Bishop Georg Bätzing at the closing press conference of the spring plenary meeting of the German bishops’ conference. / Martin Rothweiler/EWTN.TV.
Denver Newsroom, May 12, 2022 / 17:23 pm (CNA).
The president of the German bishops’ conference has expressed his belief that Church teaching needs further development, in response to critique of the synodal path in that country.
The statement came in the latest instance of epistolary exchange between Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg and Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver.
“Our Church needs change in order to faithfully carry out her mission and take the precious Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of our time. And the urgent need for change also includes the need to further develop the Church’s teaching. Such is my conviction,” Bishop Bätzing wrote in a May 5 letter to Archbishop Aquila.
The assembly of the synodal path has voted in favor of documents calling for the priestly ordination of women, same-sex blessings, and changes to teaching on homosexual acts.
Germany’s “Synodal Path” is a process that brings together lay people and bishops to discuss four major topics: how power is exercised in the Church; sexual morality; the priesthood; and the role of women. When the German bishops launched the process, they initially said that the deliberations would be “binding” on the Church in Germany, prompting a Vatican intervention that rejected such claims.
In May 2021, Archbishop Aquila wrote that the synodal path’s first text put forward “untenable” proposals for changes to Church teaching. He was among the drafters of an April 11 open letter that warned the synodal path may lead to schism, now signed by more than 100 bishops, six of whom are cardinals. And on May 2 he wrote to Bishop Bätzing reiterating that the synodal path challenges, and even repudiates, the deposit of faith.
In his May 5 response, the Bishop of Limburg maintained that the synodal path is an appropriate response to clerical sex abuse.
“Based on intensive discussions with those affected and intensive scientific studies on the occurrence of abuse of children and young people by clerics in our country, we had to painfully accept that there are multi-dimensional systemic factors in the Catholic Church which favour abuse. Uncovering these and doing our utmost to overcome them is the starting point of the Synodal Path in Germany, and it is reflected in the four priority areas to be worked on,” he wrote.
“Your argumentation that bishops have made mistakes in dealing with abuse and instead of taking responsibility for it, they now want to fundamentally question the doctrine of the Church in Germany, is, from my humble insight, frighteningly one-line and unfortunately does not do justice by far to the complex reality of the structures in the Catholic Church that facilitate abuse,” Bishop Bätzing wrote to Archbishop Aquila.
He added, “I am glad and appreciate the fact that your opinion is by no means shared by all the faithful and bishops, even in the Church in the United States. This is clearly communicated to me again and again.”
“I take your objections seriously,” he said, “because they indicate concern and at the same time that we also in the Catholic Church worldwide live in a thoroughly plural situation of different social life worlds and theological assessments.”
These situations “require exchange, critical dialogue and a new understanding and communication with each other, of course on the basis of what belongs to the revealed unchangeable heritage of the Church’s faith,” Bishop Bätzing wrote.
“That is why I am so extraordinarily grateful for the open way in which Pope Francis has designed the World Synod on Synodality. Everyone should be able to participate, have their say and contribute their views. This is a great approach we in Germany support very much.”
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A defining theme of Pope Francis’ papacy has been his urging of humanity to better care for the natural environment, which he has done most prominently in his landmark 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ and numerous subsequent writings and speeches.
The pope’s emphasis on this topic — especially his foray into climate science via his recent encyclical Laudate Deum — has variously drawn both praise and consternation from Catholics in the United States, about half of whom do not share Pope Francis’ views on climate change, according to surveys.
In Laudate Deum, which was released in October as a continuation to Laudato Si’, Francis wrote that the effects of climate change “are here and increasingly evident,” warning of “immensely grave consequences for everyone” if drastic efforts are not made to reduce emissions. In the face of this, the Holy Father criticized those who “have chosen to deride [the] facts” about climate science, stating bluntly that it is “no longer possible to doubt the human — ‘anthropic’ — origin of climate change.”
