The statements were made at a Christian Anthropology Working Group event on November
Newsroom (15/11/2021 12:30 PM, Gaudium Press) Cardinal Walter Kasper’s criticism of the so-called German Synodal Way is spreading in many different areas, among other reasons because it comes from someone who is not considered a “traditionalist.”
These criticisms were expressed by the former prefect of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity at the online study day organized by Arbeitskreis Christliche Anthropologie, the Christian Anthropology Working Group, on November 7.
The German cardinal explained that the “original sin” of the Synodal Way was the abandonment of “the basic mission of evangelization” and the placing “in the foreground of subordinate criteria” or secondary subjects such as “sociology, political science, and humanities.”
Bishops are successors and must transmit the faith
Cardinal Kasper stated that “in purely formal terms, [the Synodal Way] has not abandoned the episcopate, but it has extirpated it in its essence. In general, according to the Synod text, the bishop is not much different from a chairman of an administrative board who is elected for a fixed term and can be eliminated at any time.” However, the mission of bishops is to always witness and transmit the Gospel faithfully, and to “exercise an apostolic ministry as successors.”
In summary, Cardinal Kasper believes that the Synodal Way is attempting to establish a kind of democratic control over Church power and that while something can be learned from the democratic order, the order established by the Church must prevail.
A synod should not be confused with a parliament where decisions are made by the majority. A consensus must be sought, which can be interpreted as a sign of the Holy Spirit.
“A synod, therefore, should not vote against and overturn a minority without a serious exchange of arguments, as happened at the last Synodal Path meeting,” he commented. “In doing so, the Synodal Way has turned into a farce of a synod,” he declared.
At the last Synod Assembly meeting, the supreme decision-making body of the Synodal Way, meeting in Frankfurt from September 30 to October 2, voted for a text supporting blessings for same-sex couples and a discussion on whether the priesthood was necessary.
The Synodal Assembly is composed of the German bishops, 69 members of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), and representatives from other sectors of the Church in Germany.
Furthermore, Cardinal Kasper does not consider the Synodal Way to be a synod in the traditional sense, but a “sui generis” process.
With CNA information.
Compiled by Camille Mittermeier
