An alternative site for the synodal path
The diocese of Regensburg, whose bishop is Mgr. Rudolf Voderholzer, has launched a site on the Synodal Path, entitled “Synod contributions”, intended to provide space for independent voices and critics of elements of the process already in place across the Rhine. It also allows the publication of alternative documents opposed to the official synod schemas.
Bishop Voderholzer, who has never hidden his opposition to the Synodal Way, presents this new site by asking: “What must happen so that the fact of being Church, of being Catholic, does not appear as a stain?” of which we must be ashamed? “
He continues: “What can we bring so that the fact of being a Christian becomes again a reason to walk upright”, to give glory to God, and to be “an important contributor to the construction and cohesion of society?
“These goals unite all Catholics in Germany. These goals also underpin the ‘Synodal Path’ project, ”he explains, but“ we are increasingly convinced that [this process] will not achieve its goal if it continues on the path it has taken so far.
Thus the bishop of Regensburg radically calls into question the process initiated, and proposes to counter it with the site he hosts: “On this site, you will find, among others, alternative texts, comments and declarations of the Vatican on the themes and forums of the Synodal Path, in which we make our point of view known.
The following is interesting: “The arguments presented here were introduced into the process of the Synodal Path. However, due to the majority prevailing there, they have not been and are not considered so far. “We”, that is, the members of the Synod Assembly and the Synod Forums, have now come together as a group on this path. “
That is to say, it refers to those who feel that “sound doctrine” has not been taken into account and that the Synodal Path is going straight into the wall. Bishop Voderholzer then describes the content of the site: “Sympathetic readers will find arguments there that can deepen the discussions and possibly provide help in getting closer to the truth than the votes allow. “
The site already offers an alternative document: “Authority and responsibility – Theses on the reform of the Church” which proposes an alternative to the diagram resulting from the first preparatory forum, “Power and distribution of powers in the Church – joint participation and sharing of the missionary mandate.
It is to be hoped that this initiative will be able to stop the German Synodal Path, the pursuit of which has been seriously hampered by the health situation. It seems that the number of German bishops opposed to the process can be counted on the fingers of one hand.