The pope in the encyclical laid out his belief that there must be a “necessary transition towards clean energy sources, such as wind and solar energy, and the abandonment of fossil fuels.” This follows a call from Pope Francis in 2021 to the global community calling for the world to “achieve net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible.”
He further lamented what he called “certain dismissive and scarcely reasonable opinions [on climate change] that I encounter, even within the Catholic Church.”
In light of the new encyclical — which extensively cites the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — Pope Francis was invited to speak at this week’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP28. Though the 86-year-old pope was forced to cancel his trip due to health issues, the Vatican has indicated that he aims to participate in COP28 this weekend in some fashion. It announced today that Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin will represent the pope at the conference.
While various Catholic groups have welcomed the pope’s latest encyclical, some Catholics have reacted with persistent doubts, questioning whether the pope’s policy prescriptions would actually produce the desired effects.
How do Americans feel about climate change?
According to a major survey conducted by Yale University, 72% of Americans believed in 2021 — the latest available data year — that “global warming is happening,” and 57% believe that global warming is caused by human activity.
More recent polling from the Pew Research Center, conducted in June, similarly suggests that two-thirds of U.S. adults overall say the country should prioritize developing renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, over the expansion of the production of oil, coal, and natural gas. That same survey found that just 3 in 10 adults (31%) say the U.S. should completely phase out oil, coal, and natural gas. The Yale study found that 77% of U.S. adults support at least the funding of research into renewable energy sources.
Broken down by party affiliation, Pew found that a large majority of Democratic and Democratic-leaning independents — 90% — favor alternative energy sources, while just under half, 42%, of Republicans and Republican-leaning adults think the same. Within the Republican cohort, however, 67% of Republicans under age 30 prioritize the development of alternative energy sources, compared with the 75% of Republicans ages 65 and older who prioritize the expansion of oil, coal, and natural gas.
In terms of the expansion of alternative energy sources, two-thirds of Americans think the federal government should encourage domestic production of wind and solar power, Pew reported. Just 7% say the government should discourage this, while 26% think it should neither encourage nor discourage it.
How do America’s Catholics feel about climate change?
Surveys suggest that Catholics in the United States are slightly more likely than the U.S. population as a whole to be skeptical of climate change, despite the pope’s emphatic words in 2015 and since.
A separate Pew study suggests that 44% of U.S. Catholics say the Earth is warming mostly due to human activity, a view in line with Pope Francis’ stance. About 3 in 10 (29%) said the Earth is warming mostly due to natural patterns, while 13% said they believe there is no solid evidence the planet is getting warmer.
According to the same study, 71% of Hispanic Catholics see climate change as an extremely or very serious problem, compared with 49% of white, non-Hispanic Catholics. (There were not enough Black or Asian Catholics in the 2022 survey to analyze separately, Pew said.)
One 2015 study from Yale did suggest that soon after Laudato Si’ was released, U.S. Catholics were overall more likely to believe in climate change than before. That same study found no change, however, in the number of Americans overall who believe human activity is causing global warming.
Pope Francis’ climate priorities
Beyond his groundbreaking writings, Pope Francis has taken many actions during his pontificate to make his own — admittedly small — country, Vatican City, more sustainable, including the recent announcement of a large order of electric vehicles, construction of its own network of charging stations, a reforestation program, and the continued importation of energy coming exclusively from renewable sources.
Francis has often lamented what he sees as a tepid response from developed countries in implementing measures to curb climate change. In Laudate Deum, he urged that new multinational agreements on climate change — speaking in this case specifically about the COP28 conference — be “drastic, intense, and count on the commitment of all,” stating that “a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact.”
The pope lamented what he sees as the fact that when new projects related to green energy are proposed, the potential for economic growth, employment, and human promotion are thought of first rather than moral considerations such as the effects on the world’s poorest.
“It is often heard also that efforts to mitigate climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels and developing cleaner energy sources will lead to a reduction in the number of jobs,” the pope noted.
