Posted on 10/08/2015 9:40:24 AM PDT by ebb tide
An English translation of the very conservative opening address by Cardinal Peter Erdo, Relator General of the Synod of Bishops, delivered on September 5, Day 1 of the Synod, has been made available in the past few hours, by the National Catholic Register and the Catholic News Agency.
We appreciate their effort, but it seems that our editorial decision not to waste our scarce resources on this was not wrong: already on the fourth day, the second of the meeting of the "circuli minores" (the small groups of bishops according to general language groups), and in the following press conference, what do we get from Italian Synod Father Cardinal Menichelli? That no one is listening to Cardinal Erdo's words, they are all going directly to the highly problematic and profoundly liberal Instrumentum Laboris, the document that undermines all Catholic doctrine on family and marriage, from Trent to Humanae Vitae (despite poor Erdo's best efforts to spin it to a more conservative direction).
As Matteo Matzuzzi, reporter for Il Foglio has just tweeted from the Synod press conference: "Cardinal Menichelli: 'The Erdo report is his interpretation? One would have to ask him! The debates are [centered] on the Instrumentum." Instead, as Wall Street Journal's Francis Rocca mentions, Cardinal "Menichelli says women’s rights and human sexuality are pertinent to theme of family Synod". As for the Africans? They are also learning their place: Archbishop Palmer-Buckle from Ghana, also present in today's official press conference, says Africa is growing up: "Africa is growing on subject of homosexuality."
It was worth the effort, Cardinal Erdo. The show must go on.
***
The other interesting news of the day is that the sole German-language group, the Germanicus, asked to move out of its meeting place, because its windowless place in the first day smelled bad and had "foul air". Sulfur, we presume?... Indeed, the group includes luminaries of orthodoxy such as Cardinals Kasper and Marx, and Bishop Bode...
Today, they met in the Palace of the Holy Office, hosted by Prefect Cardinal Müller, who provided much needed light and fresh air.
And now, quite predictably, Instrumentum Laboris takes center stage.
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