While the Holy Father did not delve into details of the demands made in Germany, he plainly described the Synodal Way as perilous.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx and fellow bishops from Germany meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Nov. 17, 2022 (photo: National Catholic Register / Vatican Media)
In an interview published Wednesday, Pope Francis decried the German Synodal Way as elitist, unhelpful, and running the risk of bringing ideological harm to Church processes.
“The German experience does not help,” the Pontiff told The Associated Press when asked about the controversial process, explaining that dialogue should involve “all the people of God.”
The 86-year-old Pontiff contrasted the German event, which is not a synod, with the universal Church’s recently extended Synod on Synodality.
Francis said on Tuesday that the global synod’s aim was to “help this more elitist [German] path so that it does not end badly in some way, but so is also integrated into the Church.”
While Pope Francis did not delve into details of the demands made in Germany, he plainly described the Synodal Way as perilous.
“Here the danger is that something very, very ideological trickles in. When ideology gets involved in [C]hurch processes, the Holy Spirit goes home, because ideology overcomes the Holy Spirit,” he said in the wide-ranging interview that also included remarks about the Church’s stance on homosexuality, the loss of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI — and his health.
Participants have voted in favor of draft documents calling for the priestly ordination of women, same-sex blessings, and changes to Church teaching on homosexual acts, prompting accusations of heresy and fears of schism.
Fears of a “dirty schism” from Germany have increased over the past few months, as organizers of the Synodal Way in November refused a moratorium on the process suggested by the Vatican.
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