Cardinal Gerhard Müller calls the German Synodal Way a “German Synodal heresy”, and points to Rome’s recent warning to the Synod.
Newsroom (29/07/2022 11:31 AM, Gaudium Press ) Cardinal Gerhard Muller strikes powerfully against the German Church once again. As usual, the words of Cardinal Muller, former Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, do not go in whichever direction the wind is blowing, but instead carry a great deal of weight.
In an article published on kath.net, the Cardinal refers once again to the troubling situation of the German Church, specifically to the so-called German Synodal Path. He alludes to the recent declaration of the Holy See, warning the German Church that this Synod should not depart from the unity of the Universal Church and that its determinations should not have juridical effects.
Cardinal Muller claims that “the affirmation of Forum IV (nt: of the German synod), that all moral conduct in life, especially with regard to sexuality, should no longer be determined by the Word of God, but by the currently predominant LGBT ideology, is an open farewell to Christianity.”
The Cardinal reminds us that the Sixth and Ninth Commandments of the Law given by God to Moses unite the meaning of sexuality – “exclusively related to marriage” – with “the relationship with God”. In other words, the true relationship with God implies that we assume what He commands about a sexuality exercised within the framework of marriage.
Cardinal Muller opposes the claims of the promoters of the German Synodal Way that this Synod would be an answer to reform the German Church, an institution which is quite embroiled in abuse scandals and other crises.
From another angle, Cardinal Muller states that “the German Synodal Way is the opposite of reform, that is, the renewal of our mind and behaviour in the spirit of Christ (Rom 12:1f). It is a relapse into the ancient immorality of the pagans who, by their rejection of God, are ‘given over to dishonourable passions‘ (Rom 1:26), although God has written the natural moral law on their hearts and consciences (Rom 2 .25).”
On the warning from Rome
Regarding Rome’s communiqué on the German Synodal Way, which the German Cardinal calls the “German Synodal Heresy,” he says that “late, but perhaps not too late, Rome reacted to the anti-Catholic machinations” of this Synod, regarding heresies that “are diametrically opposed to Catholic teaching on revelation and the ‘obedience of faith’ (Vatican II, Dei verbum 1-10), on the hierarchical-sacramental constitution of the Church (Lumen gentium 18-29) and on the ‘dignity of marriage and the family’ (Gaudium et spes 46-52).”
The Cardinal specifically mentions the recent call for universal access to abortion by Irme Stetter-Karp, Co-President of the German Synodal Way. This is particularly what the constitution of Gaudium et Spes called the “abominable crime of abortion and infanticide”, noting that these sorts of statements come from “a pansexualism that reveals the nihilism of those who have lost faith in the living God. And they live under the motto: ‘If the dead are not raised’ and there is no divine judgment, then ‘let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will be dead.'”
Cardinal Muller concluded his opinion of the German path by quoting the Apostle of the Gentiles‘ warning to the Church not to fall “into the temptation to live against the Word and instruction of God: ‘Do not be deceived! Bad company corrupts good morals. Return to sober living, as you ought, and sin no more. For some of you are still in total ignorance about God: this I say to you to your shame.'” (1 Cor 15:33-34).
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
