Manifesto: Holding Fast to the Catholic Faith Amid the Synodal Storms of 2023-2024
"Peter, you are a rock; upon this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Mt 16,18)
We pronounce these Divine words, full of meaning, with reverence and tenderness.
Even when scandal and heresy seem to crush Her, we can be sure that the Church of God remains holy and sanctifying. No eclipse affects the sun, even if it might veil it briefly.
The mystical Bride of Christ is experiencing one of its worst storms ever. The terrible effects of doctrinal confusion on dogma and morality have been felt for half a century. Moral heresies are propagated and imposed on the faithful.
The German Synodal Way, which concluded on March 11, 2023, is perhaps the most typical example of this phenomenon. Its proposals, adopted by a large majority of the bishops present, include the liturgical blessing of homosexual “couples,” adapting the Church to “gender” and “transcender” ideology, and allowing female priesthood. [1]
Its more left-wing members claim that German synod should serve as a model for the universal Church,[2] preparing for the World Synod on Synodality to be held at the Vatican in October 2023 and 2024?? Preparatory documents for this event are arousing serious objections, as many of their proposals diametrically oppose the teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the divine constitution of the Church.
Understandably, many Catholic believers feel confused and discouraged, seemingly without anyone to have recourse to.
This Manifesto is a small contribution to help us to go through this time of trial and remain firm in the faith (1 Peter 5:9), so that in a few years we can look back and say: It was difficult and even very difficult, but my faith has become even clearer and firmer than before thanks to the Blessed Mother’s help. Above all, the One, Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church will emerge from the crisis and shine as never before, just as a diamond shines ever brighter after being polished.
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1 - The Holy Church Faced Similar Situations and Emerged Victorious.
Throughout the history of the Church, it was often the faith of simple laypeople that preserved fidelity to the apostolic tradition, such as during the Arian crisis in the fourth century. The faithful sided with a minority of bishops (St. Athanasius, St. Hilarius of Poitiers, and St. Eusebius of Vercelli), while the majority of bishops adhered to heresy. As a consequence, “in this time of great confusion .. the dogma of Our Lord’s divinity was proclaimed, inculcated, preserved, and (humanly speaking) maintained much more by the Ecclesia docta [the taught Church] than by the Ecclesia docens [the teaching Church].”[3]
At the height of his power, Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly said to Cardinal Consalvi, “I will destroy the Catholic Church.” The prelate calmly replied, “If so many of us have tried and failed for 1,800 years, Your Majesty will not succeed.” [4]
The cardinal pointed out a crucial truth: Our Lord Jesus Christ will never allow His Church to be destroyed, whether it is attacked from within or without.
The Arian crisis blew like a storm, but the Church survived, triumphed, flourished. Arianism vanished. The same will happen after today’s “synodal” whirlwinds
2 - No one has the authority to change Church doctrine and structures.
The apostle Paul said, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach [to you] a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed! (Gal. 1:8-9).
Indeed, neither the pope nor the Synod of Bishops nor any other ecclesiastical body has the power to change the doctrine or constitution of the Church established and entrusted to her by her Divine Founder. The First Vatican Council teaches:
“The doctrine of faith revealed by God is not presented as a philosophical discovery to be perfected by human intelligence, but as a divine legacy entrusted to the Bride of Christ to be faithfully preserved and infallibly proclaimed. Therefore, even the meaning of the sacred dogmas once proclaimed by Holy Mother Church must always be maintained and never abandoned under the pretext or for the sake of a deeper understanding.”[5]
A document by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, confirms this position:
The pope, like all the faithful, is subject to the Word of God and the Catholic faith and is the guarantor of the obedience of the Church and, in this sense, servus servorum. He does not decide according to his own will, but gives expression to the will of the Lord, who speaks to men in the Scriptures lived and interpreted by Tradition; in other words, the episcopate of the primacy has the limits that derive from divine right and from the inviolable divine constitution of the Church contained in Revelation.”[6]
César Franco Martínez, Bishop of Segovia (Spain), recently recalled:
The primacy of Peter can only be exercised in obedience to Scripture and Tradition because the Pope is a disciple of Christ who cannot place himself above the Church when it comes to matters essential to her structure and to the truth, whose origin goes back to creation and Redemption. ... With the death of the last apostle, the constitutional process of the Church comes to its end, so that both the pope and bishops are the guardians of this process and must respect it.[7]
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3 - The moral law applies always and everywhere: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away (Mt 24:35)
To the horror of countless souls, the number of bishops openly proposing to change Catholic teaching on homosexual relationships and gender ideology has multiplied in recent years as if in a concerted action.
