Amazon Synod Working Document Released Today, and It Confirms There’s Trouble on the Horizon

Oh AED....it’s all grace....day to day! Sooooo true.

 

Just totally wonderful

 

I think that these articles are very well done. Imho they appear to be the beginning of a very thorough analysis of the working document of the Pan-Amazonian synod, they are the first 2 in a series that Cardinal Urosa is doing.


Cardinal Jorge Urosa (Edward Pentin)
Sep. 25, 2019 | http://www.ncregister.com/daily-new...n-amazon-synod-working-document-gets-right-wr
Venezuela Cardinal: What the Pan-Amazon Synod Working Document Gets Right, Wrong
The Synod for Amazonia: Comments Concerning the Instrumentum Laboris; Part 1 of a Series.
Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino
In just a few days a Special Synod for Amazonia will begin, called by Pope Francis in order to study “Amazonia, New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology.”

This is a synod especially dedicated to the study of the problems of the Church in a particular region, Amazonia, which comprises a good part of South America. However, it will have special importance for the universal Church because the Pope, as also those who have worked on its preparation, understand this synod to have universal application. Therefore, this synodal assembly will influence all the Church and not only the Amazonian countries. Among those, of course, is our country, Venezuela.

The instrumentum laboris, (IL) or working document, has been circulating since June. And in view of the methodology of synods, which use these working documents as the basis for synodal discussions, this document is exceptionally important.

In this case more than usual, because without doubt it is a complicated and innovative document, with an unusual, even rather polemical, content, and has caused great controversy. It is for this reason that I have taken on the task of studying it in order to — while pointing out its strong points — help the Synod Fathers to remedy its weaknesses.

Contents of the Document

The text consists of three parts; the first, titled “The Voice of Amazonia,” discusses the fundamental aspects of the social and cultural Amazonian reality. The second deals mainly with ecological and socioeconomic problems and is entitled “Integral Ecology: The Cry of the Earth and the Poor.” And the third presents proposals of pastoral action: “The Prophetic Church in Amazonia: Challenges and Hopes.” However, the different themes of the three parts are mixed together, which creates repetitions, lengthens unnecessarily the text and diminishes the clarity of the concepts.

Copious in the text are cultural, ecological and socioeconomic themes. Less plentiful, but extremely more important, are the proposals for evangelization and pastoral action.

A Correct Defense of Amazonia and the Amazonian Peoples

It is without doubt praiseworthy to endeavor to tackle the dramatic situation of Amazonia, threatened today by voracious and irrational economic interests. One of the merits of the document is that it includes the experiences, problems and aspirations of many people, collected by the members of REPAM (the Ecclesial Network of Panamazonia), in preparation for this synod.

Therefore, the working document articulates the serious situation, ecological as well as socioeconomic, which the territory and the peoples of Amazonia are suffering. As a Venezuelan bishop, I support the denunciation and the rejection that the instrumentum laboris expresses toward all violence against the Amazonian peoples and land.

The Venezuelan Amazonia suffers in our time this grave situation of exploitation. Concretely, our present government has promoted an aggressive and disorderly mining exploitation in the Arco Minero, or Mining Crescent, in our own Venezuelan Amazon region, south of the Orinoco River. Thank God, this document points out and denounces, justly and correctly, the gravity of the crimes being committed against the Amazon peoples, particularly against the indigenous peoples, which the text identifies as “original peoples.”

The violence of human ambition has converted Amazonia into an area of “estrangement and extermination of peoples, cultures and generations” (23). This aggression calls for, and in all justice demands, the defense of life, of the land and of the natural resources, as also of the culture and social organization of the peoples (17). In this labor the Church in Amazonia has acted with energy, and — as the document correctly states — must certainly continue to do so.

We fully support, then, this indictment and condemn all injustice. We must be in agreement with the document’s defense of the Amazonian peoples, of the natural environment and in its affirmation of the Church’s obligation to accompany and protect oppressed peoples.

The Beauty of the Amazon and an Idealist Anthropology

One special remark: The instrumentum laboris seems to think that all of the population of Amazonia are indigenous, Indians or “originaries.” In Venezuela that is true only in the apostolic vicariates, not in the dioceses established in our Amazonian region, where the majority of the population are criollos, that is, white or mestizo (mixed race) Venezuelans, or Afro-Venezuelans, and not indigenous.

One rather striking aspect of the text is the optimistic and laudatory, almost utopic, description of Amazonia and its native peoples. The territory is essentially presented as a kind of earthly paradise of unlimited beauty (IL, 22) “full of life and wisdom” (5), where the Amazon people — especially the indigenous people — seek “the good life,” which is to live in harmony with themselves, with nature, with human beings and with the “supreme being” (11).

The text also speaks of nature as “Mother Earth” (with capital letters …) almost as if it were a person (44). The document praises the ancestral wisdom of the Amazonian peoples, which is displayed by their care of the Earth, the water and the forest … and proposes that means of evangelization should be developed in dialogue with them, whereby the seeds of the Word (29) would be manifest. Also: “The original diversity which the Amazonian region offers — biologically, religiously and culturally — evokes a new Pentecost” (30). Now: Why would an original diversity foster this “new Pentecost”? We must do a thorough study of the meaning of these phrases, which, at first reading, seem confusing and exaggerated.

Also rather romantic is the description of the Amazonian native people as exceptional beings, who live in harmony with nature and the “supreme being,” and who would be the personification of the utopic “Noble Savage”: virtuous, kind, innocent and confiding. He would possess a wisdom in which we would find the seeds of the Word. This is a very optimistic anthropological vision, yet, it is far from the very realistic Catholic anthropology, with its biblical and Christian view of man, definitely the image and likeness of God, but wounded by sin and in need of redemption.

Would this be why so little is said about the need for salvation and redemption? Nor about the requirement of making an intense effort to strengthen the pastoral and clearly evangelical action of the Church in the Amazon, as if Christ is not necessary and harmony with nature is sufficient? This is a weakness that the synod should correct.

A New Revelation?

The text also speaks of the Amazon land’s cry for justice and presents this region, again almost personalized, as a “theological place, where the faith is lived and which would be a particular source of God’s revelation” (18 and 19). Here we find another problematic point of the IL, one for serious discussion, because it assigns to a particular territory and to the struggle for justice the category of “a particular source of revelation.” Or are they the source of a new revelation?

