Cardinal Parolin’s letter is not merely the cardinal’s opinion, but also bears the signatures of Cardinals Ladaria and Ouellet – the latter prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops – and has been specifically approved by the Pope.
Newsroom (26/01/2023 2:38 PM, Gaudium Press) — In a press release published on January 25, the German Bishops’ Conference states that Cardinal Parolin’s Letter was debated in the Permanent Council of that body, that the projected Synodal Council has no more competences than the Synodal Assembly of the Synodal Way that is in progress, and that the concern expressed in the letter that a new body could sit above the Episcopal Conference or undermine the authority of individual bishops is unwarranted.
The President of the German episcopate ignores new warnings from the Secretary of State on the creation of the Synodal Council. One of the great criticisms made by Cardinals Ouellet and Ladaria, to the so-called German Synodal Way, was upon the visit of 62 Teutonic bishops last November. They were against the attempt of this controversial synod, to create a mixed clergy/laity body with power to oversee everything in the German Church.
A Synodal Council, which according to the determination of that synod last September, “will make fundamental decisions of supra-diocesan importance, on pastoral planning, questions about the future of the Church and finances”.
In this regard, the Cardinal Prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith, Luis Ladaria, warned the German prelates of the time that, “in order to always keep the Gospel intact and alive in the Church, the Apostles left the bishops as their successors, entrusting to them the authority to teach in their own place”, and that “it is not possible to equate this delicate and decisive task in the life of the Catholic Church with other offices of the Church, such as those of theologians and specialists in other disciplines”, which, then, can be exercised by lay people.
Yet most German bishops are unmoved by these warnings. That is why now five bishops of that country of traditional lineage have requested new clarifications in this regard, which were answered by Cardinal Secretary of State Parolin, who once again prompted the declaration of independence of the bishops related to the Synodal Way.
In fact, following requests for clarification from the five prelates – Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki (Cologne) and Bishops Gregor Maria Hanke OSB (Eichstätt), Bertram Meier (Augsburg), Stefan Oster SDB (Passau) and Rudolf Voderholzer (Regensburg), Cardinal Parolin sent a letter to the president of the German episcopate, Monsignor George Batzing, saying “that neither the Synodal Way, nor any body instituted by it, nor any episcopal conference has the competence to establish the ‘Synodal Council’ at national, diocesan or parish level”, Synodal Council that “seems to be above the authority of the Episcopal Conference and supersedes it, as well as the authority of bishops in their dioceses.
Cardinal Parolin’s letter is not merely the cardinal’s opinion, but also bears the signatures of Cardinals Ladaria and Ouellet – the latter prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops – and has been specifically approved by the Pope. According to the German Bishops’ Conference, the Synodal Council, which will be prepared by the Synodal Committee, will be under current ecclesiastical law. According to the press release, much of the Permanent Council reiterated its willingness to implement the Synodal Assembly resolution in the Synodal Committee and to resume consultations. Meaning they are moving on. The doctrinal and pastoral deviation of the German Church also continues.
Compiled by Donna Smolders