The Flemish bishops approved a mock blessing for homosexual couples in 2022 “using several statements by Pope Francis to challenge the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s prohibition that God ‘cannot bless sin.’”[8] The German Synodal Way used the Flemish formula to justify innovations.[9]
In January 2023, the Cardinal of San Diego, USA, published an article in the Jesuit magazine America, proposing, among other things, that the World Synod pursue the “inclusion” of practicing homosexuals[10] in all Church activities, especially in the reception of Holy Communion. [11]
The synod’s chief rapporteur on synodality, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, declared that Catholic teaching on homosexual relations is “wrong” and could be changed.[12] Shortly before, some French bishops had asked the pope to have the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 2357) no longer condemn homosexual acts as “disordered by nature.” The French Bishops’ Conference asked a commission of theologians to consider reformulating doctrine on the subject.[13]
As if all this were not enough, Dominican friar Timothy Radcliffe, chosen as the preacher for the pre-synodal retreat, publicly defended homosexual relationships as “Eucharistic” and compared them to “the gift Jesus gave of himself” (sic!).[14]
Scandal, blasphemy, disgust...the vocabulary is not enough to qualify such statements.
For those who claim that the Church’s sexual morality is a thing of the past and that the Church changed its position after the Second Vatican Council, the words of His Holiness John Paul II in a speech on May 14, 1985, are helpful:
Especially concerning the sexual sphere, the firm attitude [that Jesus took] to defend the indissolubility of marriage (cf. Mt. XIX, 3 to 9) and to condemn adultery, even if only in the heart (cf. Mt. V, 27 ff.), is remarkable.
In light of these precise evangelical references, is it realistic to imagine a “permissive” Christ in the area of married life, abortion, premarital, extra-marital, or homosexual sexual relations? The early Christian community, taught by those who had known Christ personally, was certainly not permissive. It is sufficient here to refer to the numerous passages in Paul’s epistles that deal with this subject (cf. Rom. I, 26 ff; Cor. VI, 9; Gal. V, 19, etc.). The apostle’s words certainly do not lack clarity and severity. And they are words inspired from above. They remain standards for the Church of all times.[15]
“Homosexual relationships: “We cannot begin with the question of whether it is permitted or forbidden! We must ask what it means and how far it is eucharistic. [...] So in many ways, I think it can be expressive of Christ’s self-gift.”
4 - “Discernment,” “listening,” and “inclusion”: “magic” words to justify changes while marginalizing and excluding coherent Catholics.
The World Synod preparatory documents propose ad nauseam to “listen to the people of God” and promote “radical inclusion” of “marginalized” minorities: Homosexuals, transgender people, polygamists, and even atheists:
The preparatory vademecum for the synod states,
In order to participate fully in the act of discernment, it is important that the baptized listen to the voices of others in their local context, including people who have left the practice of the faith, people from other faith traditions, people without religious faith, etc.”[16] .
Atheists are the ones who have to tell us how to be good Catholics!
The working paper for the continental phase adds that we should include in the synodal consultation process: “remarried divorcees, single parents, people living in polygamous marriages, LGBTQ persons.”[17]
“Listening” clearly does not mean getting to know people’s problems, fears, and difficulties (as the Church has always done), but using them as an excuse to question the truths of faith and morals.
“Listening” is not valid when people of faith speak out against doctrinal aberrations. It only applies when “people of God” want a revolution. In practice, “listening” and “inclusion” have proven to exclude and even persecute priests and faithful who disagree with synodal innovations.
The auxiliary bishop of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Holland), Most Rev. Robert Mutsaerts, commented:
Who are those who feel excluded? ... Among the protagonists of this process, for me, there are many defenders of homosexual “marriage”, people who do not really believe that abortion is a problem and who never really show themselves as defenders of the rich creed of the Church (...). How unpastoral, how uncharitable.[18]
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5 – Turning the Church’s Backbone into Cartilaginous and Tribal Synodality.
