German cardinal: ‘For me the Synodal Way is over’

A German cardinal has declared his participation in the controversial German Synodal Way finished, expressing deep skepticism about plans to establish a permanent synodal conference.

“For me the Synodal Way is concluded,” Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne said according to CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News.

The proposed synodal conference concept represents the latest iteration of plans to establish a permanent body in Germany in the wake of the controversial process, following repeated interventions by Pope Francis and the Vatican.

The cardinal’s remarks, made in an interview with Cologne’s Domradio, came as he confirmed he will not attend the sixth synodal assembly taking place this week in Stuttgart.

Woelki said he originally understood there would be five assemblies, all of which he attended. When the German bishops’ conference later decided to hold an evaluation session, he made clear he would not participate.

“In my view, this body does not have the mandate to evaluate what an individual diocesan bishop or individual diocese has or has not implemented from the decisions of the Synodal Way,” he said.

‘I have to answer to my ordination vows’

His remarks come as the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) has already approved statutes for a new synodal conference, while a decision by the German bishops’ conference and Vatican approval remain pending.

“We must wait to see what Rome actually says,” Woelki emphasized. “We must also wait to see whether the bishops’ conference at its plenary assembly in February actually approves the statutes in the form presented.”

The cardinal stressed his commitment to his ordination. “I can only say that I have to answer to my ordination vows. I promised to protect the faith of the Church and to walk the path in my diocese in unity with the pope.”

A central point of contention in the synodal conference statutes is the concept of joint deliberation and decision-making between diocesan bishops and non-bishops. Woelki acknowledged important work done by the process, particularly on abuse prevention and the exercise of power in the Church.

“I stand behind these themes,” he said, noting that he had already implemented reforms in Cologne.

Gänswein sees ‘wrong path’

The German Synodal Way passed numerous controversial resolutions with two-thirds majorities of bishops present, including measures calling for same-sex blessings, women’s ordination to the diaconate, reconsideration of priestly celibacy, and changes to Church practices based on transgender ideology.

Woelki said a “great deficiency” of the five assemblies was the failure to address evangelization, which Pope Francis emphasized in his 2019 letter “To the Pilgrim People of God in Germany.”

CNA Deutsch reported that Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, who championed the Synodal Way throughout his six-year tenure as president of the German bishops’ conference, announced Jan. 19 that he will not seek reelection when German bishops gather in February.

Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the former private secretary to Pope Benedict XVI and current apostolic nuncio to the Baltic states, offered an even sharper assessment of the Synodal Way in a Jan. 23 interview with EWTN News.

“Anyone who has followed the events surrounding the Synodal Way from the beginning to the present day can see one important thing: that a series of demands of the Synodal Way lead away from the faith — they are not a clarification that leads to faith, but quite deliberately lead away from faith,” Gänswein said.

“That cannot be the goal, that something is done which ultimately does not help the faith and ultimately does not help the faithful either. In that respect, I can understand and comprehend this very well. And I can only hope and pray that this wrong path simply comes to an end soon.”

‘This is a question of the essence of the Church’

Woelki affirmed that the Church’s hierarchical-sacramental structure is essential to its nature: “We live as Catholics in a hierarchically-sacramentally constituted Church. This is not simply a question of organization but a question of the essence of the Church.”

“Therefore, I have difficulty with the idea of being part of a body in which 27 diocesan bishops, 27 members of the ZdK, and another 27 members yet to be elected deliberate and decide together,” he said.

The cardinal said synodality requires “listening well to one another” and “listening together to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us, deliberating and discerning together. But the decision is made in the end by the one who has been given the office for this and who must above all know himself bound to the faith of the Church.”

The German prelate said he perceives “fundamentally different views of what synodality means. Pope Francis — as well as Pope Leo — repeatedly emphasize that synodality is a spiritual event, a tool for evangelization.”

“I have the impression that at a certain point on the Synodal Way in Germany, it was primarily about implementing certain Church-political positions,” he said.

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/europe/german-cardinal-for-me-the-synodal-way-is-over