We must keep in mind that the word “revelation” in the Church magisterium and in theology in general is very concrete and specific. It means the communication, revelation and manifestation that God has made of himself to humanity through Jesus Christ. This is very clear in the document Dei Verbum, concerning divine revelation, of Vatican Council II (DV, 2). We know that complete revelation has already happened in Jesus Christ, and no official document may use ambiguous language which can obscure that theological and doctrinal reality.

The least we can say is that it is inappropriate and imprecise language, which should always be avoided in an official text. We could speak simply of some kind of “manifestation of God.” One of the weaknesses of the text is precisely its abstruse, equivocal and vague language. It will be necessary to use more conceptual clarity and theological and doctrinal rigor and precision during the actual synod.

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Dialogue and Evangelization

The final paragraphs of the first part of the instrumentum laboris address the theme of dialogue and evangelization. Certainly the affirmation of the need for dialogue in order to evangelize is totally correct. Our Lord Jesus Christ discoursed with the Samaritan woman. And so we should do today (37). But the document makes statements which seem romantic or perhaps excessive. It presents the Amazon as a “paradigm” of the social pact of dialogue (37); it states that the peoples of Amazonia, especially the poor, the originary and the culturally different, are the subject and protagonists of dialogue. This could be acceptable, but only if it is not considered exclusive. A better expression is necessary.

But: a dialogue with no proposal of conversion? A dialogue with no invitation to accept Jesus as the one and only Savior, as the Redeemer of man, wounded by sin? Why is this message not clearly expressed? Seemingly lacking in the document is the enthusiasm, or greater awareness, of the need for the Church to supply a more intense evangelical action, precisely something absolutely vital for the Church everywhere. This should be the centerpiece, the heart of the text, and then of the synod: the revitalization of the Church in Amazonia. What seems to be missing, or very weakly expressed, is the urgency of implementing the Church’s mission of evangelization. By contrast, regarding evangelization, we must adopt the words of Pope Francis in the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 14:

“… Evangelization is fundamentally connected to the proclamation of the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or have always rejected him. … Everyone has the right to hear the Gospel. Christians have the duty to announce it, excluding no one, not as the imposition of a new obligation, but as the sharing of a great joy … .”​

Certainly the document speaks of new ways, but these ways in the instrumentum laboris would seem to consist of a dialogue with “ancestral wisdom” (26) and a firm defense of the environment and the original populations. That is all right. But none or little proposals of faith? It does not insist on the explicit proclamation of the kerygma, or on a more evident evangelizing action. This imbalance in the text is a weakness which we hope and ask the Synod Fathers to correct during their deliberations.

We will write further comments in the next article. [Found below.]

Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino is the archbishop emeritus of Caracas, Venezuela.

Sep. 30, 2019
Cardinal Urosa: The Pan-Amazon Synod’s Working Document and Evangelization
The Synod for Amazonia: Comments Concerning the Instrumentum Laboris; Part 2 of a Series.
Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino | http://www.ncregister.com/daily-new...on-synods-working-document-and-evangelization

A Truly Prophetic Church

In this new article we shall address the theme of evangelization. An acknowledged point, accepted as a matter of course, is that dialogue is a necessary factor for evangelization. And it is thus that the prophetic vision of the Church is presented in no.42 of the working document of the upcoming Synod for Amazonia.

But, unfortunately, here again, something is missing.

A truly prophetic Church is more than a Church which enters into dialogue, knows how to reach agreements, and seeks concrete proposals for an integral ecology, a Church which takes action against injustice. It is also necessary to declare forcefully that a truly prophetic Church must announce God as the source of all happiness, and Jesus Christ clearly as “the way, the truth and the life.” This is consistent with the line of Evangelii Gaudium of Pope Francis and with the pastoral exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi of St. Paul VI. And most clearly in continuity with the resoundingly clear assertion of Vatican Council II in the constitution Gaudium et Spes: “In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of humanity truly becomes clear”; “Christ…in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals humanity to itself and brings to light its very high calling” (GS, 22). It is also consistent with the superlatively important decree Ad Gentes of Vatican Council II concerning the evangelization and mission activity of the Church. By the way, this key text is hardly mentioned in this working document. How was such a serious omission possible?

Regarding the announcement and proclamation of Christ, we cannot ignore the very pertinent teachings of Pope Benedict XVI in his opening speech for the General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean in Aparecida:

“That is why Christ, being in truth the incarnate Logos, “love to the end,” is not alien to any culture, nor to any person; on the contrary, the response that he seeks in the heart of cultures is what gives them their ultimate identity, uniting humanity and at the same time respecting the wealth of diversity, opening people everywhere to growth in genuine humanity, in authentic progress. The Word of God, in becoming flesh in Jesus Christ, also became history and culture.”

“The Utopia of going back to breathe life into the pre-Columbian religions, separating them from Christ and from the universal Church, would not be a step forward: indeed, it would be a step back. In reality, it would be a retreat towards a stage in history anchored in the past.

“The wisdom of the indigenous peoples fortunately led them to form a synthesis between their cultures and the Christian faith which the missionaries were offering them. Hence the rich and profound popular religiosity, in which we see the soul of the Latin American peoples…”(Benedict XVI, Aparecida Discourse, 1).​

And so it will be vital that the Synod Fathers keep very much in mind something which is weak in the working document: the obligations stemming from the command to proclaim the Gospel, which Christ gave to the Apostles and to the entire Church. It is vital to assert clearly that this is the proposal of the Synod for the life of the Church in Amazonia, even though until now this concern is hardly noticeable in its Working Document. A prophetic Church is a Church which not only rightly proclaims social justice and defends human rights; not only discusses and accompanies, but most importantly, it announces Christ and evangelizes. Let us remember what Pope Francis has taught us in this regard: “From the heart of the Gospel we can see the intimate connection between evangelization and the promotion of man, which must be expressed and developed in all evangelical activity” (EG, 178).

New Ways for Evangelization

The document affirms a renewed sense of the mission of the Church in Amazonia, which, starting from the encounter with Christ, goes out to meet the other, initiating a process of conversion. This is correct. But it is important that this requirement be framed in tangible proposals for an evangelization which is more open, more explicit and which goes further than mere dialogue and accompaniment.

