Bishop Georg Bätzing at the closing press conference of the spring plenary meeting of the German bishops’ conference. / Martin Rothweiler/EWTN.TV.
Denver Newsroom, May 12, 2022 / 17:23 pm (CNA).
The president of the German bishops’ conference has expressed his belief that Church teaching needs further development, in response to critique of the synodal path in that country.
The statement came in the latest instance of epistolary exchange between Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg and Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver.
“Our Church needs change in order to faithfully carry out her mission and take the precious Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of our time. And the urgent need for change also includes the need to further develop the Church’s teaching. Such is my conviction,” Bishop Bätzing wrote in a May 5 letter to Archbishop Aquila.
The assembly of the synodal path has voted in favor of documents calling for the priestly ordination of women, same-sex blessings, and changes to teaching on homosexual acts.
Germany’s “Synodal Path” is a process that brings together lay people and bishops to discuss four major topics: how power is exercised in the Church; sexual morality; the priesthood; and the role of women. When the German bishops launched the process, they initially said that the deliberations would be “binding” on the Church in Germany, prompting a Vatican intervention that rejected such claims.
In May 2021, Archbishop Aquila wrote that the synodal path’s first text put forward “untenable” proposals for changes to Church teaching. He was among the drafters of an April 11 open letter that warned the synodal path may lead to schism, now signed by more than 100 bishops, six of whom are cardinals. And on May 2 he wrote to Bishop Bätzing reiterating that the synodal path challenges, and even repudiates, the deposit of faith.
In his May 5 response, the Bishop of Limburg maintained that the synodal path is an appropriate response to clerical sex abuse.
“Based on intensive discussions with those affected and intensive scientific studies on the occurrence of abuse of children and young people by clerics in our country, we had to painfully accept that there are multi-dimensional systemic factors in the Catholic Church which favour abuse. Uncovering these and doing our utmost to overcome them is the starting point of the Synodal Path in Germany, and it is reflected in the four priority areas to be worked on,” he wrote.
“Your argumentation that bishops have made mistakes in dealing with abuse and instead of taking responsibility for it, they now want to fundamentally question the doctrine of the Church in Germany, is, from my humble insight, frighteningly one-line and unfortunately does not do justice by far to the complex reality of the structures in the Catholic Church that facilitate abuse,” Bishop Bätzing wrote to Archbishop Aquila.
He added, “I am glad and appreciate the fact that your opinion is by no means shared by all the faithful and bishops, even in the Church in the United States. This is clearly communicated to me again and again.”
“I take your objections seriously,” he said, “because they indicate concern and at the same time that we also in the Catholic Church worldwide live in a thoroughly plural situation of different social life worlds and theological assessments.”
These situations “require exchange, critical dialogue and a new understanding and communication with each other, of course on the basis of what belongs to the revealed unchangeable heritage of the Church’s faith,” Bishop Bätzing wrote.
“That is why I am so extraordinarily grateful for the open way in which Pope Francis has designed the World Synod on Synodality. Everyone should be able to participate, have their say and contribute their views. This is a great approach we in Germany support very much.”
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Cardinal Peter Ebere Okpaleke, bishop of the southern Nigerian diocese of Ekwulobia, pictured as he took possession of his titular church in Rome on Feb. 5, 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Feb 23, 2023 / 13:30 pm (CNA).
With Ni… […]
The sisters Madeleine and Marie-Liesse together with Louis Antona at the entrance of Greece. The three young people covered the distance from Paris to Jerusalem on foot, arriving in mid-May 2024. “I needed to walk 4,500 kilometers to understand that Jesus is not just in Jerusalem, but was by my side every step of the way,” Antona told CNA. / Credit: Photo courtesy of French pilgrims Madeleine and Marie-Liesse
Jerusalem, Jun 18, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
On Sept. 17, 2023, two sisters left Paris and walked for approximately eight months to Jerusalem. Madeleine and Marie-Liesse, 19 and 22, who grew up in a Catholic family, decided to become pilgrims to grow in their faith.
“We needed to make the faith our own,” they told CNA. “This pilgrimage was to discover God, to truly search for him and deepen our faith. We learned that we can trust God; he takes care of us in everything. The Gospel is not a joke.”
