“The ‘Synodal Way’ into the German Schism.” A critical examination

Vatican (kath.net) With the last plenary assembly, the negotiations and democratic votes of the so-called “Synodal Way” have been concluded. The majority vote decisions are now to be implemented. However, the resolutions do not meet with the unanimous approval of Rome and the Pope, both of which represent the universal Church and thus 1.3 billion Roman Catholics, and both of which are responsible for guaranteeing the unity of the two-thousand-year-old Church in the truth of Christ.

The resolutions have, in fact, been criticized not only by German Catholics, but also worldwide. The decisions of this reform process, which claim legal validity, are apt to move away from the principle of unity that has guaranteed the continuity of the Church for two thousand years. The abandonment of the principle of unity has far-reaching consequences. We spoke about this with Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a dogmatist and dogma historian.

Lothar C. Rilinger: Many texts were adopted a few days ago at the “Synodal Way” in Frankfurt and we can only focus on some of them. But first of all, in principle: How much of the traditional teaching, for example on the priesthood or on homosexuality, may a Catholic question before he ceases to be Catholic?

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller: The sacrament of ordination, one in its origin and essence, in the three degrees of deacon, priest and bishop, has its foundation in the calling and commissioning of the apostles by Jesus Christ, the Son of God himself. Against the objection of spiritualist groups and ultimately the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, that the sacrament of Holy Orders was not part of the substance of the Church, the episcopal-papal Magisterium (especially in the Councils of Trent and Vatican II) has worked out the Christological origin and ecclesiological place of this sacrament, in which the hierarchical, i.e. sacramental, constitution of the Church is also founded (cf. Vatican II, Lumen gentium 18- 29).

Therefore, whoever denies the essential elements of this ordination, instituted into the Church by Christ, as a commissioned ministry of Word and Sacrament, and whoever does not recognize the bishops and priests as the shepherds appointed by the Holy Spirit, can no longer call himself Catholic (cf. Vatican II. Lumen gentium 14). What is constitutively Catholic is therefore not determined by the state registry office or the Central Committee of German Catholics or any other ecclesiastical organization of purely human right, but in the last instance only by the entirety of Catholic bishops, with the Pope as the perpetual principle of the unity of the Church, in the truth of the definitive revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The heretical objection to Revelation and its conceptual wording in the binding Creed of the Church disguises itself, as it already did with the ancient Gnostics, as a further development of the actual meaning, or, as it did with the so-called modernists of the 19^th century, as a necessary adaptation to the limited or contemporary comprehension capacity of the addressees.

Against the mainstream of the Western world, they maintained, one could no longer say what the purpose of the human nature created by God in two sexes was. And sexual activity outside the legitimate marriage of man and woman one could no longer call sin without exposing oneself to social ostracism or incurring the supposedly just punishment through the judiciary, which has to watch over socially permitted thinking, speaking and acting in a totalitarian way. To put it plainly: it is nothing other than the dictatorship of relativism.

Rilinger: There are three degrees of ordained ministry (deacon, priest, and bishop) but it is a single sacrament. So it would indeed be discrimination, as Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer warned in Frankfurt, if women were to be admitted only as deacons, but not as priests or bishops. What problems does one become entangled in when demanding a diaconate for women?

Card. Müller: There is indeed only a single and indivisible sacramental ministry in the three degrees of bishop, priest, and deacon. Therefore, its essential elements apply to all three degrees of ordination. This realization is rooted in the faith tradition of the Church, has prevailed even in the face of heretical objections, and has therefore matured to the point of a magisterial definition that binds every Catholic in conscience.

Rilinger: Last time, a text was adopted according to which extramarital sexual relations should be deemed positive. Now another text has been adopted that is supposed to facilitate celebrations of blessings for sexual relationships of all kinds, but also for civilly divorced and remarried people who live in violation of their indissoluble sacramental marriage. Only two years ago, precisely these blessings of non-marital sexual relationships had been declared impossible by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. What does this attitude say about the Church in Germany, about the German bishops, but also about Rome, if there is no immediate intervention?

Card. Müller: The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on behalf of the Pope, has clearly emphasized the Catholic doctrine of the two human sexes. In his most recent interview (March 2023) with the Argentine newspaper La Nación, Pope Francis lucidly distinguished between pastoral care for persons who struggle with erotic attraction by the opposite sex, and the most dangerous colonization of the world by the completely unscientific gender ideology, which is to be imposed on everyone – including poor countries – by the corresponding billionaire lobby. If a country refuses, the lobby threatens with the capping of development aid and thereby deliberately accepts hunger and impoverishment.

This is already evident in the pseudo-scientific talk of a “biological man”. As if the sexuality of man were something other than a biological fact, which, however, in the body-soul unity of man, needs to be morally managed as well, in regards to the morally good, which comes to perfection in love.

The Catholic Church is, in fact, the only institution in the world that unconditionally upholds the dignity of the human person because, according to God’s commandment, it calls the harmfulness of sin for what it is and at same time imparts to every sinner the grace of repentance and conversion, and thus presents him with the prospect of a new life in the love of God.