We can identify two main tendencies by analyzing the synodal texts and, above all, the “spirit” of the synod, its artificial climate of unrest and urgency for change. One is louder and more visible: the above-mentioned change in sexual morality. The second is more profound, more subtle, and complex for an average believer to understand: it aims to change the divine constitution of the Church.
This trend is far from new. It has been bubbling in so-called progressive circles for decades. The great thinker and Catholic leader, Plinio Correa de Oliveira, denounced this error from the beginning. As early as 1943, he denounced in his first book, In Defense of Catholic Action,[19] the destructive zeal of the heirs of Modernism, which spread in Catholic circles in the 1930s and 1940s to undermine the divine constitution of the Church gradually.
Fifty years later, the famous professor warned against the attempt to introduce in the Church a tribal government model:
The way this is happening is already clearly discernible in the currents of theologians and canonists who intend to transform the noble and bony rigidity of the ecclesiastical structure, as our Lord Jesus Christ instituted it and twenty centuries of religious life have magnificently shaped it, into a cartilaginous, elastic and amorphous fabric ... in which the firm canonical authority is gradually replaced by the predominance of more or less Pentecostal “prophets,” themselves related to the sorcerers of structuralism-tribalism. [20]
Today’s synodal processes clearly put into practice what might have seemed exaggerated to a superficial reader in 1992. The 2019 Amazon Synod’s Instrumentum Laboris, for example, acknowledged the implications of indigenous tribal cultures in its proposals for structural reform of the Church:
The Church must embody itself in Amazonian cultures, which have a strong sense of community, equality, and solidarity, and therefore do not accept clericalism in its various manifestations. The indigenous people have a rich tradition of social organization in which authority rotates and there is a strong sense of service. Based on this organizational experience, it would be appropriate to reconsider the idea that the exercise of jurisdiction (governmental power) in all spheres (sacramental, judicial, administrative) and in perpetuity must be linked to the sacrament of religious orders.[21]
The key to the ongoing self-destruction lies in negating the hierarchical priesthood. It is a matter of overcoming “a vision of the Church built around the ordained ministry in order to arrive at an ‘integral ministerial Church.[22]
To put it bluntly, the sacrament of Holy Orders and the episcopal ordination will have little or no value in the “synodal church.”
Gerald E. Murray stated:
This innovation must be rejected by the bishops of the Church. It is contrary to the dogmatic teaching of the Church on the nature of the Sacrament of Orders, especially on the nature of the episcopate.[23]
On April 22, 1994, Pope John Paul II warned the cardinals and bishops attending a meeting organized by the Congregation for the Clergy:
Alongside the good wheat, however, has sometimes grown the rye of a certain ideology that adheres to a vision of the perennial synodality of the Church and to a functionalist conception of sacred orders, which does serious damage to the theological identity of laity and clergy and, consequently, to the whole work of evangelization.[24]
In 1997, after reaffirming the traditional teaching of the Church on the essential difference between the ministerial priesthood of the clergy and the common priesthood of the faithful, the Instruction on Some Questions Concerning the Participation of the Laity in the Sacred Ministry of Priests[25] – signed by cardinals in charge of eight Roman dicasteries and expressly approved by the pope – concluded: “the functions of the consecrated ministry in their totality, by virtue of their single foundation, form an indivisible unity.” And it added another crucial theological reason:
One and the same as in Christ is the root of the saving action which the minister signifies and realizes in the exercise of the functions of instruction, sanctification and guidance of the faithful. This unity essentially qualifies the exercise of the functions of the sacred ministry, since in various ways it is always an exercise of the function of Christ, the Head of the Church.