What is required is a dynamic evangelization, a continuation of the work of the great missionaries of the indigenous America of the past, and as said above, in the line of the exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, of St. Paul VI. Let us recall it here, as it was not cited in the document:

“It is not superfluous to recall the following points: to evangelize is first of all to bear witness, in a simple and direct way, to God revealed by Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit, to bear witness that in His Son God has loved the world — that in His Incarnate Word He has given being to all things and has called men to eternal life. Perhaps this attestation of God will be for many people the unknown God[55] whom they adore without giving Him a name, or whom they seek by a secret call of the heart when they experience the emptiness of all idols. But it is fully evangelizing in manifesting the fact that for man the Creator is not an anonymous and remote power; He is the Father: “...that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”[56] And thus we are one another’s brothers and sisters in God” (EN, 26).​

The central message: salvation in Christ Jesus. “Evangelization will also always contain —- as the foundation, center, and at the same time, summit of its dynamism — a clear proclamation that, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, who died and rose from the dead, salvation is offered to all men, as a gift of God’s grace and mercy.[57] And not an imminent salvation, meeting material or even spiritual needs, restricted to the framework of temporal existence and completely identified with temporal desires, hopes, affairs and struggles, but a salvation which exceeds all these limits in order to reach fulfillment in a communion with the one and only divine Absolute: a transcendent and eschatological salvation, which indeed has its beginning in this life but which is fulfilled in eternity” (EN, 27).

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Weaknesses in the Working Document

Certainly the working document has the virtue of being the fruit of extensive consultation with many people, especially the inhabitants of Amazonia, and it does indeed courageously plumb the depths of the ecological and socio-economic problems of the Amazonian people, whose defense the text assumes and advances most valiantly. It puts forward the need to take decisive action to avoid an ecological tragedy in Amazonia. This is very good!

However, the text suffers from several failings. It seems to consider the Indians or original peoples and culture as the whole of the Amazonian population, not taking into account the urban and criollas (white and mixed-race) population of cities and towns. It uses an imprecise and ambiguous language and inadequately states the mission of evangelization and sanctification of the Church in Amazonia, a result of its optimistic anthropological vision of human beings as pretty well perfect.

Much more serious still: it has a very feeble Christology, because it practically does not mention the person of Christ as redeemer and savior of humanity; instead it calls him the Good Samaritan (115). It rather proposes a vision which is liberationist and reductive of the Church and its mission, more concerned with sociological, cultural, anthropocentric and ecological topics and issues than with those of evangelization and sanctification, and spiritual and pastoral realities.

This lack is an extremely grave fault in an ecclesial document, which the Synod Fathers will have to overcome. The instrumentum laboriswe are discussing is not a document for a meeting of NGOs. It is a text for an ecclesial Synod, an extremely important assembly of the Church meant to help her to live her mission better, to revitalize the Church in Amazonia and in the whole world, and one which needs to present new ways of authentic evangelization for our day.

It is for these reasons that the document has been criticized and has raised so much controversy. Not because of the social and ecological part of the Synod. It is because of the text’s own weaknesses. It is not to attack the Synod itself, which rightly will defend the Amazonian territory and its different peoples, indigenous and mixed. Although it is not a final document, it would have been wonderful if they had worked on it more! And if they had managed to incorporate the principal tenets of Catholic doctrine concerning Jesus Christ and the mission of the Church. It would have avoided so many doubts, arguments and even the rejection it has caused. And please, be aware that I am not referring now to the controversial subject of married priests or to the new feminine ministries, which I have not touched upon in this article.

The problematic side of this document concerns the subjects of the faith in general and a theological vision, particularly in regard to anthropology, Christology and ecclesiology, among others. These controversial aspects of a synodal working document are awkward, surprising and problematic. It is therefore necessary to study it thoroughly, so as to take advantage of its strengths and overcome and reject its faults and weaknesses. And in so doing, truly revitalize the Church in Amazonia and in the entire world. The problem of the text is not so much its ecology, but its weak ecclesiology.

The apparent preeminence throughout the working document of matters of ecology, and social and cultural matters — important as they are — to the detriment of theological, spiritual and pastoral matters in the life of the Church, will have to be surmounted in the Synod Hall. So we hope and pray for.

An Example to Follow: The Document of Aparecida

A very balanced and enlightening Church document to consider when talking about the Synod on new ways for the Church in Amazonia and an integral ecology, is the one published by the 5th General Conference of the Latin American and the Caribbean Bishops, celebrated in May 2007, in Aparecida, Brazil. It is called the Aparecida Document, and it was the fruit of the joint work of bishops, priests, religious and lay people from Latin America and, of course, also Amazonia.

This fine text addressed the social, economic, political and ecological problems of the Church of Latin America and the Caribbean, including Amazonia. But also addressed with power and light the theme of the evangelization of the indigenous peoples. It states:

“Our pastoral service to the indigenous peoples demands to announce Jesus Christ and the Good News of the Kingdom of God, to denounce the situations of sin, the structures of death, violence and external and internal injustices to foster the intercultural interreligious and ecumenical dialogue. Jesus Christ is the fullness of revelation for all peoples, and the fundamental reference point to discern the values and weaknesses of all cultures, including the indigenous ones. Therefore the greatest treasure that we can offer them is for them to reach the encounter with the risen Christ, Our Savior. The Indians that have already accepted the Gospel are called, as disciples and missionaries of Christ Jesus, to live with immense joy their Christian reality” (Aparecida, 95).​

Something to notice: the president of the drafting commission of that document [Aparecida] was Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio himself, now Pope Francis.

With strong demands about justice, evangelization and the mission of the Church for the indigenous peoples — from Amazonia and other regions of Latina America and the Caribbean — Aparecida reached a very strong, demanding and enlightening but also very clear, serene and harmonious message of excellent theological, Christological and ecclesiological teaching. It is a very good — and close to us Latin Americans — point of reference for this Synod. It is an enlightening element for the Synod Fathers to overcome the weaknesses of the instrumentum laboris. After all, Aparecida was written in a collegial and synodal way by bishops of the Church from Latin America, including, of course, the Amazonia region. [emphasis added]

So far we have studied some points of the instrumentum laboris. In the next article we shall consider some of its pastoral proposals for the Synod.

 

Oct. 1, 2019
Group Releases Propositions Challenging ‘Unacceptable’ Elements of Synod Working Doc
The signatories say they are choosing to remain anonymous due to a ‘growing climate of intimidation and purges present in the Roman Curia and in the Church in general.’
Edward Pentin | http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edwa...ns-challenging-unacceptable-elements-of-synod [Please click on the link for any hotlinks.]