Two months later, in mid-November 2023, Louis Antona, 24, also left Paris on foot, bound for Jerusalem. The three young people met providentially in Albania, walked together through Turkey, then parted ways and reunited in Jerusalem. They shared the story of their pilgrimage with CNA.
“I needed to walk 4,500 kilometers to understand that Jesus is not just in Jerusalem but was by my side every step of the way,” Antona told CNA. He walked a total of 189 days and arrived in Jerusalem on May 18.
Madeleine and Marie-Liesse — who asked that their last name not be used to protect their privacy — left from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre in the center of Paris with the blessing of their parents and a priest.
“It was a calling from God,” Madeleine said of the decision she and her sister made to leave. “There’s no need for reasons when God calls; you simply need to follow what he tells you.”
Madeleine and Marie-Liesse during a moment of their journey, between Slovenia and Croatia. “The faith of the people struck us: during Advent, tradition dictates that Mass be attended every morning at 6, and every time we went, the church was packed with people,” they told CNA. The two sisters left Paris on September 17, 2023, and walked for about eight months to Jerusalem. Credit: Courtesy of French pilgrims Madeleine and Marie-Liesse
The sisters created a simple blog to keep friends and family updated on their pilgrimage. The photos and brief stories reveal all the freshness of two young people on a journey while not hiding moments of doubt and difficulty.
“We chose to embark on this journey as beggars,” Marie-Liesse told CNA. “We left with just a few clothes and nothing else — no food, no money. We wanted to surrender ourselves into the hands of providence. Every evening, we knocked on people’s doors asking for shelter, a bed, and food. The Lord always provided.”
Their days were marked by walking and prayer.
“We didn’t have a strict rule because we had to adapt every day to the people who hosted us, the place, and the situation,” Marie-Liesse explained. “But we had a framework: We knew we had to pray in the morning, at midday, at night… It was important for us to be faithful to God. Every day, we also recited a rosary, praying for the intentions entrusted to us.”
The most challenging moment was making the decision to continue the journey after hearing that war had broken out in the Holy Land. “We were in Germany and full of doubts about whether to go on.”
Their journey led them to cross Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia. In Croatia, “the faith of the people struck us: during Advent, tradition dictates that Mass be attended every morning at 6, and every time we went, the church was packed with people,” the sisters wrote on their blog.
They stopped for a month in Medjugorje (Bosnia and Herzegovina), where their family joined them for Christmas.
“It was a difficult time. Again, we didn’t know what to do. But after a period of discernment, we realized that Christ was calling us back on the road again,” Madeleine said.
Madeleine and Marie-Liesse crossed Montenegro and arrived in Albania, where they encountered Antona.
“I had just finished my studies and wanted to offer something to God,” Antona told CNA. “I wasn’t sure what, but I thought that the best thing I had at that time was time itself. So, I decided to offer God a year of my life by embarking on a journey. It was a challenge; I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy walking and being alone.”
Louis Antona, 24, during a moment of his journey. “I had just finished my studies and wanted to offer something to God,” he told CNA. “I thought that the best thing I had at that time was time itself. So, I decided to offer God a year of my life by embarking on a journey.” Credit: Photo courtesy of Louis Antona
Antona decided to leave, despite the war. “I believe the hardest part of a pilgrimage like this is deciding to start. I knew that if I gave up because of the war, I would never do it again. Anyway, I thought that by the time I arrived, the war would already be over.”
Madeleine and Marie-Liesse are filled with wonder at the manifestation of providence in every detail of their pilgrimage, in the beautiful weather and in the rain, in every small encounter — those who hosted them after seeing them at the bus stop, those who taught them how to make bread, the gentleman who opened his door just before a downpour. “If we had arrived a minute later, we wouldn’t have met him,” they said.
The encounter with Antona wasn’t coincidental either. The two sisters had prayed to God to give them a travel companion.
“We planned to not go through Turkey because we were two women alone, but we would have liked to go that way. So we asked God to meet one pilgrim, and we met him,” the sisters explained.
The three crossed Macedonia and Greece, arriving in Turkey on Palm Sunday. In this predominantly Muslim country, they celebrated Easter, warmly welcomed by the small French-speaking community there.
