By DEXTER DUGGAN
From when the Lord Jesus was born into earthly time, born into a religious people often anticipating a political Messiah, and worldly rulers fearing one, intriguers have woven themselves into the life of the Body of Christ.
Some of them perhaps truly expected their activity would be broadly beneficial. Even those with only self-centered goals may have persuaded themselves of the rightness of their undertakings. Even back when the Church was mainly a minor pilgrim in the Mediterranean. Today, the size of the prize is far greater.
The 21st-century Vatican is as natural a target for those seeking to manipulate mighty outcomes as the U.S. Pentagon is for military spies from elsewhere, or a banking headquarters for thieves hoping to help themselves.
At the very beginning: political decisions for the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, the beheading of John the Baptist, thirty pieces of silver, the crucifixion. Now, a globalized world with the slaughter of millions, and trillions in wealth.
Today, some legitimately fear that an attempt to dilute religious truth goes hand-in-hand with an effort to make the Church an overt world political player, perhaps in tandem with global bodies already at hand that see salvation in socialism — and dismiss salvific personal morality as a distraction. Concentrating on a few decades of the here-and-now so much that the everlasting welfare of souls and bodies is overlooked.
A relatively new Pope is in charge, with an ambitious vision and an outsider’s upbringing, in Argentina.
The Synod of Bishops on the Family in Rome in October 2014 gave rise to evidence of attempts at doctrinal manipulation expected again at the October 2015 bishops’ synod. The nature of marriage itself was and is in the balance, along with the historical moral preference for heterosexuality.
Blogger Fr. John T. Zuhlsdorf (wdtprs.com), a former Wanderer columnist, posted on September 6: “What we saw last year will be nothing compared to the skulduggery this year. As I have written before, I expect…less transparency and more rule changes to shut down opposition to the underlying agenda. The Synod will be a real battlefield. Prayers are in order.”
Zuhlsdorf linked to the new ebook from Ignatius Press (www.ignatius.com) by National Catholic Register Rome correspondent Edward Pentin, The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation of Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family.
A writer for the dissident National Catholic Reporter didn’t like the book a bit, Zuhlsdorf noted, explaining that “Burke Derangement Syndrome has struck again!” Zuhlsdorf was referring to liberals who see all sorts of mischief due to the influence of orthodox Raymond Cardinal Burke.
The San Francisco-based Ignatius Press provided this book description:
“Intrigue or inexperience? Did key leaders of the recent Extraordinary Synod of Bishops try to manipulate the outcome to support a change in Catholic practice and perhaps in Catholic teaching on divorce and remarriage and same-sex activity? Did they undermine Pope Francis’ vision of an ‘open’ discussion?
“Critics claim (Lorenzo) Cardinal Baldisseri, the man Pope Francis trusted to oversee the Synod’s discussion of family issues, along with some of his associates, tried to predetermine the outcome of the Synod’s deliberations and its documents. Supporters say Cardinal Baldisseri was inexperienced at running a synod and any missteps were innocent mistakes,” Ignatius Press said.
“International reporter and analyst Edward Pentin investigates the allegations, accusations, and facts surrounding the controversial meeting of select bishops of the world,” the description said.
A Catholic News Agency story posted September 5 said that although Pentin “made no definitive conclusion of a secret agenda in the book, Pentin said that he compiled evidence from his interviews and research to present it to the reader to formulate his own conclusions.
“The ‘injustice’ that Pentin found was that Pope Francis’ vision of all the bishops present at the synod being heard was not only being ignored but was ‘aggressively disregarded’,” the CNA story said, adding:
“‘The injustice to me was that one side was complaining of being not properly heard, and bizarrely that side was the one that was trying to uphold the Church’s tradition and teaching,’ he said.”
The Voice of the Family, “Formed in support of the Synod on the Family, 2014-2015,” reviewed Pentin’s book in a September 6 blog post.
The review said: “The (2014) Extraordinary Synod on the Family, under Cardinal Baldisseri’s leadership, produced documents that undermined Catholic teaching on a whole range of issues relating to human sexuality, marriage, and the family. The instrumentum laboris of the (2015) Ordinary Synod extends the assault on Catholic doctrine to an even wider number of areas.
“The Synod Secretariat’s grave failures have real implications for real families, struggling as they are in a society ever more hostile to authentic moral principles and the teachings of the Catholic Church,” the review said.
The faithful and their families face challenge enough from aggressive Western secularists, of whom Barack Obama is only one, but a very bad one. Believers can do without confusion also being sown where there should be certainty and support for them.
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