There was a time when preachers loved to inflame the hearts of their flocks by evoking the one, holy, catholic, apostolic and Roman Church, the unique ark of salvation. Those days seem long gone. The time has come for the synodal Church.
On June 20, the secretariat of the Synod of Bishops published the Instrumentum laboris, the working instrument for the Synod to be held in Rome in October 2023. This text is, of course, published with the assent of Pope Francis.
First of all, the term "synod of bishops" is now a misnomer, since for the first time since its creation in 1965 by Paul VI, several dozen women and lay people will participate in this synod with voting rights.
The first difficulty in reading this text is to find a definition of what a synodal Church would be. The reader of this copious sixty-two-page document will learn only that it is a "Church that listens to the people of God" promoted to the rank of "theological place", a "Church of encounter and dialogue that is not afraid of diversity", a "Church that is open, welcoming and embracing of all", a "Church willing and able to deal with tensions without allowing itself to be crushed by them", a "Church that is concerned", and so on.
The "people of God having", it seems, "set out on the road", the essential thing is to "walk together". But in what direction? History doesn't say. The whole text is a verbal logorrhea that only ecclesiastical functionaries with a penchant for box-ticking and no grasp of reality will get drunk on. Who, after all, has seen the crowds that the Instrumentum laboris describes as "the path on which the people of God advance with enthusiasm"? To date, the only crowds we've seen are those at the Pentecost pilgrimage to Chartres, where it's not clear that the Church's synodality is a major concern.
First of all, the term "synod of bishops" is now a misnomer, since for the first time since its creation in 1965 by Paul VI, several dozen women and lay people will participate in this synod with voting rights.
The first difficulty in reading this text is to find a definition of what a synodal Church would be. The reader of this copious sixty-two-page document will learn only that it is a "Church that listens to the people of God" promoted to the rank of "theological place", a "Church of encounter and dialogue that is not afraid of diversity", a "Church that is open, welcoming and embracing of all", a "Church willing and able to deal with tensions without allowing itself to be crushed by them", a "Church that is concerned", and so on.
The "people of God having", it seems, "set out on the road", the essential thing is to "walk together". But in what direction? History doesn't say. The whole text is a verbal logorrhea that only ecclesiastical functionaries with a penchant for box-ticking and no grasp of reality will get drunk on. Who, after all, has seen the crowds that the Instrumentum laboris describes as "the path on which the people of God advance with enthusiasm"? To date, the only crowds we've seen are those at the Pentecost pilgrimage to Chartres, where it's not clear that the Church's synodality is a major concern.
Revolution in the Church
As Jean-Marie Guénois writes in Le Figaro (20/06/2023), this text calls for a veritable revolution in Church governance. Here are just a few of the proposed innovations: the ordination of married men to the priesthood; the ordination of women to the diaconate; the regular evaluation of bishops; the welcoming of divorced remarried people, polygamists or LGBTQ+ people; the decentralization of doctrinal authority to take account of the demands of local churches, etc.
We're talking about a veritable Revolution, which is explicitly acknowledged in the desire to "revise the profile of the bishop". However, the Catholic Church is not simply an NGO subject to the vagaries and vagaries of the Zeitgeist. It is of divine origin, and its monarchical constitution is that willed by God himself. In Bossuet's words, "the Church is Jesus Christ spread and communicated". The true head of the Church is Christ himself, whose vicar is the Pope. The Church is not the Pope's property. He is not free to do what he likes with it. He is simply asked to guard the deposit of faith and to strengthen his brothers and sisters in the faith.
In this respect, this text, which we are told is not a magisterial text, will undoubtedly create more confusion than consolidation in the faith. It's hard to see African bishops opening up to the demands of the LGBT lobby! As for the denunciation of clericalism, it brings a yellow smile to the faces of all those who observe the relentless battle waged by many bishops, first and foremost the bishop of Rome, against the part of the people of God attached to the celebration of the traditional Roman mass. Homos, yes! Tradis, no!
We're talking about a veritable Revolution, which is explicitly acknowledged in the desire to "revise the profile of the bishop". However, the Catholic Church is not simply an NGO subject to the vagaries and vagaries of the Zeitgeist. It is of divine origin, and its monarchical constitution is that willed by God himself. In Bossuet's words, "the Church is Jesus Christ spread and communicated". The true head of the Church is Christ himself, whose vicar is the Pope. The Church is not the Pope's property. He is not free to do what he likes with it. He is simply asked to guard the deposit of faith and to strengthen his brothers and sisters in the faith.