VATICAN CITY — A group of bishops, priests and Catholic faithful from around the world, who wish to remain nameless because of what they call a “climate of intimidation” in the Church, have signed four propositions critical of the Amazon synod’s working document and addressed them to Pope Francis and synod fathers.

Using what it calls a “classical method,” the group, which calls itself the Coetus Internationalis Patrum Working Group (International Group of Fathers), lists four theses in the synod’s working document as “unacceptable” and contrasts them with the Church's perennial teaching.

The group, named after the most influential interest group at the Second Vatican Council which submitted numerous amendments to conciliar documents in a bid to uphold tradition, sent the Register and other Catholic media outlets a copy of the propositions.

The group stresses that although “numerous” bishops, priests and laity share the concerns, no names will be revealed “because of the growing climate of intimidation and purges present in the Roman Curia and in the Church in general.”

The synod working document, widely criticized since its publication in June, will form the basis of the discussions for the Oct. 6-27 Synod, whose theme is “New paths for the Church and for integral theology.”

The Coetus Internationalis Patrum group begins by stating that the working document, also called an instrumentum laboris, “raises serious questions and very grave reservations because of its contradiction of individual points of Catholic doctrine which have always been taught by the Church, as well as its contradiction of faith in Jesus Christ, the One Savior of all mankind.”

It goes on to say it has “drawn up, following the classical method, four propositions in the form of ‘theses,’” summarizing the document’s main points, and adding that “in conscience and with great frankness, we affirm that the teaching of these theses is unacceptable.”

Dominus Iesus

The first of the four relates to “Amazonian diversity:” the assertion made in the document that paths to salvation are no longer reserved exclusively to the Catholic Church and that the Church should “integrate” non-Catholic Christian “modalities” without dogmatism or discipline.

The Coetus Internationalis Patrum group contrasts such a teaching with passages from Dominus Iesus, the 2000 declaration of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which underlined that the fullness of Christ’s salvific mystery belongs to the Church, and that the unicity (uniqueness) of the Church must be firmly believed as a truth of the Catholic faith.

The second thesis the group rejects is the working document’s assertion that Pan-Amazonian theology should be taught in all educational institutions, that non-Christian rites and celebrations should be proposed as “essential for integral salvation” and that the Eucharistic rite should be adapted “to their cultures.”

Again, Dominus Iesus is cited in opposition, specifically Art. 21, which rejects the notion that the Church is “one way” of salvation alongside other religions, or the notion that these other religions are complementary to the Church. Although Dominus Iesus acknowledges various religious traditions contain elements that “come from God,” the Vatican instruction adds it is not possible to attribute “a divine origin” or “salvific efficacy” to the prayers and rituals of other religions, nor should it be discounted that these rituals could “constitute an obstacle to salvation.”

Thirdly, the Coetus Internationalis Patrum takes issue with the working document’s assertion that the Amazon territory and the cry of its peoples is included in various recognized sources of theology, such as Sacred Scripture, the Councils, and the Fathers of the Church.

By contrast, the group cites passages from Dei Verbum — the Second Vatican Council's dogmatic constitution on Divine Revelation —which reasserts the origins of Sacred Scripture, the handing on of Divine Revelation, and the firm link between sacred tradition, Sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church.

Threefold Office Separation

Lastly, the group rejects the working document’s suggestions that “older persons who have families” could be ordained, “official ministries” for women might be created, and that a “new vision” of Holy Orders can come not from Revelation but the cultural practices of the Amazonian people. The group also notes that the document suggests a separation ought to be made between the priesthood and the munus regendi (the priest’s threefold office of priest, prophet, and king).

Against this, the group cites from six Vatican documents: Lumen Gentium (Light of the Nations), Presbyterorum Ordinis, the Council decree on the ministry and life of priests, Pope St. John Paul II’s 1992 post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the formation of priests, Pastores Dabo Vobis, the entirety of Pope St. Paul VI’s 1967 encyclical defending clerical celibacy in the West, Sacerdotalis Coelibatus, and John Paul II’s 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, which reaffirmed the priesthood is to be reserved to men alone.

Since its publication, the instrumentum laboris has drawn criticism from notable theologians, including Cardinal Raymond Burke and Bishop Athanasius Schneider who issued a declaration Sept. 12 citing six “serious theological errors and heresies” and calling for prayer and fasting before and during the synod.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, also issued a strong critique of his own, as has Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, president emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, who warned that “decisive points” in the working document are “heretical” and that it constitutes an “attack on the foundations of the faith.”

Below is the full text of the Coetus Internationalis Patrum document:

To the Pope and the Synod Fathers:

We, numerous bishops, priests, and Catholic faithful from all over the world, hereby affirm that the Instrumentum Laboris prepared for the coming Synodal assembly raises serious questions and very grave reservations, because of its contradiction of individual points of Catholic doctrine which have always been taught by the Church, as well as its contradiction of faith in Jesus Christ, the One Savior of all mankind. We have drawn up, following the classical method, four propositions in the form of “theses” summarizing the main points of the Instrumentum Laboris. In conscience and with great frankness, we affirm that the teaching of these theses is unacceptable.

1. Amazonian diversity, which is above all religious diversity, evokes a new Pentecost (IL 30): respect for this diversity means to recognize that there are other paths to salvation, without reserving salvation exclusively to the Catholic faith. Non-Catholic Christian groups teach other modalities of being Church, without censures, without dogmatism, without ritual disciplines and ecclesial forms (IL 138); the Catholic Church ought to integrate these modalities. Reserving salvation exclusively to the Creed is destructive of the Creed (IL 39).

Against this, among other texts: Dominus Iesus 14 and 16.

2. The teaching of Pan-Amazonian theology, which takes special account of myths, rituals, and celebrations of indigenous cultures, is required in all educational institutions (IL 98 c 3). Non-Christian rites and celebrations are proposed as “essential for integral salvation” (IL 87) and we are asked to “adapt the Eucharistic rite to their cultures” (IL 126 d). On rituals: IL 87, 126.

Against this: Dominus Jesus 21.

3. Among the various Loci Theologici (that is, among the various sources of theology, such as Sacred Scripture, the Councils, the Fathers of the Church) there is included the territory [of the Amazon] and the cry of its peoples. (IL 18, 19, 94, 98 c 3, 98 d 2, 144).

Against this: Dei Verbum 4, 7, 10.

