen Sie schnell! (Minus the Gospel. Minus Scripture and Tradition. Minus Christ as Savior or any need for a Savior.)

    Advent: appropriately chosen for such a rejection, a departure, a betrayal.

    The Incarnation replaced by inculturation, beyond anything out of Bultmann, a Nietzschean fulfillment of one’s will, “doing what you want,” “getting what you want.” Applies also to adorers of Pachamama. Similar to the teachings of Aleister Crowley.

    Have no doubts this is beyond “aims to change the doctrine of faith” but part of establishing the new, false church.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.


*