Cardinal Joseph Zen recently told the daily Il Giornale:
We are very worried about what might happen to the Synod of Bishops. And I fear that the synod will repeat the same mistake as the Dutch Church 50 years ago when the bishops backed down and accepted that the faithful should lead the Church; then their numbers decreased. Let us pray that our pope will have more wisdom. [26]
For his part, Gerhard Cardinal Müller, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated that “anyone who denies the essential elements of that ordained ministry which Christ instituted in the Church as the authorized ministry of the Word and the Sacrament, and who does not recognize bishops and priests as pastors instituted by the Holy Spirit, can no longer call himself a Catholic.”[27]
Asked about the outcome of the three-year synodal process, Most Rev. Charles Chaput (Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia) replied, “I think it is reckless and prone to manipulation, and manipulation always has something to do with dishonesty. ... Synodality is in danger of becoming a kind of Vatican III lite; a rotating council on a much more controllable and malleable scale. This would not meet the needs of the Church and her people.”[28]
In the same vein, Bishop Athanasius Schneider has clairvoyantly expressed,
“God has established His Church as a hierarchical body. If the law of verticality is not observed in a body, that is, if the command center of the brain is damaged or disregarded, then the body will suffer confusion and damage. The criticism that Pope Francis makes of the principle of verticality in the body of the Church undermines the divine constitution of the Church and amounts to giving in to the worldly spirit of competition between the members of a body, which St. Paul warned us against. St. Paul warned us against this. In a body, by its natural nature, there are essentially distinct parts: some are more visible and responsible for leadership, while others are more hidden and in need of guidance (cf. 1 Cor 12:17-19, 22-27). God has given His Church a clearly vertical constitution: “And God has appointed in the Church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers.”” (1 Cor 12:28).
Concerning those whom God has called to the office, Pope Leo XIII taught: “These, then, are the duties of a shepherd: to place himself as a leader at the head of his flock, to feed it adequately, to ward off danger, to protect it from insidious enemies, to defend it against violence, in a word, to guide and rule it” (Encyclical Satis Cognitum, n. 12). “Mutual collaboration between the hierarchy – the vertical line in the Mystical Body of Christ – and the laity has always been taught by the Magisterium of the Church and is not a discovery of the present ‘synodal way.’”[29]
In a well-documented article for the theological journal Communio, Nicholas J. Healy Jr, associate professor at the Catholic University of America, wrote:
“What is missing in the various documents on synodality or the synodal process is a proper reflection on the source and meaning of hierarchical authority in the Church. [...]
In this context, it is necessary to recall the sacramental character of ecclesial authority. The hierarchical office is neither delegated nor authorized by the members of the Church; it is a gift of grace [...].
The sacramental character of ecclesial authority suggests a path of reform quite different from the idea of ‘promoting participation in decision-making’ proposed in the synodal process. Genuine reform, therefore, requires a return to the crucial source of authority, Christ himself. This is more than a moral call for the hierarchical ministers of the Church to act as servants. A return to the source of authority means faithfully preserving the priceless gift of Christ, the deposit of faith.”[30]
6 – Synod’s Innovations Are Not New
The themes addressed by the pre-synodal documents correspond to outdated demands of radical progressive currents. Anyone who reads the protocols of the Dutch Pastoral Council (1968 - 1970) will be struck by its similarity with the German Synodal Path and some of the preparatory documents for the 2023-2024 World Synod.
The preparatory documents of the Pastoral Council of Batavia proposed opening the Church to extra-marital relations, homosexuality, abortion, and euthanasia.[31] At its fifth session, in January 1970, the proposal to abolish priestly celibacy was approved by 92 votes for, two against, three blank ballots, and one abstention. At the 2023 German Synod, a similar proposal was approved, with 94.71% in favor, 5.29% against, and 7.8% abstention.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, say the French: the more it changes, the more it stays the same!
After the scandalous triennial meeting, the Dutch Church plunged into a deep identity crisis, exacerbated by internal disagreements and the impression that it was heading toward a schism. The Netherlands had liturgical celebrations for same-sex partnerships, including a Missa pro homophilis as early as 1970.[32]
To try to resolve the crisis, Pope John Paul II convened a special synod of the Dutch bishops in January 1980 to discuss the disputed issues. At the end of the meeting, all Dutch bishops had to sign a document containing its conclusions, many of which were a retraction of the errors declared at the 1968-1970 meeting.[33]
Why persist on such a demonstrably disastrous path?
Note that the same progressive current that has since promoted the Sorbonne’s “sexual liberation” in the Church now poses as a champion against sexual abuse—a rotten fruit of that very liberation.”
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7 – Our Lord Jesus Christ’s Law of Love Does Not Contradict His Moral Law
The pre-synodal documents imply that a change of morals is a requirement of the “law of love,” which would entail a “radical incorporation.” In response, Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver (USA) showed that, far from effecting a “radical incorporation” of those who rejected his teachings, Our Lord instead demanded fidelity:
“Did not Jesus himself make demands that distinguished his disciples from those who did not respond to the radical and costly call of the gospel? [...] Jesus never dilutes his teaching, nor does he appeal to conscience; he bears witness to the truth (cf. Job 18:37).