4. It is suggested that ordination be conferred on older persons who have families and to confer “official ministries” on women. There is thus proposed a new vision of Holy Orders which does not come from Revelation, but from the cultural usages of the Amazonian people (which provide for a rotating system of authority, among other things). Therefore there ought to be separation made between the priesthood and the munus regendi (IL 129 a 2, 129 a 3, 129 c 2).

Against this: Lumen Gentium 21, Presbyterorum Ordinis 13, Pastores Dabo Vobis 26; and also: the entire document Sacerdotalis Coelibatus, especially 21 and 26, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis 1, 3 and 4; Pastores Dabo Vobis 29.

Coetus Internationalis Patrum Working Group

October 1, 2019

 

Cardinal Raymond Burke, Rome April 7, 2018 Edward Pentin


NewsCatholic ChurchTue Oct 1, 2019 - 6:08 pm EST

Cardinal Burke: Amazon Synod working doc ‘is a direct attack on the Lordship of Christ’
amazon roundtable, amazon synod, amazon synod roundtable, apostasy, raymond burke

Watch online for free as lay Catholics from across the world address critical Amazon Synod issues THIS Friday. Click here to join.

October 1, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Raymond Burke has spoken out against the misuse of the Amazon synodal process, blasting its recent exploitation to change both the doctrine and disciplines of the Catholic Church. The synod is set to take place in Rome this month from the 6-27.

“The fundamental concept of a synod was to call together representatives of the clergy and the lay people to see how the Church could more effectively teach and more effectively apply her discipline,” Burke told Sohrab Ahmari in an interview published Sept. 27 in First Things.

The Cardinal, 71, explained that synods “never had anything to do with changing doctrine or with changing discipline.”

“It was all meant to be a way of furthering the mission of the Church,” he continued.

Burke cited the Code of Canon Law when he explained that a synod is supposed to advise the pope “in the preservation and growth of faith and morals, and the observance and strengthening of ecclesiastical discipline.”

“There’s nothing there about altering the doctrine or the discipline,” he added.

The Cardinal then described the Instrumentum Laboris, or working document, for this month’s Synod on the Amazon as an attack on Christ Himself.

“The working document of the Pan-Amazonian synod is a direct attack on the Lordship of Christ,” Burke said.

“It says to people, ‘You already have the answers, and Christ is just one among many sources of answers.’ This is apostasy,” he continued.

Burke stressed that inculturation does not mean alteration of the truth of Christ.

“Christ is Lord, and in every time and place—this is the genius of the Church,” he said.

“When missionaries have preached Christ, they have also recognized the gifts and talents of the people to whom they were preaching,” he continued.

“The people then expressed in their own art and architecture the truths of the Church. They added their own flavor to the expression of the underlying Truth.”

The American Cardinal also addressed the synod that the German Bishops are organizing for themselves despite the disapproval of the Holy See. Burke told Ahmari that their “synodal path” is not valid.

“This has been made very clear,” Burke said.

“In the letter to German bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of the Congregation for Bishops [told them] that they are undertaking a process that is basically outside the Church—in other words, attempting to create a church according to their own image and likeness,” he explained.

The Cardinal believes that this German innovation must be stopped before “greater harm” is done to Catholics.

“We’re talking about the salvation of souls, which means we need to take whatever measure is necessary,” he stressed.

Burke said the German bishops believe that they can change doctrine to suit their nation, but that they are wrong.

“The German bishops believe that they can now define doctrine, which is false,” he told Ahmari.

“Otherwise, we would end up with a whole group of national churches, each with their own preferences regarding doctrine and discipline.”

The Cardinal said that the very catholicity of the Catholic Church is at risk.

“The Catholic Church is a church that has one faith, one sacramental system, and one discipline throughout the whole world, and therefore we’ve never thought that each part of the world would define the Church according to particular cultures,” he said.

“That’s what’s being suggested in this working document of the Amazon and in Germany.”

For Burke, the Rhine flows not only into the Tiber but into the Amazon: the cardinal believes that the German bishops’ “binding synodal path” is “very much connected” to the Synod on the Amazon.

“A number of the great proponents of the thrust of the Amazon Synod working document are German bishops and priests,” the Cardinal informed Ahmari.

“And certain bishops in Germany have taken an unusual interest in this Amazon synod,” he continued.

“For instance, Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen has said that ‘nothing will be the same’ after the Amazonian Synod process, the Church will be so completely changed, in his view.”

Burke indicated that Germans and other contributors to the Instrumentum Laboris believe that a national or ethnic culture is more important than the Gospel message itself.

“They say that the Amazon region is a fount of divine revelation, and therefore when the Church goes there in her missionary capacity, she should learn from the culture,” he said.

“This denies the fact that the Church brings the message of Christ, who alone is our salvation, and addresses that message to the culture—not the other way around!” he continued.

“So yes, there will be objectively good elements in the culture, inasmuch as conscience and nature point to revelation; there are things in the culture that will respond immediately to the Church’s teaching. But there will be other elements that must be purified and elevated. Why? Because Christ alone is our salvation. We don’t save ourselves, either individually or as a society.”

Regarding the purported priest shortage in the Amazon region, Burke said that a Brazilian prelate, a bishop in the Amazon for over a decade, had told him that there are, in fact, a “good number of vocations” in the region.

In addition, the people of the district understand and respect priestly celibacy. The Brazilian archbishop told Burke: “If you teach them about the celibacy of Christ himself and therefore the fittingness that his priests should also be celibate, they can certainly understand that.”

Burke added: “Amazonians are human beings like you and me, and they can order their lives with the help of God’s grace.”

The Instrumentum Laboris for the Synod on the Amazon has attracted severe criticism since it appeared on June 17. The 64-page document, which will form the basis of discussion at the upcoming Synod, suggests that local bishops’ conferences “adapt the Eucharistic rite to their cultures,” that the Church consider ordaining married “elders” to the priesthood, and that Synod fathers identify the “official ministry that can be conferred on women,” given their prominent role in Amazonian culture.

Critics also say the document promotes pantheism―worship of creation. They object to its declarations that non-Christian aboriginal people have already received revelation, that the priesthood needs to conform to the customs of the Amazon region, and that the world needs a new approach to what it means to be human.

Cardinal Walter Brandmüller issued a strong critique of the guidelines ten days after they appeared.