“What is happening is that millions of people are losing their jobs due to different effects of climate change: rising sea levels, droughts, and other phenomena affecting the planet have left many people adrift. Conversely, the transition to renewable forms of energy, properly managed, as well as efforts to adapt to the damage caused by climate change, are capable of generating countless jobs in different sectors.”
‘Leave God’s creation better than we found it’
Dr. Kevin Roberts, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation think tank, told CNA that he has noticed a theme of frustration and confusion among many Catholics regarding the Holy Father’s emphasis on climate change.
A self-described outdoorsman and former president of Wyoming Catholic College, Roberts spoke highly to CNA of certain aspects of Laudato Si’, particularly the pope’s insights into what he called “human ecology,” which refers to the acceptance of each person’s human body as a vital part of “accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father and our common home.”
Dr. Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation. Courtesy of Heritage Foundation.
“I like to think [Pope Francis] personally wrote that, because I could see him saying that,” Roberts said of the passage, which appears in paragraph 155 of the encyclical. Roberts said he even makes a point to meditate on that “beautiful and moving” passage during a retreat that he does annually.
That portion of Laudato Si’ notwithstanding, Roberts said he strongly believes that it detracts from other important issues, such as direct ministry to the poor, when Pope Francis elevates care for God’s natural creation as “seemingly more important than other issues to us as Catholics.” He also said he disagrees with Pope Francis’ policy prescriptions, such as a complete phasing out of fossil fuels, contained in Laudate Deum.
“We of course want to pray for him. We’re open to the teaching that he is providing. But we also have to remember as Catholics that sometimes popes are wrong. And on this issue, it is a prudential matter. It is not a matter of morality, particularly when he’s getting into the scientific policy recommendations,” Roberts said.
Roberts said the Heritage Foundation’s research and advocacy has focused not on high-level, multinational agreements and conferences to tackle the issues posed by climate change but rather on smaller-scale, more community-based efforts. He said this policy position is, in part, due to the historical deference such multinational conglomerates of nations have given to China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases overall.
He said agreements within the U.S. itself, with businesses and all levels of government working together, have produced the best results so far when it comes to improving the environment. He also pointed to examples of constructive action that don’t involve billions of dollars, such as families making the choice to spend more time outdoors or engaging in local activities that contribute to environmental conservation and community life, such as anti-litter campaigns and community gardening. The overarching goal, he said, should be to “leave God’s creation better than we found it.”
Roberts — who said he personally believes humans likely have “very little effect” on the climate — said he was discouraged to read other portions of Laudato Si’, as well as Laudate Deum, that to him read as though they had come “straight out of the U.N.” Despite his criticisms, Roberts urged his fellow Catholics to continue to pray for the Holy Father and to listen to the pope’s moral insights.
“I just think that the proposed solutions are actually more anti-human and worse than the purported effects of climate change,” he added.
‘A far more complex issue’
Greg Sindelar, a Catholic who serves as CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a conservative think tank that studies the energy industry, similarly expressed concerns to CNA about the potential impact of certain climate change mitigation policies on human flourishing.
Like Roberts, Sindelar spoke highly of certain aspects of the pope’s message while expressing reservations about some of the U.N.-esque solutions proposed in Laudate Deum.
“I think the pope is right about our duty as Catholics to be stewards and to care for the environment. But I think what we have to understand — what we have to balance this with — is that it cannot come at the expense of depriving people of affordable and reliable energy,” Sindelar said in an interview with CNA.
“There’s ways to be environmentally friendly without sacrificing the access that we all need to reliable and affordable energy.”
Greg Sindelar is CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a think tank in America’s leading energy-producing state. Courtesy of Texas Public Policy Foundation
Sindelar said TPPF primarily promotes cheap, reliable access to energy as a means of promoting human flourishing. The free-market-focused group is skeptical of top-down governmental intervention, both in the form of regulation and incentives or disincentives in certain areas of the energy sector.