The sisters Madeleine and Marie-Liesse together with Louis Antona received a blessing from a priest during a Mass in Turkey. They arrived in Turkey on Palm Sunday 2024. In this predominantly Muslim country, they celebrated Easter, warmly welcomed by the small French-speaking community there. Credit: Photo courtesy of Louis Antona
“Every day of this pilgrimage was a miracle,” Antona said. “Every day we have met people who smiled or were nice to us. I have to say that in Turkey we found the most welcoming people.”
“It is not uncommon for the Turks to spontaneously lend us a hand,” Madeleine and Marie-Liesse wrote on their blog. “In Turkey, we encountered an infinite respect for passing strangers and for Christianity, even though Christians here are forced to protect themselves from regular attacks.”
The arrival of Madeleine and Marie-Liesse in Albania. In the photo, Marie-Liesse is in front of a statue of Mother Teresa, who was originally from this country. “Every evening, we knocked on people’s doors asking for shelter, a bed, and food. The Lord always provided,” they told CNA. Credit: Photo courtesy of French pilgrims Madeleine and Marie-Liesse
Upon leaving Turkey, the paths of the three pilgrims split again. The sisters’ route went through Cyprus but they could not find a way from there to Jerusalem by sea due to suspension of transportation because of the war. Providentially, they met someone in Cyprus who offered to pay for airfare, and the sisters arrived in Tel Aviv on May 6. Three days later, on the feast of the Ascension, they were in Jerusalem.
“Many times, we thought we couldn’t reach Jerusalem,” Madeleine said. “We learned that the journey is even more important than reaching the goal. Being here is a great gift, just to be here.”
“We unpacked our bags once and for all, knelt before this Holy Land, and prayed. What peace, what a moment of grace! As we admired the sunrise and the golden light that brought color to the roofs of the old city, we could reread the wonders of God and meditate on the Gospels. His infinite love overwhelmed us,” the two sisters wrote on their blog.
The sisters Madeleine and Marie-Liesse received a blessing from a Franciscan friar at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher after their arrival in Jerusalem. “The greatest gift is to be here and understand what happened here, to see with our own eyes, to witness the actual places,” Madeleine said. “We were able to pause in every place, to pray and meditate in silence.” Credit: Photo courtesy of French pilgrims Madeleine and Marie-Liesse
Madeleine has no doubts: “Prayer is what carried us. When you’re weak, that’s when you’re strongest because that’s when God can act in you; you don’t take up all the space. Trusting in God can be challenging, but when you understand that God only wants you to be happy and will give you everything you need, then you realize you have everything to be happy in this moment; you can trust him.”
Ten days later, on the eve of Pentecost, Antona also arrived in Jerusalem. “Even if I had to stop somewhere else, at least I would have aimed to reach Jerusalem. This is a very important city for Christians, but the journey you take to reach it is also very important.”
French pilgrim Louis Antona arrived in Jerusalem on May 18, at the vigil of Pentecost. “Every day of this pilgrimage was a miracle,” he said. Credit: Photo courtesy of Louis Antona
The three pilgrims are still in the Holy Land. They have had the opportunity to participate in various celebrations and to visit the holy places in addition to many other sites in the area.
“The greatest gift is to be here and understand what happened here, to see with our own eyes, to witness the actual places,” Madeleine said. “We were able to pause in every place, to pray and meditate in silence.”
A journey like this isn’t for everyone, but all three of the pilgrims agree that “if God calls you, go in peace. If God helps you, everything becomes possible.”
The French pilgrims rest under the portico of the Church of the Beatitudes on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. In the photo is Louis Antona. A journey like this isn’t for everyone, but, the three young people said, “if God calls you, go in peace. If God helps you, everything becomes possible.” Credit: Photo courtesy of French pilgrims Madeleine and Marie-Liesse
As St John Henry Newman noted, Development of Doctrine means we grow in understanding of Church teaching. It does not mean change or repudiation of Church teaching.
Says imam Batzing in his media fatwa: “Our Church needs change in order to faithfully carry out her mission and take the precious Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of our time.”
“Imam Batzing”? Might we notice the identical DNA in (a) the mission of Islam with its fluidity toward jihad, (b) the mission of the progressive West with its fluidity toward libertinism, as in abortive child abuse, and in (c) Batzing’s evangelizing mission with its fluidity toward sexual perversion and even deconstruction of the sacramental order in the Church?
Do we detect a certain cast-of-mind in all three seemingly different trajectories? A certain lowest common denominator?
