null / Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk.The Vatican has once again issued a warning about a new split emerging from Germany along the “Synodal Way.”
The Vatican stated in a formal statement released in Italian and German on Thursday that “the Synodal Way” in Germany does not have the authority to compel bishops and the faithful to adopt new forms of governance and new orientations of doctrine and morals.
In order to “safeguard the freedom of the People of God and the exercise of the episcopal ministry,” according to the Holy See, it appeared “necessary to explain” this.”
Before an agreement had been achieved at the level of the worldwide Church, the Vatican issued a warning: “It would not be permitted to introduce new official structures or doctrines in dioceses, which would represent a violation of ecclesial communion and a threat to the unity of the Church.”
Cardinal Reinhard Marx started a contentious procedure known as the “Synodal Way,” or Synodaler Weg in German and often referred to as the “Synodal Path.”
Its organisers, the German Bishops’ Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), want to talk about four basic things: the priesthood, the role of women, sexual morality, and how power is used in the church.
In his letter to German Catholics in 2019, Pope Francis wrote about the procedure and forewarned of discord.
In June 2022, Cardinal Walter Kasper, a German theologian closely associated with Pope Francis, issued a dire warning, stating that the German process runs the risk of “breaking its own neck” if it ignores the concerns voiced by an increasing number of bishops worldwide.
A “fraternal open letter” to Germany’s bishops was published in April by more than 100 cardinals and bishops from around the world, warning that the process’ call for significant changes to Church doctrine may result in rupture.
The Nordic bishops underlined their anxiety at the German process in an open letter in March, and the president of the Polish Catholic bishops’ conference expressed grave worries in a strongly written letter in February.
Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, the president of the German Bishops’ Conference, has repeatedly dismissed all worries and expressed displeasure in Pope Francis in May 2022.
The “Synodal Way” allegedly sought to alter the Church’s position on homosexuality by recommending “a conscious statement against the current Catholic catechism,” according to a later organiser of the German process.”
He cited a passage that discussed shifting attitudes toward homosexuality as well as masturbation, marriage, sexual passion, and other themes relevant to Catholic doctrine.
The Vatican reiterated in a statement on Thursday a section of Pope Francis’ 2019 letter in which he had cautioned—in German—against certain Churches becoming “separated from the universal Church, “adding that “they would weaken, expire, and die” in such circumstances
The proposals from Germany, according to the Holy See, should “flow into the synodal process of the universal Church, in order to contribute to mutual enrichment and to give witness to the unity with which the Body of the Church manifests its fidelity to Christ the Lord,” instead of being discussed there.