Vatican-Copenhagen (kath.net/pl) In an interview with KATH.NET, Sr. Anna Mirijam Kaschner, CPS, the General Secretary of the Nordic Bishops’ Conference, declared, “Yes, I share this concern in a very personal way—and of course I can also speak for our Bishops’ Conference in this regard. After all, in 2022 we even expressed this concern in an open letter to Bishop Bätzing,” chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference. With these remarks the Missionary Sister of the Precious Blood, a delegate at the Synod of Bishops that took place in October at the Vatican, reacted to the Letter by Pope Francis to four Catholic women in Germany, among them three professors.
kath.net: Sister Anna Mirijam, Pope Francis has now admitted in a letter that he too is concerned “about the numerous tangible steps with which large portions of this local Church [in Germany] continue to threaten to move further away from the common path of the universal Church.” Do you—and does the Nordic Bishops’ Conference—share his concern?
Sr. Anna Mirijam: Yes, I share this concern in a very personal way—and of course I can also speak for our Bishops’ Conference in this regard. After all, in 2022, we even expressed this concern in an open letter to Bishop Bätzing. This letter—along with the letters of other Bishops’ Conferences and bishops from other parts of the world—was noted and answered in a way, but in reality it was not taken seriously.
The reactions were rather defensive, claiming that we had no idea what the real purposes and concerns of the Synodal Way are. This, incidentally, is a narrative that the Synodal Way uses over and over again whenever criticism is voiced.
Another narrative that is brought up again and again, especially now after the World Synod of Bishops in Rome, says: The World Synod of Bishops showed that the topics of the Synodal Way are not exceptional topics at all, but rather are of current interest everywhere in the Universal Church. And that gives them a free ticket, so to speak, to go ahead now in Germany and to implement everything that they had resolved to do—together with a rather presumptuous attitude: The Universal Church is capable of learning, and we in Germany feel that we have been confirmed.
As a participant in the World Synod in Rome, I can verify that many topics that the Synodal Way discusses certainly are topics of current interest in the Universal Church, for instance the role of women, dealing with people from the LGBTQ community, the question about the role of bishops, etc. And we never disputed this, either.
But it was a completely different way of dealing with these topics. In Rome we listened first of all to each other. We gave one another—even and especially to those who had a different opinion—a space in which everyone could express their views, without being interrupted, without someone cutting them short. It was an atmosphere of deep, mutual respect, characterized by prayer and the search for God’s will.
The Synodal Way, in contrast—according to my observation of it—was all about getting one’s opinion accepted, building majorities, which could then outvote the minorities. This is precisely what Pope Francis wanted to prevent at the World Synod. This is why the Synod really was a spiritual process, in which silence, prayer, and listening to the Holy Spirit had priority.
kath.net: In his recent letter, the Pope refers explicitly to his “Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany” from the year 2019, which had plainly been written in blood. Is it your impression that the earlier letter was widely received in the German Church that is agitated by the Synodal Way, or was at least widely read?
Sr. Anna Mirijam: On several occasions now Pope Francis has referred to his “Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany”—and also lamented the fact that this letter was unfortunately not well received. And in my opinion that is true, too. The only thing that happened is that some excerpts from the letter were used to confirm the direction that the Synodal Way was taking, while other passages that were certainly critical of the Synodal Way were downplayed or ignored. In his letter to the four women, which has now been published, the Pope again considers the details of this letter [from 2019], which he himself had drafted and written.
I am very grateful to these women for having the courage to turn to the Pope directly with their questions and concerns. In his answer he emphasizes again that salvation is not to be sought “in constantly evolving committees”, nor “in self-absorbed dialogues rehashing the same themes”, but rather in the necessity of prayer, repentance and adoration. One looks in vain, however, for these concepts in the documents of the Synodal Way.
kath.net: The President of the Polish Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Gądecki, said just a few days ago that he had “serious misgivings” about almost all the demands of the German Synodal Way. He thinks “that the Church is Germany is in its worst crisis since the Reformation.” In your estimation can Archbishop Gądecki see the Pope’s new letter as validating his concerns?
Sr. Anna Mirijam: I can imagine that the Pope’s most recent letter is a validation for the President of the Polish Episcopal Conference.
Of course there are, in my opinion, differences too, in the ways that Archbishop Gądecki and the Pope evaluate the Synodal Way. While Archbishop Gądecki rejects on principle the demands for changes that the Synodal Way makes, the Pope seems to criticize instead the fact that these demands came about as the result of a voting process involving a few Catholics, in other words, as the result of parliamentary procedures.
