By PEGGY MOEN
The Amazon Synod has now slogged to its dreary end, leaving a trail of predictable, disastrous recommendations for a Church mired in error and discontent.
The cream of Church leadership has weighed in on the Instrumentum Laboris and other run-ups to the synod, predicting deeper disasters if their venomous suggestions should come to fruition.
To an extent, that fruition has occurred — according to an October 26 Catholic News Agency report, “The meeting for the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian region has approved a final document which calls for the ordination of married men as priests and for women to be considered for diaconal ordination” (see p. 8B of this week’s Wanderer for the full report; also see the News Notes column on p. 2A).
But much has yet to be seen. For example, will the synod’s call for ordaining viri probati – married men of proven virtue — for the Amazon region to relieve the priest shortage lead to the practice elsewhere? Is the call for considering women for the diaconate merely a footstep on the way to calling for female ordination to the priesthood?
Many of the “greats” among Catholic leaders and organizations spotted the flaws in the concept of the Amazon Synod and in the Instrumentum Laboris – among them, Raymond Cardinal Burke, Walter Cardinal Brandmueller, Robert Cardinal Sarah, Gerhard Cardinal Mueller, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Bishop Robert Mutsaerts of the Netherlands, and a number of notable lay Catholic writers. The Wanderer has published these critiques extensively.
Both a cardinal and a lay writer targeted the same Synod fallacy that should make us wary and watchful about coming attractions.
In a front-page article in last week’s Wanderer, “The Idols In The Tiber…Following Vatican’s Neo-Pagan Amazon Synod” (first published in The Stream), John Zmirak wrote:
“The ongoing Amazon Synod cites the total failure of Catholics to evangelize small, hunter- gatherer tribes in the jungle. Then it uses that as a pretext for massive ‘reforms’ in the Church. The whole exercise was orchestrated by liberal German bishops. They bring some expertise: They have likewise failed to evangelize their own pagan masses.
“The Synod’s guiding documents are literally revolutionary. As in the French or Russian revolutions. In the name of eco-theology, they elevate the forest cults of pagans. Not merely as customs, but as a source of divine Revelation. The documents mention such cults in the same breath as the Bible and apostolic Tradition. Funding for the groups leading the Synod? That came from the pro- abortion Ford Foundation. A prominent board member is Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood.”
Walter Cardinal Brandmueller issued a critique, published in The Wanderer of July 4, 2019, p. 1A, which said in part:
“It is truly astonishing that, contrary to previous assemblies, the upcoming Synod of Bishops will deal exclusively with a region of the earth whose population is just half that of Mexico City, that is to say, 4 million. This is also a cause of suspicion concerning the true intentions which are to be implemented in a clandestine fashion. But one has to ask especially about the understanding of religion, of Christianity, and of the Church, which is the basis of the recently published Instrumentum Laboris. This shall be examined with the help of individual elements from the text.
“Why a Synod on this region?
“One has to ask in principle why a Synod of Bishops should deal with topics, which — as is now the case with three-fourths of the Instrumentum Laboris — have, at the most, very little to do with the Gospels and the Church. Obviously, the Synod of Bishops with this document makes an aggressive intrusion into the purely worldly affairs of the state and society of Brazil. What do ecology, economy, and politics have to do with the mandate and mission of the Church?
“And more importantly: What professional expertise authorizes an ecclesial Synod of Bishops to make statements in these fields?
“Should the Synod of Bishops truly do this, this would be a stepping over boundaries and a clericalist presumption, which the state authorities would then have to reject.”
The crucial point here is: “This is also a cause of suspicion concerning the true intentions which are to be implemented in a clandestine fashion.”
Which means we can count on consequent attempts to push the progressivist Catholic agenda, just as critics warned all along. A hidden agenda has to be aimed at more than just one synod.
A September 23 National Catholic Reporter article by Joshua J. McElwee said, in part: “Although controversial pastoral issues such as married priests and ministry for women will be discussed [at the Synod], as well as controversial political issues such as exploitative mining practices and illegal deforestation, the central focus will remain on the needs of those whose lives are now threatened by unprecedented levels of ecological destruction, say the organizers.”
One hears eternally from liberal Catholics and other skeptics that the Catholic Church should sell her treasures and give the proceeds to the poor. Why then not donate the costs of these interminable synods to the poor instead, including the poor of the Amazon?
Or why not have a synod on a growing and truly global menace? Wanderer columnist Raymond de Souza wrote in The Wanderer of October 24 and October 31 about “The Tragedy of Native Infanticide in the Brazilian Amazonia.” And infanticide is a growing threat in the United States – let us not forget how the New York Assembly chamber cheered when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Reproductive Health Act, January 22, 2019. The act allows late-term abortion up to the baby’s due date with some conditions.
And when “Catholic” pro-abort presidential candidate Joe Biden can’t understand why he was refused Communion, a Respect for Life Synod might be a really good idea.
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