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Cdl. Raymond Burke, member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura: “These forces tell us we are now the subjects of the so-called Great Reset.”
While the listening portion of the Synod on Synodality is underway throughout the Church, the meaning and purpose of this grand undertaking is still a mystery. The term “reset” has been bandied about, but no one really knows what this means. In tonight’s In-Depth Report, Church Militant’s Paul Murano explores the challenges and potential outcomes of this ambitious process of listening to 1.3 billion Catholics.
The first phase of “listening” in the Church’s two-year synodal process is in progress. After it’s completed in 2023, the Vatican is scheduled to create a document to facilitate discussion among the bishops.
Raymond Arroyo, host of The World Over, EWTN: “What’s the intention of this synod, and where will it lead?”
According to Myriam Wijlens, canon law expert and adviser to the worldwide synodal process, Vatican Councils I and II left two theologies side by side, without integrating them — the infallibility of the “people of God,” who cannot err in the Faith; and the infallibility of the bishops and the pope, commissioned by Christ to lead the Church.
The goal, she says, is to bring about a consensus between Church leaders and laymen on what the Spirit is saying and where He is leading the body of Christ.
Myriam Wijlens, canon lawyer: “The documents speak about the synod in which the whole Church is engaged.”
But faithful Catholics are concerned about where this synod might be heading. Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute noted in a recent article, “Heretics, schismatics, apostates, non-Catholics and even atheists are allowed to participate.” Many critics fear this opens the door to what’s currently happening at the so-called Synodal Way in Germany.
Fr. Gerald Murray, pastor, Holy Family Parish in Manhattan: “We need a Church that’s holy and that is dedicated to doctrinal orthodoxy and the pursuit of sacramental life. We don’t need a Church that would basically be a Catholic version of watered-down Christianity.”
The Vatican General Secretariat has a resource page linking to homosexualist organization New Ways Ministry. It removed it — then reinstated it.
Sr. Jeannine Gramick, co-founder, New Ways Ministry: “I’ve seen a lot of change for good in our Church.”
A spokesman even apologized, blaming “procedural reasons,” and stated, “Certainly, LGBTQ groups and those groups who feel they live on the ‘margins’ of the Church can … share [on their website] with the whole people of God.”
Fr. James Martin, S.J.: “I remind them that, as baptized Catholics, they’re just as much the Church as the pope, their local bishop or me.”
The Vatican acknowledges several practical concerns with the synodal process — one of which is how to include “those who live on the margins of ecclesial institutions.”
Despite the corrupt human element within the Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit ensures the Church’s teachings on sexual morality and the family are true and can never be altered.
Cdl. Joseph Tobin, archdiocese of Newark: “I really think Francis defies categorization.”
There’s no telling right now the direction this process will take. The Church in Germany, following the spirit of the world rather than the Spirit of God, is now calling for women deacons and a “reassessment of homosexuality.”
