The Vatican is telling the Germans for the eighth time that what they are doing is not okay.
threatened the German bishops with excommunication State Secretary Pietro Parolin sent a letter to the German bishops in which he indicated that
if the German part-church wants to accept homosexual relationships or tries to ordain women as priests, they risk excommunication.
All of this is the result of several years of the "synodal journey" of the German part-church. While the bishops' synod on synodality was held in the Vatican in October under the leadership of Pope Francis, the German Church, under the leadership of the Central Committee of Secular German Catholics (ZdK), has been on a completely different path of reform since 2019. This led to the initiation of fundamental doctrinal changes in the church and came close to schism.
Pope Francis already sent a letter to the German bishops in 2019,
in which he indicated that there was no need for another Lutheran church and warned of the danger of schism (separation), emphasizing the value of unity. If we count correctly, since 2019, has indicated to the Germans eight times that what they are doing is not okay.
The thing is strange because until now it seemed that Pope Francis was following the German line. According to inside news
he was elected pope by the German-dominated Northern European reform wing, the Argentine church is funded by the German church, so the Germans pretty much thought they were dictating in the Vatican now.
In addition, to be honest, the letters of Pope Francis are sometimes impossible to follow, and it is not entirely clear whether he personally issued the liberalization license in the LGBTQ matter or not (among other things), because sometimes he says this and sometimes he does not - and although the church tradition - on which the pope's words should be interpreted internally - they are clear, so the ordinary believer can easily get confused when faced with the occasional Franciscan smears.
The same is true for the often mentioned decentralization: from time to time there have been indications from Pope Francis that he considers the declining Anglican Church as a model (which is not a good idea anyway) and wants to give greater freedom to the national episcopal faculties, for a long time he referred to himself as the Bishop of Rome -
in addition, in the background, he holds the reins tightly and sometimes expresses himself in a voice that does not tolerate contradiction, for example to his predecessor, XVI. Referring to Benedict, that he is the Pope, what he says is true, period.
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who was recently appointed head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, indicated that he believes that everyone is obliged to follow the Pope at all times, in everything - which is not entirely consistent with tradition.
So the pope who decentralizes in words is actually centralizing.
Read the full article here: Mandiner
Cover photo: MTI/Tamás Kovács