Beyond the most original, and therefore most progressive and beneficial definition of man, which Jesus, the Son of God, definitively revealed to us as the will of the heavenly Father and Creator of the world and of man (cf. Mt 11:25-27), there is no human realization that could relativize His word: “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning” [the reason in which the purpose of the Creator’s will manifests itself] “made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one’? So they are no longer two but one. ” (Mt 19:4-6).

Even with the most sophistical twisting of words, contemporary exegetes cannot conceal the revealed truth that the denial of God results in the lie about the right relationship of man and woman and that consequently the sexual intercourse of people of the same sex contradicts the two-sex natural disposition of man and thus constitutes a grave sin (cf. Rom 1:18-32; 1 Cor 6:9f). Neither the shitstorms in the mainstream media nor the fines and prison sentences imposed on faithful Christians in ideological dictatorships are able to change this, even if the relevant laws aim to be formally democratic in appearance.

Rilinger: Another text called for facilitating lay preaching, lay baptism, and lay assistance in marriage ceremonies. Besides the fact that, semi-legally at best, this is already the case in some German dioceses, what is the need for permanent deacons?

Card. Müller: These options have their reason not in a lack of priests and deacons in Europe or in a special emergency of endangered salvation, but in the urge of full-time lay people in pastoral ministry to exercise priest-like functions in order to increase their own social prestige. The actual minister of baptism is the bishop or priest and also, if neither can be present, the deacon.

A layperson can administer an emergency baptism only in a case of emergency, when the individual salvation of the baptismal candidate’s soul is at stake – but not the solemn baptism in the visible mass community. Lay persons, commissioned and theologically trained by a bishop, may say a spiritual word in non-Eucharistic services and thus participate in preaching on the basis of the common priesthood, if they have qualifying documentation.

In Western theology – which would need to be discussed in more detail – it is the spouses who administer the sacrament of marriage to each other. The bishop or priest, as representative of Christ and agent of the Church, confirms the marital covenant on their behalf. As early as the beginning of the second century A.D., Ignatius of Antioch writes to his episcopal brother Polycarp of Smyrna: “But it becomes both men and women who marry, to form their union with the approval of the bishop, that their marriage may be according to God,” [cf. 1 Cor 7:39: “marriage in the Lord”] “and not after their own lust. Let all things be done to the honor of God.” (Ch. 5). Pushing priests out of the liturgy of marriage therefore is a step in the wrong direction.

Rilinger: During the press conference at the conclusion of the “Synodal Way”, Bishop Georg Bätzing told the opponents of the reforms: “What are we taking from you with the decisions we are making?” He continued, “Go on and live what is important to you, and we are not taking that from you.” How would you respond to that, speaking for ordinary Catholics, as it were?

Card. Müller: That is sheer cynicism along the lines of the slogan “Stop thief!” Faithful Catholics will not allow themselves to be defamed as opponents of “reforms”, certainly not by bishops who – in complete contradiction to the episcopal ideal of Vatican II – should not be slapping others in the face with their anti-Catholic propaganda. Faithful Catholics are guided by the apostle’s word about the reform of the mind in Christ: “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:2).

The resolutions of the “Synodal Way” rob faithful Catholics of the “truth of the Gospel” (Gal 2:5), only to replace it with the cheap lentil mash of a sex-fixated ideology, the true center of gravity of the German “Synodal Way”, a kind of nihilistic materialism that is a mockery of God who created man in His image and likeness as male and female.

Rilinger: How do you explain the fact that in each case more than two thirds of the bishops voted in favor of texts that evidently contradict the traditional teachings of the Church? How can a bishop vote in favor or abstain – an abstention was counted as a vote not cast – if he sees only some positive passages in the texts, but considers others problematic? Some bishops have, in fact, declared that they will do exactly that.

Card. Müller: This is a serious violation and an inexcusable abuse of the episcopal authority, just like the majority of bishops forcibly imposed the Arian heresy, i.e. the denial of the divine nature of Christ, in the Eastern Roman Empire, or like the Donatist bishops, who had developed a sacramental theology deviating from Rome, outnumbered the Catholic bishops in North Africa at the time of St. Augustine. In their defense, they cannot claim ignorance, fear of persecution by anti-clerical dictatorships, or seduction by brainwashing propaganda. They must be familiar with the anthropological teaching of Vatican II on marriage, family and sexuality, especially also on the unity of body and soul in the human person (with self-awareness and freedom). They were also publicly called out on their serious errors by the Pope himself, by Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

Rilinger: Those bishops who voted against the approved reforms are now under massive pressure. This pressure is factored in by the reformers, as one could also gather from Bätzing’s remarks at the press conference. You were once Bishop of Regensburg yourself. What recommendations do you have for your brethren? How would you proceed in this situation?

Card. Müller: In the course of the past few years, this play of media dictatorship was staged, which in itself already proves the godlessness of these campaign operators, reaching even into the institutions that are paid by the bishops. This godlessness betrays itself in the inhumane and unchristian agitations against decent and competent representatives, be it bishops, priests and laymen, always according to the principle: if there are no arguments, try personal insult.

