Archbishop Eleganti No Longer Trusts the Synod

Source: FSSPX News

Bishop Marian Eleganti is Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Chur, Switzerland. He was first a monk at the Abbey of Einsiedeln, he then studied theology for some time in Rome before joining the Abbey of St. Otmarsberg in Switzerland, where he was abbot from 1999 to 2009. Consecrated bishop in 2010, he became Auxiliary Bishop of Chur, a position from which he would resign in 2021.

In an article published on Kath.net, Bishop Eleganti states his reasoned opposition to the synod on synodality that has entered its continental phase. He does it without any doublespeak. Extracts.

“The Church has not taken the wrong road for 2000 years to be enlightened and undeceived in the 21st century, by a synodal process. For that, we need neither Vatican III nor a slimmed-down replacement event called the Synod on Synodality. I thought, as the title indicates, that the theme to be treated would be “synodality” as the alleged new modus operandi of the Church.”

“Instead, it’s the same tunes rehashed for the umpteenth time since the 1970s: democracy, participation, participation in power, women in all positions and women’s diaconate or priesthood; revision of sexual morality with regard to sexual relations outside marriage, remarriage and homosexuality, abandonment of the centrality of priests in the liturgy, etc.”

“We know all of this. The postulates, repeated over and over again, are put into new bottles on which are stuck the labels “Listening,” “Inclusiveness,” “Welcoming,” “Diversity,” “Equality,” in a kind of marketing campaign that sells what was yesterday as what is today and presents it kindly to the man or the woman.”

“These are terms that sound good and have a positive emotional connotation, but they are empty formulas compared to the truth. For theft and anger, we are also exclusive. Moreover, “exclusivity” is clearly expressed coming from Jesus’ mouth. People were excluded from the wedding feast or were thrown out where there are tears and the gnashing of teeth.”

“God is sold to us as inclusive universal love, which approves and blesses all that men do, because all are children of God. Such a God ceases to be truth and justice, which excludes error and sin, as well as those who do not renounce these. At least that's what Jesus Christ says. But they also do stop before Him.”

“It has nothing to do with a Spirit-based reform process. It is nothing but the intra-ecclesial politicization of issues in opposition to true discernment, which is not undertaken, or which is already settled, such as the question of the female priesthood. It would be necessary to reject and stop promoting positions that contradict the teaching and tradition of the Church.”

The Script Is Already Written

“The discernment, however, is only an appearance, because the plans have been fixed from the beginning (cf. the Synodal Path in Germany and its bad copies in other countries like Switzerland): there is now a desire to move forward universally.”

“Any child can see it. The hypocrisy is limitless. For 60 years, I have lived and heard the same old story, ad nauseam. Because things don't get better or more convincing through repetition. What has been perfected are fallacies and semantics. Bishop Bätzing went particularly far in this area.”

“The rock of Peter is a moving sand dune that follows (synods) with difficulty or hesitation, without bringing the clarity that his predecessors and the ecumenical councils created, and which is no longer accepted. They act as if these were always open questions from the point of view of the magisterium.”

The True Doctrine of the Church

“We have forgotten that the Church is a 'teaching' Church (ecclesia docens), a 'mater et magistra', 'mother and mistress' of truth, morals, and faith, and not a dreamy traveler who the zeitgeist leads around by the hand. She has always been guided by the Holy Spirit and does not contradict herself in her teaching, for example, in the judgment of homosexuality: a great evil of the clergy of the last 50 years, covered with success, even in the high spheres .”

“They look away and, instead, they try, with secular society, to establish and approve homosexuality within the Church as a variant of creation willed by God. Nor will it be achieved by placing more women in leadership positions in the Church.”

“They are no more innocent beings than men (cf. the doctrine of original sin) and should not consider themselves to be the remedy for all the ills of the Church or to be presented as such, only to abolish the priesthood reserved to men and promise a Church supposedly purified of clericalism, an illusion pure and simple.”

“The teaching of the Church is immutable because it is true, for example on sacramental marriage between a man and a woman. It cannot be shaken by cheating in a footnote. [This is an allusion to Amoris Laetitia and the famous note 351. Ed.]

“We should not expect innovations in doctrine, but rather the transmission of the faith. Such innovations in faith are heresies that have led to divisions. The same is true today. Important councils have ensured clarity, such as the Council of Trent, whereas nowadays synodal processes serve as vehicles for transporting harmful substances or heresy, and are themselves toxic.”

“Come, Holy Spirit! I no longer expect anything good from the next synod, wrongly called “on synodality.” I no longer trust it. The confusion, already instilled by the synods since 2014, is undeniable and makes me pessimistic about the discernment of the Spirit in these events.”

“Summoned spirits are, as can be seen in Germany, as difficult to tame as trying to make a crocodile into a pet. Why? Because they don't come from God.”

“Using the Holy Spirit, a fortiori in one's own mouth, and claiming it for oneself, is nothing but propaganda and (self)delusion, and fundamentally an instrumentalization of God. I not doing it; I'm just giving my opinion here.”

This denunciation is welcome in these times of extreme confusion. It is to be hoped that all the bishops who doubt the synod – and there are some – will have the same courage.