While the Pope, for instance through the World Synod of Bishops, shows openness to changes in the Church—changes which of course must result from a spiritual process—it seems to be the case that Archbishop Gądecki regards any kind of change as a threat.
I do agree with him 100 percent that Catholic doctrine cannot be changed by majority decisions. But he has likewise made very critical statements about the World Synod. For instance, that there was no opportunity there for genuine discussions.
Personally, my experience of it has been different. And many other bishops and cardinals, too, who were present and have already experienced several Synods, reported that this Synod had made much more discussion and dialogue possible.
kath.net: Well, you yourself, Sister Anna Mirijam, were a delegate at the most recent Synod of Bishops at the Vatican. Were concerns about the Church in Germany a topic of conversation among the delegates—even in the non-official discussions?
Sr. Anna Mirijam: Yes, this happened mainly during the breaks and outside of the Synod Hall. For in the Synod Hall the Synodal Way in Germany was not a topic.
In personal conversations, as soon as I mentioned that I originally come from Germany, very often questions came up about the Synodal Way in Germany, and worries, too.
The concern most often expressed then was that it might lead to a schism.
But the vehemence of the demands made by the Synodal Way, which leave almost no room for compromises or changes, strikes non-Europeans as incomprehensible, as well as a certain presumptuousness of the Catholic Church in Germany.
One African bishop told me very clearly: “I do not understand why the Universal Church should accept these demands. The Church in Europe has grown old and weary. There are hardly any vocations. It seems to be a slowly dying Church. On our continent we have a lively Church, a young Church that is growing. Why should we have to accept for ourselves the demands of this dying Church?”
kath.net: How do you yourself actually view the goals set by the Synodal Way?
Sr. Anna Mirijam: The goal of the Synodal Way is to set up a Synodal Council [Rat], in order to perpetuate the Synodal Way. The Synodal Commission [Ausschuss] that has now been founded in Essen is designed to prepare for the Synodal Council. The Synodal Council, as it is planned, was regarded as incompatible with the sacramental structure of the Church and hence was forbidden by the Holy See—with the explicit approval of the Pope.
To tell the truth, the arrogance with which the majority of the German bishops have disregarded this document, too, is incomprehensible to me.
I fear, however, that even this communication from the Pope will be acknowledged with thanks, along with the assurance that these concerns are nevertheless altogether unfounded.
(Translated by Michael J. Miller. Reprinted in English with the kind permission of the editors of kath.net.)
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.
The Synod on Synodidolatry was an abject failure. It was designed to provide cover for those wanting to change the perennial teachings of the Church. It was also sinful in that it wasted Church resources to fly participants to Rome, feed them, and pay for their hotels while those millions of dollars could have been used to feed the poor. My suggestion to participants for next year: stay home, shut up, and use your time to evangelize.
I agree . It was confusing and not aiding in upholding the tradition of the Catholic faith
It is clear to me that the Synod on Synodality cannot be judged a failure until it ends, and the Pope has published his response. But if it was as you say “designed to provide cover for those wanting to change the perennial teachings of the Church” then I hope it proves an abject failure. However as a comment on an article by someone who was present and thinks it will aid combatting the Synodale Weg I would dismiss your view. My understanding is that the Pope wishes to show what synodality should be, and that it is not anything like the Synodale Weg, as he has said several times.
Once you introduce the erroneous notion that a Catholic is free to question that which a Catholic must believe with Divine and Catholic Faith, The Deposit Of Faith that Christ Has Entrusted To His Church as if it is merely a matter of one’s opinion, the so called “synod “, became merely a vehicle to undermine Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and The Teaching Of The Magisterium, which is anti Christ., and certainly not Catholic.
The synod has already exposed the fact that as “The Two Catholic Religions In The Same Church Face Off In The Raging Global Revolution”, it is not possible for the counterfeit religion to be part of The One Body Of Christ because it rejects The Word Of God. The very notion that there can be two Catholic Religions, one that affirms
The Deposit Of Faith and one that denies The Deposit Of Faith subsisting in The Catholic Church is being
exposed for what it is, an apostate church, that denies The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, but still claims to be
Catholic, cannot subsist within The One Body Of Christ.
“Error has no rights”, although it can often illuminate that which is True. The erroneous synod, no doubt has illuminated the fact that apostates are trying to make it appear as if they are in communion with Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church, while denying The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque), and the fact that “It is not possible to have Sacramental Communion without Ecclesial Communion.