...The presentation of some bishops and cardinals, unfortunately, does not proclaim the radicality of the Gospel and obscures the true, eternal love of the Father for the sinner. Faith in Jesus Christ means a conversion of life that leads to inner peace and eternal joy--joy and peace that no one can take away from the disciple.”[34]
In his above-mentioned speech, Pope John Paul II says:
“The rigor of the commandment and the joy of the heart can be perfectly reconciled when the doer is moved by love. The one who loves does not fear sacrifice. On the contrary, it seeks in sacrifice the most convincing proof of the authenticity of its love.”[35]
In its Reflections on the Proposed Legal Recognition of Same-sex Partnerships, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states:
“In order to defend the legalization of homosexual partnerships, one cannot invoke the principle of respect for and non-discrimination against persons. Indeed, to distinguish persons or to deny someone legal recognition or a social benefit is unacceptable only if it is contrary to justice (cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiæ, II-II, p. 63, a.1, c.). Not to transfer the social and legal status of marriage to forms of life that are not and cannot be conjugal is not contrary to justice but, on the contrary, is required by it.”[36]
8 – Bishops, priests, and faithful, especially those in charge of dioceses and parishes, are bound by conscience to refuse to participate in “blessings” for homosexual couples or similar ceremonies
These so-called ceremonies are sacrilegious because they provide justification and encouragement for actions inherently disordered according to Catholic morality. They objectively constitute a grave sin against the second commandment of God’s Law: “You shall not take the holy Name of God in vain.”
In early 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith again commented on this issue:
“To be compatible with the nature of the sacramentals, it is necessary, in the invocation of blessing for certain human relations, that what is blessed, in addition to the right intention of those involved, be objectively and positively directed to receive and express grace, according to the plans of God inscribed in creation and fully revealed by Christ the Lord. Compatible with the nature of the blessing bestowed by the Church are only those realities that are themselves directed to serve such purposes.
For this reason, it is not permitted to bless relationships or even solid partnerships that involve sexual practice outside of marriage (that is, outside of the indissoluble union of a man and a woman, which is by itself open to the transmission of life), as is the case with unions between persons of the same sex.”[37]
Regardless of euphemisms, progressives use such ceremonies to then call for homosexual “marriage.” On March 11, 2023, Gregor Podschun, president of the Federation of German Catholic Youth, confessed: “We welcome the decision of the synodal assembly in Germany to introduce blessing ceremonies for same-sex and queer couples. However, this decision is only a small step; we need sacramental marriage for all.”[38]
Can those who propose this still call themselves Catholic?
Despite the doctrinal and moral impossibility and the Vatican’s explicit prohibition, the then vice-president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev. Franz-Josef Bode, Bishop of Osnabrück, began performing the sacrilegious “blessings” in his diocese immediately after the German synod.[39] Days later, he had to resign for failing to take proper measures against cases of sexual abuse in his diocese.[40] This case shows how the synodal “advances” do not help the fight against such abuses.
9 – Dialectical Maneuvers to Dampen Reactions Are Typical of Revolutionary Movements
One must watch out for the famous tactic dating from the French Revolution, in which revolutionaries take a step back after advancing two. They do so to lull the opposition even as they take a big leap. There are serious suspicions that radical left-leaning sectors of the world’s bishops will seek to take advantage of the German Synodal Path’s far-out radicalism. Many unsuspecting faithful upset by the conclusions of their last meeting in March 2023 would end up accepting the World Synod’s doctrinally flawed but seemingly less frightening proposals.
Another dialectical maneuver: Synod activists instill among the faithful the fear of saying anything against the innovations, for otherwise they would cause “division”—as if “unity” in error were desirable. Unity is good only when born from truth. And the truth comes only from Him who said of Himself, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” It is the destructive zeal of those activists that destroys unity. We will not fall into this trap!
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10 - Do Not Be Impressed by the Demolishers’ ‘Triumphalism.’
The truth and the good do not depend on majorities or minorities. Besides, recent experience has shown that Church demolishers do not have a “majority.” They are a loud and determined minority that tries to impose itself on a majority that we could call the “Church of Silence.”