When asked what he thinks his fellow Catholics largely think about the issue, Sindelar said many of the Catholics he hears from express the view that government policies and interventions rarely produce effective solutions and could potentially hinder access to energy for those in need.
“I think it’s a far more complex issue than just saying we need to cut emissions, and we need to transfer away from fossil fuels, and all these other things. What we need to do is figure out and ensure ways that we are providing affordable and reliable electricity to all citizens of the world,” he reiterated.
“When the pope speaks, when the Vatican speaks, it carries a lot of weight with Catholics around the world, [and] not just with Catholics … and I totally agree with him that we need to be thinking about the most marginalized and the poorest amongst us,” Sindelar continued.
“[But] by going down these policy prescription paths that he’s recommending, we’re actually going to reduce their ability to have access to that,” he asserted.
Sindelar, while disagreeing with Pope Francis’ call for an “abandonment of fossil fuels,” said he appreciates the fact that Pope Francis has spoken out about the issue of care for creation and has initiated so much public discussion.
“I think there is room for differing views and opinions on the right ways to do that,” he said.
Effective mitigation efforts
Susan Varlamoff, a retired biologist and parishioner at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in the Atlanta area, is among those Catholics who are committed to Pope Francis’ call to care for creation and to mitigate the effects of climate change. To that end, Varlamoff in 2016 created a peer-reviewed action plan for the Archdiocese of Atlanta to help Catholics put the principles contained in Laudato Si’ into action, mainly through smaller, more personal actions that people can take to reduce their energy usage.
Retired biologist Susan Varlamoff. Photo courtesy of Susan Varlamoff
The Atlanta Archdiocese’s efforts have since garnered recognition and praise, Varlamoff said, with at least 35 archdioceses now involved in an inter-diocesan network formed to exchange sustainability ideas based on the latest version of the plan from Atlanta.
“It’s fascinating to see what everybody is doing, and it’s basically based on their talents and imaginations,” Varlamoff said, noting that a large number of young people have gotten involved with their efforts.
As a scientist, Varlamoff told CNA it is clear to her that Pope Francis knows what he’s talking about when he lays out the dangers posed by inaction in the face of climate change.
“He understands the science, and he’s deeply concerned … he’s got remarkable influence as a moral leader,” she said.
“Part of what our religion asks us to do is to care for one another. We have to care for creation if we’re going to care for one another, because the earth is our natural resource system, our life support, and we cannot care for one another if we don’t have that life support.”
Responding to criticisms about the financial costs associated with certain green initiatives, Varlamoff noted that small-scale sustainable actions can actually save money. She offered the example of parishes in the Atlanta area that have drastically reduced their electric bills by installing solar panels.
“[But,] it’s not just about saving money. It’s also about reducing fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting the natural resources for future generations,” she said.
Moreover, Varlamoff said, the moral imperative to improve the natural environment for future generations is worth the investment. “When [Catholics] give money, for example, for a social justice issue like Walking with Moms in Need or special needs, the payback is improving lives. We’re improving the environment here,” she emphasized.
Pope Francis waves at pilgrims from China at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 7, 2016. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Washington D.C., Mar 23, 2023 / 14:08 pm (CNA).
In another crackdown on religious freedom, local authorities in an eastern Chinese city ordered parents of kindergarteners to sign a pledge that affirms they are not religious.
Guardians of children at schools in Wenzhou, a city in the Zhejiang province, were asked to sign a “pledge form of commitment for family not to hold a religious belief,” according to the human rights group China Aid.
The pledge states that the parents affirm they “do not hold a religious belief, do not participate in any religious activities, and do not propagate and disseminate religion in any locations.” It also makes them affirm “exemplary observance of the [Chinese Communist] Party discipline and the country’s laws and regulations [and to] never join any Falun Gong and other cult organizations.”