Amen, N.D. Blessings of Advent to you and to yours.
If there was a schism in Germany, what would happen to the 6.85 billion euros per year in net tax revenue? My guess is that few would leave their share of that kind of money.
The German Synodalweg is not the Reformation. Deformation might be fitting. There is likely no believer of the Catholic Faith in Germany considering schism. The others may as well go. We can trust that God will bless their honesty.
My guess is they get to keep the billions. After all, the German government subsidizes the Lutherans so why not the Catholic schismatics? (I wonder if the Germans give subsidies to mosques.)
With respect to Sr Anna Mirijam’s good will and intelligence, above the concerns, papal letters of admonition, a process of ‘confirmation’ is the facto if not de jure an occurrence of similarity in the Synodal Way as well as the Synod on Synodality. For example, although the German Synod voted in favor of changing settled doctrine, and the universal Synod hasn’t reached a majority opinion on the same change of doctrinal issues [regardless of His Holiness’ attestation that a parliamentary type vote cannot change said doctrine], the fact that this continues to be subject for further debate is a success for those in favor of change. Insofar as settled doctrine continues to be discussed, it continues to be questioned, most significantly by the Church at large. That is the apparent method by which change can, and will be effected in practice.
More from the Nordic Church, please. Also the Polish.
And less, a lot less, from the German. Presumptuous, condescending, arrogant. I’m with the African bishop.
We READ: “Pope Francis has now admitted in a letter that he too is concerned ‘about the numerous tangible steps with which large portions of this local Church [in Germany] continue to threaten to move further away from the common path of the universal Church’.” And, that the Synod on Synodality is a spiritual process. AND therein lies (both senses of the word) the mystery of der Synodal Weg…
It’s the tip of a spiritualist iceberg that reaches down nearly a millennium…As a not-so-fanciful MIND GAME, what would happen if there showed up at the Synod the “Four Horsemen of the Apocryphal”?
(1) The 12th-century Joachim of Flora and his three stages of history (the OT and the NT, then replaced by disembodied spirituality of process theology);
(2) The 13th-century Duns Scotus with his eclipsing of the “intellect” with the “will” (a spirituality coincidentally similarity with 7th-century Islam’s inscrutable and arbitrary Allah);
(3) The 14th-century William of Ockham with his nominalism completely atomizing everything; ergo, the spirituality of a disintegrated and subjectivist morality (and today’s accommodation of the homosexual lifestyle?);
(4) The 15th-century Nicholas de Cusa with his ascendancy of open-range spirituality of pluralist syncretism over any kind of hierarchy or structured authority (ancestral to German [!] romanticism and to polyhedral [?] national/continental religions based more on language and culture than on the responsibilities of Apostolic Succession).
HOW does the Church deal with such a totally alternative reality, at Synod 2023, if no “space” is allowed for real engagement? Instead, “time is greater than space.”
WAITING, now, to hear from a harmonized and edited Synod 2024, on whether even the Council of Nicaea—1700th anniversary in 2025—was about synodal “inclusivity” and a rolling consensus, OR, instead, about “excluding” (!) Arianism? EXCLUSION? Arianism as incipient polytheism, echoing today as unisex poly-anthropology. The homosexual lifestyle, a female priesthood, and an ongoing, indeterminant and even femininized council.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocryphal as swing votes from Joachim, Scotus, William, and Nicholas! Synod 2024? CHOOSE one: (a) The included synod interlopers Bishop Batzing and Fr. James Martin, S.J., OR (b) the post-Nicaea exile St. Athanasius and such other banished leaders as Cardinal Burke et al…
“While the Pope, for instance through the World Synod of Bishops, shows openness to changes in the Church—changes which of course must result from a spiritual process—it seems to be the case that Archbishop Gądecki regards any kind of change as a threat…Personally, my experience of it has been different.”
And this is the problem with modernists. Their presumptions about personal infallibility in defining what they arrogantly conceive of as “new truth” as if there can be such a thing. The thought of self-serving delusions to accommodate sinful desires and the damage this does to the victims of sin never occurs to them.
Sister sees no problem with being in accord with a strong candidate for being the worst pope in history, involving the Church in globalist crimes and on a perpetual quest to redefine morality.