A preparatory document for a regional synod of bishops admits that priests and ordinary faithful – especially the young – have turned away from the “listening process.” It suspects that the synod is a victim of pressure groups.[41]
It is well to recall that in 2015, when the Synod on the Family was being prepared, a coalition of pro-family movements promoted a Filial Petition to Pope Francis and collected no fewer than 879,451 signatures, including those of 202 prelates—cardinals, archbishops and bishops.[42] At that time, the progressive wing, despite all the media support and large sums of money, collected less than 10% of that number.
So, we must not allow the media hype to smother our wholesome reaction, if only because, after the progressives’ “celebratory” statements, reality begins to fight back. In fact, more and more authoritative voices are rising against the self-destruction process. Here are a few cases:
In a recent interview, Cardinal Gerhard Müller said that the recently concluded German Synodal Way is worse than a schism:
[In this Synod] the essence of Christianity is abandoned in favor of its transformation into a variant of the materialistic and nihilistic culture of man’s self-redemption and self-creation. Instead of the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures and the Tradition of the Church, one appeals to “authorities” such as Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Helmut Kentler or Yuval Harari. One cannot cast out the devil with Beelzebub, i.e., in the fight against pedophilia, one cannot withdraw human sexuality from the claim of God’s commandments and the transforming power of His grace and degrade it to a private pleasure without morality.[43]
On March 12, 2023, the bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, Spain, Most Rev. José Ignacio Munilla, said about the same event:
A secular Church ceases to be the mouthpiece of God and becomes the bulletin board of dominant individual thought. [...] Let us pray for the Pope that God will give him the strength to prevent the German schism from spreading to the rest of the Catholic Church![44]
In the Diocese of Chur, Switzerland, the Ordinary issued in April 2022 a pro-LGBT code of conduct that required priests and employees to engage in behavior incompatible with Catholic teaching. Many priests got together and publicly called on the bishop to change the document.[45]
In the United States, Cardinal McElroy’s theological absurdities, mentioned in point 3, have sparked outrage among the faithful and provoked the reaction of several prelates. Joseph Naumann (Kansas City, Kan.) and Samuel Aquila (Denver, Col.), as well as Bishops James Conley (Lincoln, Neb.) and Thomas Paprocki (Springfield, IL), among others, have publicly spoken out against the theses of the Bishop of San Diego.[46]
The auxiliary bishop of s’Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, Most Rev. Robert Mutsaerts, said about the synodal process,
“So far, the synod process is more of a sociological experience and has little to do with the Holy Spirit, who is supposed to make himself heard through all this. It could almost be called blasphemy. What is becoming increasingly clear is that the synodal process is being used to change various positions of the Church, with the Holy Spirit also being brought into play as an intercessor, even when the Holy Spirit has actually inspired something contrary over the centuries. [...] God is not in play in this lousy synodal process.”[47]
Conclusion: An Appeal to the Silent Majority
The longer someone has been silent, the more attentively his voice will be heard when he finally decides to speak. So we close these lines with an appeal to the “Church of Silence”: Speak up!
Please – cardinals, bishops, priests and faithful – speak up!
Raising your voice means affirming the everlasting teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. To not remain silent while facing the “abomination of desolation” invading the sanctuary. To make one’s position clear and take a stand.
What happens if everyone speaks out in their environment?
According to Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira,
“We are opening their eyes to the condemnations of the unfaithful shepherds. The result is that they lead fewer and fewer sheep down the paths of perdition into which they have fallen. This in itself is not a victory. But it is a valuable and indispensable condition for it.”[48]
Speak, then. Yes, we implore you on our knees: speak!
Speak in public, in the media, in Catholic bulletins!
Speak in private, at community meetings, in front of friends.
The prelates who remained faithful, resisted and raised their voices during the communist persecutions and the disastrous Ostpolitik are an example for us. Their names are written in golden letters in the Book of Life: Cardinal József Mindszenty of Hungary, Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac of Croatia, Cardinal Josyf Slipyj of Ukraine, and others.
Our Savior makes it clear: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can plunge the soul and the body into hell. [...] Whoever bears witness of me before men, of him I also will bear witness before my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 10:28-32).
