Pope Francis expressed concern about some initiatives by individual dioceses in Germany, including the creation of the Synod Commission, which he said threatens to separate the local Church from the universal Church.
Pope Francis, in a private letter to four German Catholic women, two of whom are professors of theology, expressed concern about the actions of some German bishops within the synodal path.
“Instead of looking for ‘salvation’ in new bodies and discussing the same topics over and over again with a certain egocentrism, I wanted to recall in my ‘Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany’ the need for prayer, penance and worship and invite people to open up and go out “to meet our brothers, especially those who are found on the thresholds of our churches, on the streets, in prisons, in hospitals, in squares and in cities” (No. 8).” – wrote the Pope.
The letter, typed in German and signed by the Pope, was published in its entirety by the German newspaper Die Welt in its November 21 edition.
Doubts about the synodal path
The letter was in response to a letter from women who addressed the pope on November 6, expressing their “doubts and concerns” about the results of the German Synodal Way, which began in December 2019 and ended in March 2023.
The authors of the letter – moral theologian Katharina Westerhorstmann, theologian Marianne Schlosser, philosopher Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz and journalist Dorothea Schmidt – were prominent participants in the Synodal Way, but withdrew their support for it in February this year.
The experts said the Synod Road “questions” the fundamental doctrines and teachings of the Catholic Church and that organizers ignored numerous warnings from the Vatican.
The Pope’s answer
In his response on November 10, the Pope thanked the women for their “kind letter” in which they expressed their concern about the developing situation of the Church in Germany.
“I too share this concern about the many concrete steps now being taken by a large part of this local Church, which increasingly threaten to distance us from the common path of the universal Church,” Francis wrote.
The appointment of the synodal commission aroused particular concern for the Pope. The body consists of 74 members, laymen and bishops, and was established in March this year. Over the next three years he will work to establish a permanent German synod council.
The Synod Council is intended to be a national ‘advisory and decision-making body’, composed of bishops and laity, that will make important decisions on pastoral, long-term planning and financial issues that are not decided at diocesan level.
In a letter approved by Pope Francis, top Vatican officials warned organizers of the German Synodal Way in January that they did not have the authority to create such a body. However, this warning was ignored.
Source: Do Rzeczy
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