Skip to main content

The aftermath of the Synod

Image
By
+
JMJ

Some time has elapsed since the conclusion of the Synod, which in theory should allow us to read commentary with greater objectivity.

I wonder which way the Pope will go ... we'll know when the exhortation finally is released.

P^3
Courtesy of SSPX.org



The aftermath of the Synod

November 13, 2015 
District of the USA
The Synod on the Family is over and the delegates have left the meeting hall, but complaints over the Final Report continue to resound.

Pastor's Corner for Sunday, November 15

How will the bishops react to the Final Report of the Synod published by Pope Francis? A highly pressurized synod, a poorly identified social context, a controversial final report allegedly promoting the good of the family, and to top it all, a cotton candy style offered to modern man—are these the wonderful fruits of the Synod on the Family?
It is enlightening to read some comments which are slowly coming out of the woodwork after the dust has settled upon last month’s great commotion surrounding the Synod. One such voice comes from a Romanian doctor, Anca Maria Cernea. Besides the issues with the language and the lack of time to review the reports, she evokes the lacunae of the original document called theInstrumentum laboris.
In this document, I discovered a language quite familiar, having lived in a Communist country. In the 3 minutes granted me on plenary session, I drew attention to all of these terms filled with ideological concepts which have nothing to do with the Gospel language and much more with Marxist ideology.
The main issue of the document is that it does not identify the true evil affecting families today. Beyond the economic and social issues, the first cause of the sexual revolution is cultural and ideological. We are still dealing with Marxism, albeit a cultural Marxism."[1]
On a very different topic, an episcopal voice is heard lamenting the tone of the report. Bishop Huonder from Chur, Switzerland, is unfolding the manifest hypocrisy of the cotton candy language more fit for children, which is utterly out of touch with reality and the people it addresses:
There is more about crescita, about our growth. The important thing ismaturazione, becoming mature. In this process the Church prefers to 'accompany' us rather than to scold. Gently, she wants to help us to 'discern'. But with this NewSpeak is the Church really taking us seriously?”[2]
He accuses the writers of being out of touch with the real issues in the Church, and of immaturity and displaced paternalism.
He then looks at those persons the Church is addressing when dealing with remarried divorcees and the like. Concerning their behavior, they are certainly not children, as they believe that they have maturity and independence:
They do not feel particularly guilty. They are not desperately seeking a mercy that the Church has purportedly denied them for a long time. If they want anything at all from the Church, other than simply being left in peace, then they probably want instead moral approval for their lifestyle, for the standards that are deemed good by the prevailing culture."
Bishop Huonder concludes that, at least the Church's former speech treated their listeners as adults, speaking with the clear language of Scripture:
Previously, the Church was more honest in this respect. With her clear speech she took for granted that we were adults. In the Book of Deuteronomy 30:19, we read: 'I have set before you, life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.' (Deut. 30, 19)."
We can only wish that the bishops had followed and applied the good old rite of episcopal consecration which demanded that they vow to never call evil good and good evil. But, unfortunately, too many of them have done what so many doctors have done with the Hippocratic Oath: belittling the importance of the oath, disobeying it privately, and finally throwing it out altogether so as to not disturb scrupulous consciences.
Footnotes
1 La Revue Item article of November 11, 2015, "Interview a Anca Maria Cernea".
2The following quotes are taken from The Catholic World Report article of November 4, 2015: "Brave New Church: Pastoral Cotton Candy instead of Clear Statements".
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

News Roundup: October 19, 2026

By
 + JMJ Well ... I was looking in my blog drafts and found this list from after my News is an Addiction post. So ... yep ... not totally able to disconnect from the news world at this point.  Frankly, I haven't read all of these articles - they catch my eye as I check for SSPX news regarding the exco's etc. So let's consider these topics as part of a higher level chronicle. They may not be key inflection points but helps to understand the flow of the world as perceived by the authors and myself who captured them as a snapshot in time. P^3 1 Popes Past Present and Future Benedict XVI and the Reforms of the Second Vatican Council: Re-Catholicizing the Liturgy—Part I - Adoremus RORATE CÆLI: France: Pope Lays Down the Law on Euthanasia RORATE CÆLI: "I went to France to preach the Gospel -- the Defense of Life is something that the Church believes very deeply" RORATE CÆLI: Image of the Day: the Pope at the Rebuilt Notre-Dame de Paris RORATE CÆLI: Leo XIV and the Place...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Debt Canadian Traditional Catholics Owe to Fr. Yves Normandin (RIP)

By
 + JMJ On this All Souls day, I'd like to remind all Traditional Catholics in Canada the debt that they owe to Fr. Yves Normandin (RIP). Fr. Normandin stepped into the breach in the 1970's offering the Tridentine Mass across Canada for close to a decade before returning to his diocese for a number years before returning to the SSPX. I had the grace to visit him in Quebec twice and each time left with a greater appreciation of the fruits of his efforts. All of us 'old-timers' probably remembers Masses in Chapels, Homes, Halls, Funeral Homes, and event convention centres. I make the assertion that this laid the ground for all the Traditional Mass Communities, SSPX, FSSP, Diocesan and others. Probably a pretty safe assertion! In addition to praying for the repose of the Soul of Fr. Normandin, I'd ask you also pray for the repose of the soul of his Mother.  I remember seeing her picture once and everyone has a Mom and she is worthy of our prayers for producing such a so...
Post a Comment
Read more

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

By
+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3
Post a Comment
Read more

SSPX: Requiescat in Pace - Nov. Devotions

By
 + JMJ Recently, the St. Gertrude prayer was recommended to me and given my devotion to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, I thought it a good inclusion in the morning prayers and post it here for as a reminder for November - the Month of the Holy Souls. P^3 Courtesy of SSPX.org “Forget not the dead and hasten to pray for them!” - such is the Church's recommendation, beautifully summarized by St. Augustine. In Purgatory until the End of the World Our Lady Herself referred to Purgatory when, at the first Fatima apparition in May 1917, she was asked by Lucia about the souls of two young village girls who had recently died. The Virgin answered that the first one, Maria das Nevas, who died when about 16 years of age, was in Heaven. But of Amelia, a young lady of 18 years at her death, "will be in purgatory until the end of the world.” The disclosure about Amelia’s prolonged period of expiation never fails to shock and trouble. We are so easily misled to believe that Heaven is our natura...
Post a Comment
Read more

The News is an Addiction ...

By
 + JMJ People seem to be mesmerised by train wrecks.   They just can't turn away as the disaster creeps forward along train tracks towards the crossing where a car, truck, bus, trailer awaits its destruction. Trads have been watching the train wreck that is this crisis of the Catholic Church for decades. The trade war between the Canada and the US has reminded me that the news is addictive.   The first time I was addicted what from 2009 to  2014 when I was closely following the Rome / SSPX discussions.  I was at work watching a live-stream as Bishop Fellay disappeared into the Vatican. The lead-up to this moment had been intense as the 'resistance' got freaked out and the cultural cracks between doctrine and conspiracy theory widened. In the decade since then other things have emerged, wars, rumours of wars, conspiracies, celebrity Catholics etc. Now we have a new addiction and its name is Trump. Lately, no matter how much I try, I find myself wonderin...
Post a Comment
Read more