The Church has weathered countless crises and in which the light of her grace, beauty and truth were seemingly obscured by the shadows of heresy and confusion. Yet she emerged unscathed and continues to shine in all her splendor. Like Mary most holy, “she rises like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army in battle array”.[49]
Let us return to the paternal home, to sound doctrine, and filial devotion to the Blessed Mother. Queen of the Church. She will save us and win, as she promised at Fatima:
“Finally, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
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Notes:
[1] Rudolf Voderholzer (Regensburg), Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke (Eichstätt), Bishop Dominik Schwaderlapp (auxiliary bishop of Cologne), Bishop Stephan Oster SDB (Passau), Bishop Mathias Heinrich (auxiliary bishop of Berlin), Bishop Florian Wörner (auxiliary bishop of Augsburg).
[2] Sacred Heart University, 13-10-22: "The German Model May be the Best Path Towards Church Reform," available at: https://sacredheartuniversity.....
[3] John Henry Newman, On Counseling the Faithful in Matters of Faith, p. 75.
[4] For the various versions of the famous dialogue in circulation, see, e.g., The New York Times, 3-28-2010.
[5] Dogmatic Constitution Dei Filius.
[6] The Primacy of the Successor of Peter in the Mystery of the Church. Available at: https://www.vatican.va/roman_c....
[7] Infovaticana, 17-3-23.
[8] The Tablet, 21-9-22.
[9] Catholic.com, 30-9-22.
[10] He uses the generic term 'LGBT'.
[11] Robert W. McElroy, "Cardinal McElroy Responds to His Critics on Sexual Sin, the Eucharist, and LGBT and Divorced/Remarried Catholics," America, Mar. 2, 2023, //www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/03/02/mcelroy-eucharist-sin-inclusion-response-244827.
[12] The Catholic Herald, 3-2-22.
[13] La Croix, 3-3-2023.
[14] Catholic News Agency, 23-1-2023.
[15] (“L'Osservatore Romano,” May 16, 1985).
[16] Vademecum, p. 17.
[17] N. 38. Available at: https://www.synod.va/content/d...
[18] https://vitaminexp.blogspot.co...
[19] https://www.pliniocorreadeoliv...
[20] RCR, Part III, Chapter 2E.
[21] AMAZONIA: NEW WAYS FOR THE CHURCH AND FOR A COMPREHENSIVE ECOLOGY, No. 27, https://press.vatican.va/conte....
[22] Ibid, n. 67.
[23] The Catholic Cause, 27-3-23.
[24] Cit. Doc. No. 2, https://www.vatican.va/content....
[25] https://www.vatican.va/roman_c....
[26] https://www.ilgiornale.it/news....
[27]https://www.aciprensa.com/noti....
[28] https://www.pillarcatholic.com....
[29] https://www.gloriadei.io/bisho....
[30] https://www.communio-icr.com/a....
[31] Time, "Roman Catholics: Declaration of Independence," Friday, January 17, 1969, https://content.time.com/time/....
[32] Romano Amerio, Iota Unum - Étude des variations de l'Église catholique au XXe siècle, NEL, Paris, 1987, p.348.
[33] https://www.vatican.va/content....
[34] "Radical Integration Requires Radical Love," https://www.catholicworldrepor....
[35] ("L'Osservatore Romano," May 16, 1985).
[36] Available at: https://www.vatican.va/roman_c....
[37] Responsum de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe a un dubium sobre las bendiciones de las uniones de personas del mismo sexo, 15.03.2021, https://www.vatican.va/roman_c....
[38] Text published on his Twitter: "We welcome the decision of the Synodal Assembly in Germany to introduce blessing celebrations for same-sex and queer couples. However, this decision is only a mini-step, we need sacramental marriage for all." See also the official website of the Federation: https://www.bdkj.de/aktuelles/artikel/liebe-kann-niemals-suende-sein.
[39] Infovaticana, 16-3-23.
[40] The World, 25-3-23.
[41] Continental Phase Working Document, Nos. 18, 19, and 35.
[42] Cf. https://filialsuplica.org/firs....
[43] Interview for the German portal Tichys Einblick on March 19, 2023, available at https://www.tichyseinblick.de/....
[44] Infovaticana, 12-3-23
[45] Infovaticana, 15-3-23.
[46] Cf. https://www.tfp.org/cardinal-m...
[47] https://vitaminexp.blogspot.co....
[48] RCR, Part III, ch. 2, 4d.
[49] (Cant.6, 9).