Falun Gong, a religious movement founded in China in the 1990s, is openly critical of the Chinese Communist Party.
The order came from Chinese Communist Party officials in the Longwan district of the city of Wenzhou, according to ChinaAid. The nonprofit is a Christian human-rights organization that received the Democracy Award from the National Endowment for Democracy for its commitment to religious freedom in China in 2019.
The district is home to about 750,000, people. Christians represent about 10% of the city’s population and have grown in number over the past decade. This is much higher than the national average, which is less than 1% Christian.
One preschool teacher anonymously said the local authorities had never gone this far before, ChinaAid reported.
“In the past, the higher-level education department made it compulsory for kindergartens not to be superstitious and not to participate in cult organizations but did not mandate kindergarten children’s families not to believe in religion or participate in any religious activities,” the teacher said.
The Chinese constitution states that citizens “enjoy freedom of religious belief” but limits religious practices to “normal religious activities,” according to the U.S. Department of State. The Chinese government recognizes five religions, which it calls “patriotic religious associations”: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism. However, the city and the nation as a whole have repeatedly been accused of violating the rights of those who practice these religions as well.
In Wenzhou, Christians have faced persecution in several ways. The city banned children from attending religious services and engaging in religious activities in 2017. The following year, the city forbade teachers, hospital workers, and other city employees from holding religious beliefs.
The Vatican signed a deal with the Chinese Communist Party in 2018, but much of the deal has remained secret. The deal was meant to unify the underground Catholic Church with the more public Catholic Church in China by allowing the Chinese Communist Party to play a larger role in the appointment of bishops. This ultimately led to crackdowns on Catholics in the underground churches, which resulted in priests, bishops, and even cardinals being detained or arrested.
One of the fiercest critics of the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown on Catholics is Cardinal Joseph Zen, who was arrested for helping operate the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund to help Hong Kong citizens who protested the Chinese Communist Party. In a 2020 interview with WION, Zen said the Vatican’s deal with China only emboldened the Chinese Communist Party to crack down harder.
“We have only the moral strength to resist peacefully against the persecution,” Zen said. “It’s [important] for us to keep our faith, not to surrender our faith; we can even sacrifice the sacraments — when you are arrested you cannot keep the sacraments but your faith is in your hearts to help you but you cannot deny your faith.”
As St John Henry Newman noted, Development of Doctrine means we grow in understanding of Church teaching. It does not mean change or repudiation of Church teaching.
Says imam Batzing in his media fatwa: “Our Church needs change in order to faithfully carry out her mission and take the precious Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of our time.”
“Imam Batzing”? Might we notice the identical DNA in (a) the mission of Islam with its fluidity toward jihad, (b) the mission of the progressive West with its fluidity toward libertinism, as in abortive child abuse, and in (c) Batzing’s evangelizing mission with its fluidity toward sexual perversion and even deconstruction of the sacramental order in the Church?
Do we detect a certain cast-of-mind in all three seemingly different trajectories? A certain lowest common denominator?
FIRST, in Islam, one finds references to Moses’ Law, but no explicit listing in the Qur’an (none that I can find) of the prohibitive last six Commandments (hence, a space for jihad).
SECOND, in the radically secularized West we find the virulent affirmation of civil rights (civil rites?) in the absence of responsibilities (hence a space for the Sexual Devolution of the 1960s and then “it’s my body [only]”).
And, THIRD, in Batzing (and others in the Church) we find a myopic focus on concrete cases at the expense of universal moral principles and absolute prohibitions (as articulated in Veritatis Splendor and in the Catechism, now under attack by Batzing & Co.).
St. Jerome looked back forty years to the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) are grieved that “The whole world groaned and marveled at finding itself Arian.” Likewise, today in the West and even in wide swaths of the Church, as they already (!) converge toward Islam-like simplicity and selective blindness. But, the inconvenient thing about the Eucharistic and perennial Catholic Church, now nearly 1700 years after Nicaea, is that it’s about BOTH the (Batzing’s) “precious Gospel of Jesus Christ” AND the singular and Trinitarian event (!!!) of the incarnate Christ, as witnessed in the Gospel texts—
“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8).