“It is to be stated now with insistence that the Instrumentum Laboris contradicts the binding teaching of the Church in decisive points and thus has to be qualified as heretical,” the 90-year-old German prelate wrote.

“Inasmuch as even the fact of Divine Revelation is here being questioned, or misunderstood, one also now has to speak, additionally, of apostasy.”

 

Pope Francis greets priests and seminarians during his weekly general audience in St Peter's square at the Vatican on February 26, 2014. Giulio Napolitano / Shutterstock.com
NewsCatholic Church, FaithWed Oct 2, 2019 - 6:30 pm EST

Vatican relaxes restrictions on married ex-priests, hints they may be allowed to return to ministry

October 2, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has begun to eliminate restrictions on the activities of men who have been removed from the priestly state and allowed to marry, according to Religion Digital, a Spanish-language leftist news portal sometimes used by members of the Francis regime to announce new initiatives and respond to critics.

Moreover, the Vatican appears to be hinting that such people may be allowed to continue to carry out priestly functions in the future, even if they marry.

A trusted source close to the information has told LifeSite that the Vatican has also facilitated the process of obtaining dispensations for leaving the priesthood, and no longer places waiting periods or minimum ages on priests before they may receive such dispensations.

The same source tells LifeSite that the new rescripts are connected with the Amazon Synod agenda, which includes permitting the ordination of married men as priests.

Religion Digital describes the new approach as an “absolute and radical change in the procedure that priests have to follow when they hang up their garb and ask for a dispensation.”

Copy of new version of rescript – translated by LifeSite
According to a recent decree or “rescript” issued in Spanish by the Vatican in response to a request by a priest to be returned to the lay state, which was published by Religion Digital and has been translated into English by LifeSite, such priests may now remain in the communities that they served, where they must be “accepted,” even after marrying, and may even marry publicly in that same community.

In previous rescripts, laicized priests were prohibited from distributing Holy Communion or directing pastoral activities. These restrictions are reversed in the current version of the rescript, which instead states that “the dispensed cleric will be able to exercise those ecclesiastical offices that do not require sacred Order, with the permission of the competent Bishop.”

Previous rescripts for laicizing priests stated that they must leave the communities they served and live in a place in which they were not known as having been ordained as a priest, and in addition, any marriage contracted by the laicized priest had to be “carried out with caution and without pomp and outward display.” Such rescripts also required laicized priests to carry out a penance through “some work of devotion or charity,” another requirement that has disappeared from the rescript.

However, the text of the new rescript hints that the prohibition on the priest continuing to function as a priest while married may be lifted in the future, stating that the dispensation “includes, inseparably, the dispensation from celibacy and, at the same time, the loss of the clerical state. These two elements can never be separated, because according to current practice they are part of a single procedure” (boldface added).

Religion Digital openly celebrates what it sees as a move towards a married priesthood, even including a drawing of a priest holding his child with the caption, “A priest with his little child in his arms would be a greater testimony of the love of God than all of the celibates in the world.”

 

Bishop Mario Grech speaks at a ceremony in Malta, April 23, 2015. (Matthew Mirabelli/AFP/Getty Images)
Oct. 2, 2019 | http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edwa...grech-of-malta-promoted-to-key-synod-position
Controversial Bishop Mario Grech of Malta Promoted to Key Synod Position
The bishop was the principal author of Malta’s guidelines endorsing reception of Communion by divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, and also has been accused of strong-arm actions against critics.
Edward Pentin
VATICAN CITY — In a significant appointment in light of Pope Francis’ emphasis on synodality, Bishop Mario Grech of Gozo, Malta, was named today as the general pro-secretary of the Synod of Bishops, intended to eventually succeed Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri as its general secretary.

The 62-year-old bishop, regarded as the principal author of contentious Maltese bishops’ guidelines on Chapter 8 of Pope Francis’ post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, was reportedly hand-picked by Pope Francis.

According to the Maltese news portal Newsbook, which is associated with the Archdiocese of Malta, the Pope recently met Bishop Grech and asked him to take on the position. The bishop confirmed his acceptance at a meeting with the Pope late last week.

He will stay on as apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Gozo which he has headed since 2005 until his replacement is appointed, but will be in Rome this month to take part in the Pan-Amazon Synod which runs Oct. 6-27.

In a statement read out to journalists today at the Holy See press office, Cardinal Baldisseri said the “general pro-secretary, in taking office, will work alongside the general secretary to get to know directly the institution and its members.”

The appointment therefore has an “effective synodal significance,” Cardinal Baldisseri said, as both Bishop Grech and he will “walk side by side” until the Maltese bishop takes over the cardinal’s role. Once he becomes general secretary, Bishop Grech will oversee the running of the synod secretariat, which prepares and manages synods.

While taking part in the Amazon synod, Cardinal Baldisseri said Bishop Grech will be able to “get to know directly the people involved in the synodal process in its celebratory phase, to accompany its implementation and subsequent developments, in full collaboration with the current general secretary.”

“In this way,” he added, “Pope Francis confirms and strengthens the synodal methodology — first of all and in an exemplary way within the institution itself — so that the general secretariat can calmly carry out its service as a sign of continuity and novelty, as is fitting for the healthy development of ecclesial tradition.”

Cardinal Baldisseri said this confirms the Synod of Bishops remains for the Pope “a privileged place for the interpretation and reception of the [Second Vatican] Council’s rich magisterium,” but also a “fundamental instrument for listening to the people of God” and as an “impulse of the papal magisterium.”

The cardinal’s words reflect the greater significance the Synod of Bishops has gained under Pope Francis, and with it, the growing importance of the general secretary.

The Pope has placed increasing emphasis on synodality during his pontificate, most notably through his 2018 apostolic constitution Episcopalis Communio that boosted the authority of the Synod of Bishops.

Rather than a deliberative body advising the Pope as envisioned by Pope St. Paul VI in 1965, the Synod of Bishops is now a “permanent,” more legislative body, “outside the dicasteries of the Roman Curia.” The Pope has said the aim of his reforms, which follow closely a vision outlined by the late Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, is to strengthen the involvement of the “People of God” and “further promote dialogue and collaboration” between bishops and between bishops and the pope.

Critics have pointed to weaknesses in the model and fear it could lead to a dissolving of catholicity and the growth of doctrinal anarchy, with national churches pursuing their own synodal paths at odds with the Church’s magisterium.

Controversial Figure

Bishop Grech has become a controversial figure in Malta in recent years, gaining a reputation as an enforcer both of Pope Francis’ magisterium and his own wishes.