Oh I forgot, The spirit of the New Catholicism has no problem with conceiving of God, of recreating God in their own image, as an idiot, a God Who either lied to those billions of people He sadistically misled in the past, indifferent to their pointless suffering in their pursuit of heroic virtue, or a God too stupid and uneducated to tell the truth, unlike modern theologians. Presuming the inferiority of God is not in any way problematic to those who hold synods, intended as dictation sessions to the Holy Spirit, treated as a recent secretarial school subordinate, not qualified to reject the consensus achieved by a big room filled with sinful people conditioned to not even consider corruptions of thought derived from a big room of demanding sinful people.
Thank you CWR and Sister, for this gift of Truth , as from St.Nicholas on this Feast Day of his- sort of iconic as a gift from The Father,for the great Feast of Immaculate Conception on Dec 8th , (the ‘third day’ ! )- as the key of clarification to good many issues faced in our times , including the German Church .
The prayer intention of Holy Father for this month too- to pray for persons with disabilities ..knowing well in his aching heart along with the Holy Spirit that the great ‘disability ‘/ the ‘heel ‘ of our times is lack of trust in God , His goodness as His holiness and power , even as we prophese often mindlessly – ‘I believe in God The Father Almighty !’ – to elicit the response too – ‘ I have sinned ..’
The ‘mustard seed’ God had prepared carefully over generations through all attacks of the enemy – The Immaculate Conception , with amazing graces as narrated in the Divine Will revelations –
https://www.comingofthekingdom.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Divine-Will-and-The-Immaculate-Conception-Loreto-Talk-English.pdf
Human hearts , meant to love God and others with His own Love -spoken as the blessing of Holy Father at theSynodal closing Holy Mass – that we see others too , in the graces of the I.C – capable of, and meant to love God with The Mother, in the hidden depths, with all His children . Same then to be the antidote for carnality and its fallen appetites that can flare up and destroy much , if not handled with sacredness ..
True , there is need in The Church for such truths to be brought to more light, the ‘heel ‘ in German Church , the ‘lack of water ‘ to make the wine being obvious to most believers and being dealth with much patience by the Holy Father …where as other situations with the dangeorus leaven of spiritual pride needed steps that seemed more drastic , yet not so ..
Dec 10th – given us recently as Feast of Our Lady of Loreto by the Holy Father ..octave of same would be his birthday on Dec.17th its octave on Dec. 24th – Feasts of Sts Adam and Eve who had been blessed with the Divine Will , till loosing same in The Fall ..
May the Reign of Divine Will take hold in nations and hearts for its great good to bring trust that holiness is possible , that same alone would bring the deeper oneness as Love that all yearn for , how fear of abandonement by God and others is what is feeding the carnal fears as has been brought to more attention in the field of psychology ( as the increasingly popular ‘dialectic behavior therapy ‘ )- through a Catholic woman – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsha_M._Linehan
The need for Logos , for speaking and heeding words of Truth filled with Love as in a healthy Synodal manner which is narrated well in the above article as opposed to the destructive body language too that enters in, in every choice against holiness in life and marriage , to instill the deep fears of being ‘used’ / abandoned , that can flood all other realms ..
Buddishm / Zen meditation etc : OTOH said to try to leave the mind ’empty ‘ of desires where as we are meant to fill our minds and hearts with The Logos ..its life of praise and adoration ..nations left with such emptiness , becoming more aggressive in carnal desire to take over everything – need for Synodal Way of walking with the Holy Family as The Way for our times as well discerned and spoken through the receptive ‘feminine ‘ grace of the above Sister too ..
And thank God we have The Mother , capable of speaking the Truth into our hearts , to allow same to bring healing to the earth itself – an area that moves the heart of the Holy Father too as well deserved in the interconnectedness of all these ..even the yearning sighs of same to bring blessings – just read the other day how fusion energy seems a reality , which would bring the need for wisdom to use resources of the earth carefully to help bring forth future generations who are to love and praise The Father with The Mother and each of us too, with all of us , to go from glory to glory ! FIAT !
Where does adolescent phoniness and God abusing sinful self-delusion factor into your analysis J.P.G./M.?
Closer to the Truth or to Fiction:
Francis: I, too, am concerned “about the numerous tangible steps with which large portions of this local Church [in Germany] continue to threaten to move further away from the common path of the universal Church.”
Pewsitter: What will you do about it?
Francis: I know. I will cancel Bishop Strickland and further humiliate Cardinal Burke.
Pewsitter: Thanks for demonstrating that you really, truly are concerned.