FIRST, in Islam, one finds references to Moses’ Law, but no explicit listing in the Qur’an (none that I can find) of the prohibitive last six Commandments (hence, a space for jihad).
SECOND, in the radically secularized West we find the virulent affirmation of civil rights (civil rites?) in the absence of responsibilities (hence a space for the Sexual Devolution of the 1960s and then “it’s my body [only]”).
And, THIRD, in Batzing (and others in the Church) we find a myopic focus on concrete cases at the expense of universal moral principles and absolute prohibitions (as articulated in Veritatis Splendor and in the Catechism, now under attack by Batzing & Co.).
St. Jerome looked back forty years to the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) are grieved that “The whole world groaned and marveled at finding itself Arian.” Likewise, today in the West and even in wide swaths of the Church, as they already (!) converge toward Islam-like simplicity and selective blindness. But, the inconvenient thing about the Eucharistic and perennial Catholic Church, now nearly 1700 years after Nicaea, is that it’s about BOTH the (Batzing’s) “precious Gospel of Jesus Christ” AND the singular and Trinitarian event (!!!) of the incarnate Christ, as witnessed in the Gospel texts—
“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8).
Bishop Bätzing couldn’t have made it clearer. His conviction for urgent need for further development is not referring to Benedict’s hermeneutic of doctrinal continuity, rather a paradigm shift. Although hermeneutic continuity is perceived by Bätzing in the “World Synod on Synodality” in the open dialogue promoted by Pope Francis.
Paradigm shift hasn’t been spoken of lately, rather the actual shift in doctrine has been underway, more than seemingly in structural changes the virtual regulation of the CDF by granting Dicastery primacy to Propaganda Fides. Appointments of prelates who favor change on issues homosexuality, divorced and remarried. Amazonia, Marx’ disappointment, Bätzing’s direction of the German Synodal Way as intended by Cardinal Marx, and Pope Francis’ tolerance [his letter of admonition to the Germans was more a sympathetic warning] followed by considerate silence.
Much of our response here is nothing new. At best we might add that at least we’re not becoming inured. As in line with this article, Germany’s counter to the Synodal Way M Grünewald of Germany’s New Way says, “to attach a higher importance to them [Synodal Way proposals] is so theologically adventurous that this must be classified as revolutionary or – in church language – as heretical” (Martin Grünewald neuer Anfgang).
Some laypersons see “the complex reality of the structures in the Catholic Church that facilitate abuse,” as echolocating squeaks of Bishop Batzing calling forth past historical heresies. He unearths, resources, refreshes, and reforms old heresies to meet the needs of today’s world. These needs are just and true since he and his fellow immoralist hierarchs have interpreted them. Francis adds notes of rest or occasional dischordant yet harmonic sound.
Like yesterday’s news (or as Baby Herman in ‘Roger Rabbit’ put it: “like yesterday’s diaper”), the heresies which Batzing and friends voice today, without any novelty whatsoever, bore. They bore in their tediously completely full entirety. We’ve heard them too many times in too many tones, too many moods, too many stripes, patterns, and colors, before. Old news is stale and smells bad too.
Yet Batzinger’s words surely stem from the impetus of the newness of the ever pastoral freshness of VC II. DV, Section 8, asserts that the church’s tradition “progresses.” “There is growth in understanding…both the words [of God] and the realities they signify.”
DV (or some like Batzing) would interpret those words to apply not only to individuals who, like Mary, ‘ponder these things in their hearts’ (see Lk. 2:19, 51) but also to the church “until the day when the words of God reach their fulfilment in the church.”
The roller-coaster ride given the church by the much misaligned VCII, resourced and reformed as a clarifying, light-filled Synod of All Evolving and Everlasting Synods, is about to visit the knowledge, wisdom, and discernment of THE spirit upon an uncomprehending, outdated, rigid, and horribly needy world.
Buckling Up, In Christ, we remain opposed to Batzing’s sin-nod. Go Aquila.
“Development”
Prevarication on generalizations that say nothing.
As St John Henry Newman noted, Development of Doctrine means we grow in understanding of Church teaching. It does not mean change or repudiation of Church teaching.
“from my humble insight” – Who said Germans don’t have a sense of humour?
Says imam Batzing in his media fatwa: “Our Church needs change in order to faithfully carry out her mission and take the precious Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of our time.”