Prior to this pontificate, he was reputed to be unyielding in matters of doctrine, warning ahead of a referendum on divorce in 2011 that those who do not follow Christ’s teachings should not receive Holy Communion. And he has continued to take a strong stand against abortion.

However, when Francis was elected and a new, left-leaning Maltese government came to power, his overall approach is said to have changed dramatically. “Overnight Grech performed the most spectacular volte-face,” an informed source told the Register in 2017. “We were all astonished.”

In 2014, he addressed the first Synod of Bishops on the Family in which he called for a Church more accepting of its LGBT members.

“Life is not black or white — there are also a lot of shades in between,” he told the Times of Malta in 2015. “What makes a good Christian? Perfection? If this were the case it would probably be beyond everybody’s reach.”

But was in 2017 when his preferences began to show more clearly. Sources say he was determined that Malta be the first episcopal conference to issue guidelines on Chapter 8 of the Pope’s 2016 post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. The chapter has become known for its ambiguity on whether or not to allow remarried divorcees living in an objective state of adultery to receive Holy Communion.

The Maltese guidelines were criticized for asserting the primacy of conscience over the objective moral truth, stating that remarried divorcees could receive Holy Communion after a period of discernment, with an informed and enlightened conscience, and if they are “at peace with God.”

Bishop Grech is understood to have written most, if not all, of the document and its guidelines, with the dean of the faculty of theology at the University of Malta, Father Emmanuel Agius, as an adviser. Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta added his signature as the other half of the island nation’s two-member bishops’ conference.

Responding to widespread criticism that the pastoral guidelines contradicted previous papal teaching, Bishop Grech and Archbishop Scicluna of Malta insisted they followed the Church’s magisterium.

The guidelines were given semi-official Vatican backing when L’Osservatore Romano published the guidelines, and Cardinal Baldisseri subsequently sent the bishops a letter thanking them for the document.

At the time of the guidelines’ release, Bishop Grech was accused of threatening to suspend a priest who refused to give Holy Communion to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics — an accusation he denied.

But he has a history of forceful tactics. Last year, he threatened legal action against a U.K. blogger who had commented on reports of alleged abuse cover-up involving Bishop Grech, first reported in Malta Today in 2015.

And in 2014, a group of Maltese clergy wrote a letter to Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich, who then headed the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community, warning him of Bishop Grech’s “reprehensible behavior” and urging that he not to be named archbishop of Malta to fill the vacancy that had arisen after Archbishop Paul Cremona resigned for medical reasons.

The letter, which was also copied to Pope Francis and the Congregation for Bishops, reportedly described Bishop Grech as a “bully” who nurtures a “bullying culture” and that he “thrives on a media spin culture.” Cardinal Marx reportedly advised the letter’s authors to communicate their concerns to the apostolic nuncio to Malta, and in 2015 Pope Francis instead appointed Archbishop Scicluna as Archbishop Cremona’s successor.

 

Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, the general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, addressed reporters Oct. 3. (Edward Pentin photo)
Oct. 3, 2019 | http://www.ncregister.com/daily-new...ocument-is-basis-for-discussion-not-magisteri
Amazon Synod Leaders: Working Document Is Basis for Discussion, Not ‘Magisterial’
At a Vatican news conference today, the synod’s general relator and the Synod of Bishops’ general secretary downplayed the widespread concerns the document has generated.
Edward Pentin
VATICAN CITY — The Synod of Bishops on the Pan-Amazon Region is the result of two years’ preparation that consulted 80,000 people, and so will be an event of “serious listening,” the general relator of the monthlong meeting said today.

Responding to widespread criticism of the meeting’s working document, or instrumentum laboris, Cardinal Claudio Hummes told reporters at the Vatican that the document “is not by the synod; it is for the synod,” and so is “really the voice of the local Church of Amazonia.”

“Pope Francis has always highlighted that we should truly listen,” the Brazilian cardinal said, and he sought to reassure critics that, “eventually after the synod, everything will be cum Petro et sub Petro [with Peter and under Peter].”

The synod working document, which will form the basis of the discussions for the Oct. 6-27 Synod on “New Paths for the Church and for Integral Theology,” has been strongly criticized as being, among other things, heretical and constituting what Cardinal Walter Brandmüller called an “attack on the foundations of the faith.”

So concerned have some been about the content of the working document that Cardinal Raymond Burke and Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider called for a crusade of prayer and fasting for a period of 40 days so errors will not be approved, and a number of prelates, clergy and lay faithful have listed four elements of the working document that they consider “unacceptable” and referred to its inconsistency with Church teaching.

Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, the general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, told reporters he had “read the criticism” and that he hoped it was “not fake news.” Downplaying the negative reaction, he gave as an example of news reports exaggerating when the whole of Rome comes to a standstill due to a “puddle” in the city.

The cardinal, who stressed several times during the news conference that the instrumentum laboris is “not a pontifical document,” said if a cardinal or a bishop “is not in agreement with the contents,” then it is “necessary to listen and not judge, because it is not a magisterial document.”

Instead, he said the document recounts the basis and “synthesis” of responses to questions from surveys and is a means to “begin work and construct the final document from zero.”

The Italian Curial diplomat said the synod does not need to follow “precisely” what the working document contains, but merely refer to it as a guide for discussions. The synod, he said, is a “consultative body” whose work is to produce a final document that will “help the Holy Father to decide” on a post-synodal apostolic exhortation.

Celibacy Questions

Answering questions on clerical celibacy and whether moves will be made to implement viri probati — the ordination of married men of “proven virtue” to bring the Eucharist to remote rural areas — Cardinal Baldisseri said the synod fathers “are free to express themselves, and discuss this topic, and come up with proposals.”

Cardinal Hummes said “70%-80% of communities in the Amazon have a limited sacramental life. They have the word of God, but not the sacraments, which are missing, a gap between charity and mercy.” He added that in the region’s rural areas, people have “limited sacramental life, except for baptism and marriages,” and possibilities for catechesis.

“Very few receive the Eucharist,” he said, and he referred to comments of Pope St. John Paul, that the Church “lives out of the Eucharist, which builds the Church.”

The issue of possibly allowing the ordination of married men at the synod has been the focus of much criticism. The concern is that allowing the exception will undermine mandatory priestly celibacy in the Latin Rite, especially as some Church leaders in the West, notably in Germany, have expressed the hope that it will pave the way for married priests in other areas where vocations are few. Cardinal Hummes is also known as a longtime advocate of allowing married clergy.