In this respect, this text, which we are told is not a magisterial text, will undoubtedly create more confusion than consolidation in the faith. It's hard to see African bishops opening up to the demands of the LGBT lobby! As for the denunciation of clericalism, it brings a yellow smile to the faces of all those who observe the relentless battle waged by many bishops, first and foremost the bishop of Rome, against the part of the people of God attached to the celebration of the traditional Roman mass. Homos, yes! Tradis, no!
A catastrophic text and context
This publication comes just as the figures for priestly ordinations in 2023 have been made public. In France, this figure has never been so low, with the ordination of fifty-two diocesan priests. This compares with ten ordinations blocked by the Holy See in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon and twelve ordinations by traditional communities (IBP, ICRSP, FSSP, FSSPX). There is a general regressive movement, with four entries in September 2023 at the Paris seminary, a collapse in ordinations in Poland and Italy, etc. This must be the Francis Effect. The enthusiastic crowds described by the Instrumentum Laboris do not seem, in any case, to be rushing into seminaries.
The Second Vatican Council invited the Church to read the signs of the times (Gaudium et Spes). In reality, it was a time of acceleration of an earlier process of reconciliation between the Church and the world, and a break with Tradition. It was "1789 in the Church," according to Mgr Suenens, Cardinal Archbishop of Malines-Brussels, an "October Revolution" according to Father Congar, one of the Council's leading theologians. St. Paul's command: "Do not be conformed to this world" (Rom XII, 2) gave way to a "boundless sympathy" (Paul VI, closing address of the Council) for modern man and the modern world.
The results are there for all to see. The Church has become more worldly, seemingly more concerned with saving the planet than saving souls. Those who remained reticent to the conciliar innovations, holding fast to the traditional truths of the faith, were accused of not being in "full communion" with the Church, even though they recognized the authority of the Supreme Pontiff but denied him the right to modify what had always been believed, everywhere and by everyone.
The results are there for all to see. The Church has become more worldly, seemingly more concerned with saving the planet than saving souls. Those who remained reticent to the conciliar innovations, holding fast to the traditional truths of the faith, were accused of not being in "full communion" with the Church, even though they recognized the authority of the Supreme Pontiff but denied him the right to modify what had always been believed, everywhere and by everyone.
What could be done?
Faith is enough! It's faith that keeps us attached to the catechism, the Mass, the sacraments, the Tradition of the Church, its divine constitution. We've been told that the Pope orders us to separate ourselves from it. All we need to know is that no one has that power. It is not for us to know by what mystery the Church seems to have been governed for decades by ecclesiastical personnel alien to its liturgical, disciplinary and doctrinal tradition. We only have to give an account of our faith, not necessarily of the oddities or scandals of pontifical government, which sometimes make the Church appear to be run by personnel alien to it.
If we are asked what we think of pontifical acts which, in appearance or in reality, run counter to the Church's attachment to Tradition, we have every right to reply: "We don't understand them." As it happens, this most ignorant response is also likely to be the most learned. The mystery of iniquity remains a mystery. After more than thirteen centuries, theologians have yet to reach a definitive verdict on the condemnable acts of Pope Honorius I.
If we are asked what we think of pontifical acts which, in appearance or in reality, run counter to the Church's attachment to Tradition, we have every right to reply: "We don't understand them." As it happens, this most ignorant response is also likely to be the most learned. The mystery of iniquity remains a mystery. After more than thirteen centuries, theologians have yet to reach a definitive verdict on the condemnable acts of Pope Honorius I.
In the chiaroscuro of faith, we peacefully but firmly hold fast to the sacraments that sanctified our fathers, to the doctrine that was handed down to them to lead them to heaven, with fidelity to the Apostolic See, for which we pray unceasingly to be strengthened in our faith. Yesterday, as today, people need certainties. A Church "in search," constantly questioning its identity and mission, is unfaithful to its vocation and to the will of the One who is "the way, the truth and the life". Evil is not new.
Already, Péguy railed: "It's a bit like trying to perfect north, the direction of north... North is naturally fixed, Christianity is naturally fixed. So the fixed points have been given once and for all, in the natural world and in the supernatural world, in the physical world and in the mystical world. And all the work, all the effort, is, then, so far from 'improving' them, on the contrary to keep them, to hold them."
Finally, as lay Catholics, we take the liberty of turning to the bishops and cardinals of the Holy Church, asking them to call the Supreme Pontiff to account for the grave dangers posed to the faith and the Church by the forthcoming synod on synodality. We also assure them of our prayers that they will once again assume their doctrinal and sacramental responsibilities. As Guillaume Cuchet reminded us in Le Figaro's Club idées on June 21, Catholicism in France is a fighting Catholicism, spearheaded by Catholic families. The families of France and the "people of God" expect words of truth and salvation from the teaching Church, not slop for cats!