“Imam Batzing”? Might we notice the identical DNA in (a) the mission of Islam with its fluidity toward jihad, (b) the mission of the progressive West with its fluidity toward libertinism, as in abortive child abuse, and in (c) Batzing’s evangelizing mission with its fluidity toward sexual perversion and even deconstruction of the sacramental order in the Church?
Do we detect a certain cast-of-mind in all three seemingly different trajectories? A certain lowest common denominator?
FIRST, in Islam, one finds references to Moses’ Law, but no explicit listing in the Qur’an (none that I can find) of the prohibitive last six Commandments (hence, a space for jihad).
SECOND, in the radically secularized West we find the virulent affirmation of civil rights (civil rites?) in the absence of responsibilities (hence a space for the Sexual Devolution of the 1960s and then “it’s my body [only]”).
And, THIRD, in Batzing (and others in the Church) we find a myopic focus on concrete cases at the expense of universal moral principles and absolute prohibitions (as articulated in Veritatis Splendor and in the Catechism, now under attack by Batzing & Co.).
St. Jerome looked back forty years to the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) are grieved that “The whole world groaned and marveled at finding itself Arian.” Likewise, today in the West and even in wide swaths of the Church, as they already (!) converge toward Islam-like simplicity and selective blindness. But, the inconvenient thing about the Eucharistic and perennial Catholic Church, now nearly 1700 years after Nicaea, is that it’s about BOTH the (Batzing’s) “precious Gospel of Jesus Christ” AND the singular and Trinitarian event (!!!) of the incarnate Christ, as witnessed in the Gospel texts—
“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8).
Bishop Bätzing couldn’t have made it clearer. His conviction for urgent need for further development is not referring to Benedict’s hermeneutic of doctrinal continuity, rather a paradigm shift. Although hermeneutic continuity is perceived by Bätzing in the “World Synod on Synodality” in the open dialogue promoted by Pope Francis.
Paradigm shift hasn’t been spoken of lately, rather the actual shift in doctrine has been underway, more than seemingly in structural changes the virtual regulation of the CDF by granting Dicastery primacy to Propaganda Fides. Appointments of prelates who favor change on issues homosexuality, divorced and remarried. Amazonia, Marx’ disappointment, Bätzing’s direction of the German Synodal Way as intended by Cardinal Marx, and Pope Francis’ tolerance [his letter of admonition to the Germans was more a sympathetic warning] followed by considerate silence.
Much of our response here is nothing new. At best we might add that at least we’re not becoming inured. As in line with this article, Germany’s counter to the Synodal Way M Grünewald of Germany’s New Way says, “to attach a higher importance to them [Synodal Way proposals] is so theologically adventurous that this must be classified as revolutionary or – in church language – as heretical” (Martin Grünewald neuer Anfgang).
Some laypersons see “the complex reality of the structures in the Catholic Church that facilitate abuse,” as echolocating squeaks of Bishop Batzing calling forth past historical heresies. He unearths, resources, refreshes, and reforms old heresies to meet the needs of today’s world. These needs are just and true since he and his fellow immoralist hierarchs have interpreted them. Francis adds notes of rest or occasional dischordant yet harmonic sound.
Like yesterday’s news (or as Baby Herman in ‘Roger Rabbit’ put it: “like yesterday’s diaper”), the heresies which Batzing and friends voice today, without any novelty whatsoever, bore. They bore in their tediously completely full entirety. We’ve heard them too many times in too many tones, too many moods, too many stripes, patterns, and colors, before. Old news is stale and smells bad too.
Yet Batzinger’s words surely stem from the impetus of the newness of the ever pastoral freshness of VC II. DV, Section 8, asserts that the church’s tradition “progresses.” “There is growth in understanding…both the words [of God] and the realities they signify.”
DV (or some like Batzing) would interpret those words to apply not only to individuals who, like Mary, ‘ponder these things in their hearts’ (see Lk. 2:19, 51) but also to the church “until the day when the words of God reach their fulfilment in the church.”
The roller-coaster ride given the church by the much misaligned VCII, resourced and reformed as a clarifying, light-filled Synod of All Evolving and Everlasting Synods, is about to visit the knowledge, wisdom, and discernment of THE spirit upon an uncomprehending, outdated, rigid, and horribly needy world.
Buckling Up, In Christ, we remain opposed to Batzing’s sin-nod. Go Aquila.