Asked if the Church is ready to discuss greater participation of women (the working document calls for new ministries for women), Cardinal Hummes said the Church is “not afraid” of the issue and “must pay attention to the Holy Spirit.” He said it is possible to know “what the Holy Spirit is telling us” by “listening to the voices of the people and the Earth.”

In his prepared remarks, Cardinal Baldisseri pointed out that unlike the “ordinary” and “extraordinary” synods (those that respectively relate to the universal Church and emergencies), this “special assembly” is “not a partial representation” of bishops, but “all the prelates of the region are convened, thus highlighting collegiality.”

But he also stressed the universal dimension to this regional synod, noting that the participation of prelates from other Churches, the heads of Curial dicasteries, and the 33 members personally appointed by the Pope “highlights the link” between this special assembly “and the universal Church.”

The cardinal said 184 synod fathers will be taking part, 113 of whom will be from the region (French Guyana, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru). So, too, will 17 representatives of “original peoples and indigenous ethnic groups, including nine women” (the total number of women participating is 35).

‘Dual’ Focus

Cardinal Baldisseri said the synod will have a “dual” focus: the “evangelizing mission” of the Church in the Amazon, which places “the salvation of Jesus Christ at its center,” and “the ecological theme,” which will underline the interconnectedness of man, culture and his environment.

He said the synod secretariat has tried to do its part to help the environment by eliminating paper in its communications, limiting the use of plastic (glasses at the synod will be made of biodegradable material) and using bags made of “natural fiber” and paper with a certified “origin and processing chain.”

In his prepared remarks, Cardinal Hummes stressed the “urgent” socioenvironmental crisis that will be the focus of the meeting. This he pinpointed as, firstly, the “climate crisis”; secondly, the “ecological crisis” related to degradation and contamination of the planet; and, thirdly, the “social crisis of blatant poverty,” especially affecting indigenous communities.”

He, too, underlined the interconnectedness of human beings, community and social life, as well as the importance of “integral ecology” and the need for “an ecological conversion, inspired by St. Francis of Assisi.”

Also speaking at today’s news conference was Bishop Fabio Fabene, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, who outlined the procedures in the month ahead. After months of preparation, he said the synod now enters its “celebratory phase,” which is the synod proper.

Following an opening report by Cardinal Baldisseri outlining the synodal path, Cardinal Hummes will issue his own report, expected Monday, presenting the findings from the preparatory phase and the main topics to be discussed in the hall and the circoli minori, or small working groups.

Participants will be allocated four-minute interventions (talks) during general congregations in the synod hall, followed by “free interventions” by the synod fathers in any remaining time.

The small groups’ contributions and synod hall interventions will then contribute to preparations for the final document, to be put together by Cardinal Hummes and two special secretaries — Msgr. David Martinez de Aguirre of Peru and Cardinal-elect Michael Czerny — after which amendments can be proposed for the final draft, which will be voted on.

Bishop Fabene said although synod fathers can give interviews, as in the last synods, their interventions “will not be officially published.” The Holy See Press Office will, however, be releasing reports from the working groups.

 

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/l...armed-the-faith-it-is-time-to-say-it-out-loud

 

We definitely need to get priests to anywhere there are Catholics without them. Personally I don't think the answer is a married priesthood. Why not send priests from areas like Africa, where they are much more vocation-rich than in the Amazon? Or (gasp) allow the traditional orders to relocate there instead of disbanding them?

Also they need to drop this whole mixing of Catholicism with environmentalism. We are not Catholimentalists.

It is fine to be a Catholic who is an environmentalist and we all should care for our environment, but we do not deify it. It is not a part of our worship. God created the world. He is not the world itself.

 

Amen!

 

Hi folks. Just to let you know about my new business that is currently up and running. It’s the world’s first catholic eco pilgrimage company, called Jungles for Jesus. For our very first pilgrimage we will be visiting Lourdes. Upon arrival at Lourdes we will go directly to the Pyrenees mountains to pay homage to the spirits of the mountains followed by a visit to the gorgeous pine forest to plant some trees in order to offset the carbon emissions of our flight and again celebrate the spirits of the forest. This is your opportunity to partake in reconciliation. Trees (season depending) will be available to apologise to and counselling with a fully accredited environmental elder will be offered. You will be able to leave petitions in the forest.

In the afternoon there will be time for personal development by getting in touch with the cosmic consciousness. This is instead of mass. For those who wish to attend mass at some stage, well....we will get back to you on that. A Vatican approved speaker is being lined up and at time of writing is traveling by eco friendly canoe from Italy to the river Gave in Lourdes. When he arrives he will signal with a flare; mobile phones are not used as they use rare earth metals which are highly polluting.

After this it’s back to the hotel for dinner (vegan) and an evening viewing of The Blue Planet followed by a short yoga session to de stress before bedtime. It’s been decided not to visit the grotto of the apparition as it is very environmentally unfriendly; all these people filling PLASTIC bottles and containers along all that water splashing everywhere being wasted plus it’s an outrage to witness all the carbon emissions from the candles that people light stay tuned for day 2’s itinerary...

 

Count me in. I love an eco pilgrimage. Don't forget to bring yucca plants. They'll be needed to make the flour for the holy bread fellowship meal. No eco pilgrimage would be complete without a holy bread ceremony. I'm practising my dove call:

 

But then this is Pope Francis' video for this month and the associated captions are below.

In this extraordinary missionary month, let us pray that the Holy Spirit engender a new missionary spring in the Church.

Pope Francis – October 2019

Today, a new impulse to the Church’s missionary activity is needed to face the challenge of proclaiming Jesus and his death and resurrection.
Reaching the peripheries—the human, cultural, and religious settings still foreign to the Gospel: this is what we call the missio ad gentes.
We must also remember that the soul of the Church’s mission is prayer.
In this extraordinary missionary month, let us pray that the Holy Spirit may engender a new missionary spring for all those baptized and sent by Christ’s Church.
​

This seems good, right? At times, I find what is occurring to be very, very confusing.

 

I really enjoy your sense of humor. And David Healy's too.

 

AED, It sounds good on the surface but you are right that like everything else lately it can be twisted into something which it shouldn't be.

Father Mark Goring just posted a far more direct message about all of this. May God bless this priest.