The "conservative" Bishop Robert Barron, 64, of Winona-Rochester, USA, expressed his concerns as a participant at the ex-synod (WordOnFire.org, November 5). Main points.
- The excessive focus on the involvement of the laity in the internal governance of the Church, whose real sphere of activity is the secular order (family, finance, business, education, entertainment, journalism).
- The perpetuation and intensification of synodality itself: To remain permanently in the attitude of questioning, discussing, evaluating, assessing, arguing, etc., is to fall into a kind of ecclesial paralysis (bloated bureaucracy).
- The essential work of the Church is to worship God, to evangelize, and [allegedly] to serve the poor.
- The final document states that the access of women to diaconal ordination remains "an open question." This language is unfortunate because the Church has no power to admit women to Holy Orders.
- There were a number of proponents of the German Synodal Way at the Ex-Synod, and to their credit, they made no attempt to conceal their intentions.
- One proposal was to give to local bishops' conferences the authority to make doctrinal decisions. For example, would homosexual pseudo-marriage be permissible in Germany but a mortal sin in neighbouring Poland, would it be celebrated in Canada but considered an abomination in Nigeria?
- The final document speaks of the "capacity" of bishops’ conferences to articulate the one faith in a properly 'inculturated' way, but the very ambiguity of the formulation made some members uncomfortable.
Picture: Robert Barron © wikipedia CC BY-SA, #newsCrertdhjsc