Posted on 10/04/2023 9:44:42 AM PDT by ebb tide
Just days before the Synod on Synodality kicked off its first round of meetings at the Vatican, a letter from Cardinal Joseph Zen was leaked to media, voicing serious concerns to cardinals and bishops worldwide about the gathering in Rome and advocating for changes to the synod process as well as spirited discussions of the gathering’s topics.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by CNA, dated Sept. 21 — the feast of the Apostle St. Matthew — accuses synod organizers of manipulation and pursuing an agenda, rather than allowing for authentic ecclesiastical discourse. News of the letter’s existence was published by The Pillar Wednesday.
Cardinal Zen examines the theological framing of synodality by drawing on a recent document by the International Theological Commission, “Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church,” underscoring that synodality, at its core, refers to the “communion and participation of all the members of the Church in the mission of evangelization.”
The cardinal expresses reservations about the scant reference to this critical Vatican-approved document in the preparatory materials for the synod, implying a potential deviation from foundational ecclesiastical principles.
One such principle is “the collegial ministry of bishops,” Cardinal Zen writes, which is based on the theological foundations of the Second Vatican Council.
“I am confounded by the fact that, on the one hand, I am told that synodality is a constitutive element of the Church, but, on the other hand, I am told that this is what God expects from us for this century (as a novelty?).”
The cardinal, who co-signed the dubia ahead of the synod, adds: “How can God have forgotten to make his Church live out this constitutive element in the 20 centuries of her existence?”
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
Ping
Card. Zen is one of the (very few) good guys.
In the Gospels, The great Commission was Christ’s final, and firm Directive. He didn’t frame it in the language of the optional. If one is in Christ, if one is a follower of Christ, if one is truly His, then one is evangelizing as there is opportunity to do so.
Sadly, throughout all Christendom, actually executing on Jesus’ Great Commission is seen as a duty relegated to the clergy; to Pastors, Priests, and others who have been called into vocational ministry. This is decidedly NOT the sense in which the Commission was given, but the discrepancy is not rightly laid at the feet of God, as if He had “forgotten to make His Church” live it out. I can assure any doubters that He has not forgotten any such thing. It is WE who have — not “forgotten,” but rather hideously NEGLECTED, if not shunned or even spurned Christ’s mandate.
The good Cardinal is right to have laid his finger on exactly the glaring issue, but let not The Almighty be called into question on account of His Bride’s epidemic dereliction of her assigned duty.
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