Bishop Bätzing couldn’t have made it clearer. His conviction for urgent need for further development is not referring to Benedict’s hermeneutic of doctrinal continuity, rather a paradigm shift. Although hermeneutic continuity is perceived by Bätzing in the “World Synod on Synodality” in the open dialogue promoted by Pope Francis.
Paradigm shift hasn’t been spoken of lately, rather the actual shift in doctrine has been underway, more than seemingly in structural changes the virtual regulation of the CDF by granting Dicastery primacy to Propaganda Fides. Appointments of prelates who favor change on issues homosexuality, divorced and remarried. Amazonia, Marx’ disappointment, Bätzing’s direction of the German Synodal Way as intended by Cardinal Marx, and Pope Francis’ tolerance [his letter of admonition to the Germans was more a sympathetic warning] followed by considerate silence.
Much of our response here is nothing new. At best we might add that at least we’re not becoming inured. As in line with this article, Germany’s counter to the Synodal Way M Grünewald of Germany’s New Way says, “to attach a higher importance to them [Synodal Way proposals] is so theologically adventurous that this must be classified as revolutionary or – in church language – as heretical” (Martin Grünewald neuer Anfgang).
Some laypersons see “the complex reality of the structures in the Catholic Church that facilitate abuse,” as echolocating squeaks of Bishop Batzing calling forth past historical heresies. He unearths, resources, refreshes, and reforms old heresies to meet the needs of today’s world. These needs are just and true since he and his fellow immoralist hierarchs have interpreted them. Francis adds notes of rest or occasional dischordant yet harmonic sound.
Like yesterday’s news (or as Baby Herman in ‘Roger Rabbit’ put it: “like yesterday’s diaper”), the heresies which Batzing and friends voice today, without any novelty whatsoever, bore. They bore in their tediously completely full entirety. We’ve heard them too many times in too many tones, too many moods, too many stripes, patterns, and colors, before. Old news is stale and smells bad too.
Yet Batzinger’s words surely stem from the impetus of the newness of the ever pastoral freshness of VC II. DV, Section 8, asserts that the church’s tradition “progresses.” “There is growth in understanding…both the words [of God] and the realities they signify.”
DV (or some like Batzing) would interpret those words to apply not only to individuals who, like Mary, ‘ponder these things in their hearts’ (see Lk. 2:19, 51) but also to the church “until the day when the words of God reach their fulfilment in the church.”
The roller-coaster ride given the church by the much misaligned VCII, resourced and reformed as a clarifying, light-filled Synod of All Evolving and Everlasting Synods, is about to visit the knowledge, wisdom, and discernment of THE spirit upon an uncomprehending, outdated, rigid, and horribly needy world.
Buckling Up, In Christ, we remain opposed to Batzing’s sin-nod. Go Aquila.
“Development”
Prevarication on generalizations that say nothing.
As St John Henry Newman noted, Development of Doctrine means we grow in understanding of Church teaching. It does not mean change or repudiation of Church teaching.
“from my humble insight” – Who said Germans don’t have a sense of humour?
Says imam Batzing in his media fatwa: “Our Church needs change in order to faithfully carry out her mission and take the precious Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of our time.”
“Imam Batzing”? Might we notice the identical DNA in (a) the mission of Islam with its fluidity toward jihad, (b) the mission of the progressive West with its fluidity toward libertinism, as in abortive child abuse, and in (c) Batzing’s evangelizing mission with its fluidity toward sexual perversion and even deconstruction of the sacramental order in the Church?
Do we detect a certain cast-of-mind in all three seemingly different trajectories? A certain lowest common denominator?