Rilinger: The sacraments are still valid, even if a priest or bishop fully backs the resolutions of the “Synodal Way”. But is it advisable for the faithful to receive the sacraments regularly from such clergy, or should they perhaps be willing to travel further, to receive Holy Communion on Sundays in another place, for instance?

Card. Müller: Yes, the sacraments are valid even if they are administered by a schismatic or heretical bishop – but only if he merely intends to do what the Church understands by these sacraments. But one should also avoid these persons who lead so many of the sheep of Christ entrusted to them on the wrong path. Incidentally, many Fathers of the Church have also been severely persecuted by heretics, e.g. Athanasius the Great, John Chrysostom, Pope Martin I, and others.

The so-called blessing of same-sex couples is a labeling fraud. The appearance of the gesture of blessing does not correspond to any reality of the helping grace communicated by God. It is a grave sin to invoke the name of God in order to justify the frivolous transgression of God’s commandments (which always save us from the calamity of sin) with the love of God. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.” (1Jn 5, 3-4)

Rilinger: Within the ramifications of the “Synodal Way” – just like in a political party – it has been decided by majority vote what German Catholics are to believe and what Catholics worldwide should believe. Is it compatible with the Bible as well as with the teachings and tradition of the Church that decisions of faith are bindingly determined by a majority vote according to political directives, especially when a large part of the members is theologically uneducated or only rudimentarily educated?

Card. Müller: This assembly, which presumptuously calls itself “Synodal Way”, even though there was not the least sign of any discussion being open and guided by the Word of God, has no foundation in the sacramental constitution of the Church. It is merely a forum for the – albeit unsuccessful – exchange of opinions. The “Synodal Way” is by no means (as was stated in complete theological ignorance) the sovereign of the national German Church in lieu of God, which can give the bishops the order to abandon the revealed truths in favor of a materialistic world view or even to diametrically oppose them.

To the bishops who agreed to these unbiblical texts or cowardly abstained from voting, in full contradiction to their divine mission, namely to present and defend the Catholic faith in all its truth and fullness, the word of the evangelist applies that “many even of the authorities believed in him”, but did not openly confess him, merely out of fear of being expelled from the synagogue [today: the political correctness of woke barbarism]: “for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (Jn 12:42-43).

Rilinger: The “Synodal Way” claims to represent German Catholics in a legally binding way, suggesting that it is entitled to this legitimacy. Can an extra-ecclesiastical body that is not democratically legitimized make decisions for all German Catholics?

Card. Müller: The “German-Synodal Way” is not part of the sacramental church constitution and is nothing more than an informal body. There can be no question of a legally binding representation of Catholics. The members of this body, sent by the ZdK or appointed by the bishops, represent the Church neither to the state nor to society nor to history, and certainly not to Catholics in their faithful obedience to God. They represent no one but themselves. Even if they had been delegated to this body as representatives by the majority of German Catholics in some kind of general and free election, they would have no authority which could bind the individual German Catholics or their entirety in their conscience of faith. Even the numerical majority of bishops cannot oblige anyone to obedience towards statements contrary to faith or orders contrary to morality.

Unlike the apostles, the bishops are not infallible bearers of Revelation, which was completed by the end of the apostolic era and is available in its entirety in Holy Scripture and Apostolic Tradition. They only enjoy infallibility (as an authentic interpretation of the depositum fidei) in their entirety, under the leadership of the Roman Pontiff, if they adhere to the “apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2. 42) (Vatican II, Dei verbum 7-10).

Rilinger: The Central Committee of Catholics (ZdK) claims to represent the interests of the Catholic laity in its entirety, even though the members of the ZdK were not elected to this body by German Catholics. The ZdK can therefore only be seen as the semblance of representation. Does this body then have the legitimacy to represent the interests of the entire German Catholic laity?

Card. Müller: The arrogant claim to represent the interests of Catholics is in itself an indication of the horrendous theological illiteracy of the authors of these monstrous “Synodal” texts. Who are the baptized members of the Body of Christ going to approach to declare and enforce their interests, if they are concerned with the salvation of the world in Christ, rather than their purely worldly lust for power?

Incidentally, the pilgrim Church has no worldly interests at all (Vatican II, Lumen gentium 8). “Inspired by no earthly ambition, the Church seeks but a solitary goal: to carry forward the work of Christ under the lead of the befriending Spirit. And Christ entered this world to give witness to the truth, to rescue and not to sit in judgment, to serve and not to be served.” (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes 3).

Rilinger: Eminence, we thank you for your arguments, which are grounded in the dogmatics of the Roman Catholic Church and thus take into account the long theological tradition of the Roman Church.

Editor’s note: This essay was first published in German at kath.net and is posted here with kind permission of Mr. Rilinger. The essay was translated by Frank Nitsche-Robinson.

Related at CWR:
• “The Catholic Church in Germany after the Synodal Way: Three Scenarios” (February 23, 2023)
• “The Church in Germany is on the path into total insignificance” (February 6, 2023) by Birgit Kelle
• “A view from Germany: The Synodal Way abuses the Catholic Faith” (March 17, 2023) by Anna Diouf

Catholic World Report