What Is the Real Goal of the Synod on Synodality?

Source: FSSPX News

The question arises with increasing acuity in the face of what at the beginning was presented as a slip up, then confirmed, and which over the accumulated elements appears as a more or less avowed goal: the integration of a change of the teaching of the Church on homosexuality, without prejudging other objectives, of course.

A Condemned Organization Promoted by the Synod Secretariat

Thus, as reported by FSSPX.News, in December 2021 the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, in charge of the preparation of the Synod on Synodality, had established a link to the New Ways Ministry (NWM) website, an organization which provides pastoral assistance to homosexuals, but which deviates from the doctrine of the Church and whose founders have been condemned.

The link was first removed after finding that the NWM was disapproved of by both the Holy See and the American bishops. But, in his usual fashion, the pope praised the actions of this organization by writing personally to the director of NWM, Sr. Jeanine Gramick, who nevertheless received a permanent ban on any work involving homosexual people.

Faced with this fact, the secretariat of the synod reestablished the link.

Synod Rapporteur Wants to Change Catholic Teaching

On February 2, 2022, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, general rapporteur for the upcoming Synod on Synodality, told the German agency Katholische Nachrichten Agentur, that the Church's current teaching on homosexuality was “erroneous” and that the “sociological-scientific foundation” of this teaching which condemned it was no longer correct.

This statement was strongly condemned by Cardinal George Pell who first appealed to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and then declared: “I do not see how it is possible that a man [Cardinal Hollerich ] who teaches an explicit heresy, for example on sexual morality, can be the rapporteur, the prime mover of the Synod.”

Synod Undersecretary Involved With NWM

On April 3, 2022, Sr. Nathalie Becquart, a French Xaviere sister and under-secretary at the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, gave a presentation entitled “Synodalism: a Path of Reconciliation” via Zoom. The event was sponsored by New Ways Ministry as part of the memorial lecture program for Fr. Robert Nugent (d. 2014), co-founder, with Sister of Loretto Jeannine Gramick, of NWM. They were removed from it in 1984, then one of their books was condemned. Finally, the CDF declared in the 1990s that the positions of the two founders were doctrinally unacceptable.

In her lecture, Sr. Nathalie often alluded to the fact that the Youth Synod paved the way for greater acceptance of pro-homosexual communities within the Church, and spoke of a “remarkably LGBT-positive document” that came out of a meeting prior to the Youth Synod that she herself had helped to coordinate.

As part of the preparation for the Synod on Synodality, the synod of bishops is gathering testimonies from all over the world. According to its own words, the publication does not mean that the synod of bishops agrees with the content. 

On the Synod on Synodality site, the testimonies of three homosexual couples who have adopted children have been published. The testimonies come from the Parish of the Immaculate Conception in Hendersonville, North Carolina. But there is no disclaimer or reference to Church teaching towards same-sex unions and the adoption of children by same-sex couples.

The first story tells the story of a woman who goes to an abortion clinic and learns along the way that a friend of hers, who is in a same-sex relationship, would like to have a child. The report attributes the rescue of the child to the same-sex couple.

The second testimony explains how two homosexuals adopt young handicapped people. As for the third, it cites the story of a man who teaches in a Catholic school and who keeps his homosexuality secret. He and his partner, to whom he is civilly “married,” adopt children from other countries to get them out of extreme poverty.

The message is clear enough: same-sex couples are generous and help save lives. No doubt, it is undeniable that some of these men and women with such inclinations can be generous. But as the moral principle says: bonum ex integra causa, i.e., for a thing to be good, it must have no defect. It only takes one defect for it to begin to be bad, and whoever fails in one aspect renders the good inoperative, for there is no absolute evil.

On this subject, it should be recalled that in 2003, the CDF published a document entitled “Considerations on the projects for the legal recognition of unions between homosexual persons.” The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith opposes both the legal recognition of homosexual unions and the adoption of children by homosexual couples for reasons of natural law.

A Relevant Question

Riccardo Cascioli, editor-in-chief of La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana [The New Daily Compass] said, “‘It seems to me that, from the beginning, one of the goals of the Synod on Synodality is to legitimize the LGBT agenda within the Church.’ He noted, for example, that Sister Nathalie was not addressing a group that ministers to people with homosexual tendencies in accordance with Church teaching…but rather one ‘condemned’ by the CDF.”

“The gesture is therefore disruptive and indicates the willingness of the Church’s leadership to embrace the LGBT agenda, with all the dramatic consequences for the magisterium,” Cascioli told Edward Pentin at the National Catholic Register, adding that “LGBT claims would force a revision of the entire doctrine of creation, as well as biblical exegesis.”

“He also saw it as part of a “real bombardment” of pro-LGBT agenda statements within the Church recently, …pushing for Church approval of same-sex acts, as individual diocesan initiatives in various countries, such as the recent decision by the Archdiocese of Turin to guarantee the confirmation for transgender people, using their new name in the rite.”

Cardinal Pell has asked the Pope to speak out on the deviations that are coming to light, particularly on the German Synodal Path and on the claims surrounding a change in doctrine on homosexual acts. But, for the moment, Francis is silent and appoints people committed to the LGBT cause to key positions in the synod.