FIRST, in Islam, one finds references to Moses’ Law, but no explicit listing in the Qur’an (none that I can find) of the prohibitive last six Commandments (hence, a space for jihad).
SECOND, in the radically secularized West we find the virulent affirmation of civil rights (civil rites?) in the absence of responsibilities (hence a space for the Sexual Devolution of the 1960s and then “it’s my body [only]”).
And, THIRD, in Batzing (and others in the Church) we find a myopic focus on concrete cases at the expense of universal moral principles and absolute prohibitions (as articulated in Veritatis Splendor and in the Catechism, now under attack by Batzing & Co.).
St. Jerome looked back forty years to the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) are grieved that “The whole world groaned and marveled at finding itself Arian.” Likewise, today in the West and even in wide swaths of the Church, as they already (!) converge toward Islam-like simplicity and selective blindness. But, the inconvenient thing about the Eucharistic and perennial Catholic Church, now nearly 1700 years after Nicaea, is that it’s about BOTH the (Batzing’s) “precious Gospel of Jesus Christ” AND the singular and Trinitarian event (!!!) of the incarnate Christ, as witnessed in the Gospel texts—
“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8).
Bishop Bätzing couldn’t have made it clearer. His conviction for urgent need for further development is not referring to Benedict’s hermeneutic of doctrinal continuity, rather a paradigm shift. Although hermeneutic continuity is perceived by Bätzing in the “World Synod on Synodality” in the open dialogue promoted by Pope Francis.
Paradigm shift hasn’t been spoken of lately, rather the actual shift in doctrine has been underway, more than seemingly in structural changes the virtual regulation of the CDF by granting Dicastery primacy to Propaganda Fides. Appointments of prelates who favor change on issues homosexuality, divorced and remarried. Amazonia, Marx’ disappointment, Bätzing’s direction of the German Synodal Way as intended by Cardinal Marx, and Pope Francis’ tolerance [his letter of admonition to the Germans was more a sympathetic warning] followed by considerate silence.
Much of our response here is nothing new. At best we might add that at least we’re not becoming inured. As in line with this article, Germany’s counter to the Synodal Way M Grünewald of Germany’s New Way says, “to attach a higher importance to them [Synodal Way proposals] is so theologically adventurous that this must be classified as revolutionary or – in church language – as heretical” (Martin Grünewald neuer Anfgang).
Some laypersons see “the complex reality of the structures in the Catholic Church that facilitate abuse,” as echolocating squeaks of Bishop Batzing calling forth past historical heresies. He unearths, resources, refreshes, and reforms old heresies to meet the needs of today’s world. These needs are just and true since he and his fellow immoralist hierarchs have interpreted them. Francis adds notes of rest or occasional dischordant yet harmonic sound.
Like yesterday’s news (or as Baby Herman in ‘Roger Rabbit’ put it: “like yesterday’s diaper”), the heresies which Batzing and friends voice today, without any novelty whatsoever, bore. They bore in their tediously completely full entirety. We’ve heard them too many times in too many tones, too many moods, too many stripes, patterns, and colors, before. Old news is stale and smells bad too.
Yet Batzinger’s words surely stem from the impetus of the newness of the ever pastoral freshness of VC II. DV, Section 8, asserts that the church’s tradition “progresses.” “There is growth in understanding…both the words [of God] and the realities they signify.”
DV (or some like Batzing) would interpret those words to apply not only to individuals who, like Mary, ‘ponder these things in their hearts’ (see Lk. 2:19, 51) but also to the church “until the day when the words of God reach their fulfilment in the church.”
The roller-coaster ride given the church by the much misaligned VCII, resourced and reformed as a clarifying, light-filled Synod of All Evolving and Everlasting Synods, is about to visit the knowledge, wisdom, and discernment of THE spirit upon an uncomprehending, outdated, rigid, and horribly needy world.
Buckling Up, In Christ, we remain opposed to Batzing’s sin-nod. Go Aquila.