It'a a pity. Robert had a real blast on youtube about the fact that the final synod document contained two references to Polygamy. However, when I went to post it, it was gone. He had taken it down. So here is a followup video that is much shortened after he has regained composure!
An Explainer: Synod on Synodality to Rehash Possibility of Women Deacons ANALYSIS Press Conference to present the Document for the Continental Stage of the Synod on Synodality. (Photo: Daniel Ibanez/CNA) Joan Frawley Desmond VaticanJune 23, 2023 The Vatican just released its much-anticipated working document for the Oct. 4-29 Synod of Bishops in Rome, and few Catholic watchers will be surprised that “the question of women’s inclusion in the diaconate” will be among the topics for discussion. This has been an issue for some Church leaders and other delegates, as they ponder Pope Francis’ call for a more inclusive, synodal Church that listens and discerns the will of the Holy Spirit. “Most of the Continental Assemblies and the syntheses of several Episcopal Conferences call for the question of women’s inclusion in the diaconate to be considered,” reported the instrumentum laboris, or working document, which marked the beginning of the third phase of the multiyear Synod on Synodality global process that began with parish and diocesan surveys and listening sessions and then continued with national and continental synodal gatherings. “Is it possible to envisage this, and in what way?” the document stated. Additional questions included in “worksheets” provided by the instrumentum laboris underscore the need for women to assume more influential roles within the Church and urged delegates to think outside the box. “What new ministries could be created to provide the means and opportunities for women’s effective participation in discernment and decision-making bodies?” read one worksheet question. Amid a steady chorus of demands that the Church open up leadership positions to women, since his election in 2013 Pope Francis has boosted their presence in the Roman Curia and also appointed two papal commissions to study the historical and theological record on women deaconesses. In the process, he has raised the hopes of those who seek a more radical break with Church tradition regarding the role of women. While those aspirations have not materialized, the Synod on Synodality has provided a new platform for advocates to make their case, and some, like Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, have seized the opportunity. The Pope’s Position In 2016, Pope Francis endorsed Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, Pope St. John Paul’s authoritative 1994 statement that the Church is permanently precluded from ordaining women as priests, as the “final word” on the matter. But during that year, under the auspices of the now-Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, he appointed a commission to examine the historical role of female deacons, and in 2020, a second Commission on Women and the Diaconate focused on the theological aspects of this teaching. No formal guidance from the two commissions has been made public. However, in 2019, shortly before delegates at the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian region pressed for approval of women deaconess as a solution to a regional priest shortage, Francis emphasized the dearth of historical support for this change. “[The] formulas of female deacons’ ‘ordination’ found until now,” he said “are not the same for the ordination of a male deacon and are more similar to what today would be the abbatial blessing of an abbess.” And during an address to the Amazonian synod immediately after its final report had been approved with the inclusion of language supportive of female deacons, Francis suggested the document had failed to grapple with women’s full role in the Church, particularly “in the transmission of faith, in the preservation of culture,” he said. Rather, “we focus on the functional aspect, which is important,” but not everything. Earlier in 2019, during the 21st assembly of the International Union of Women Superiors, he tackled the subject in an unusually direct manner as he explained why he could not upend tradition and doctrine. “I can’t do a decree of a sacramental nature without having a theological, historical foundation for it,” Francis told the assembly of women superiors, the Jesuit news outlet America reported. “In regard to the diaconate, we must see what was there in the beginning of Revelation. If there was something, let it grow and it arrives, but if there was not, if the Lord did not want a sacramental ministry for women, it can’t go forward.” The following year, his post-synodal apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia ducked questions about deaconess, even as the Church’s first Latin American Pope recognized the role of many laywomen running isolated parishes in the Amazon where the faithful rarely saw a priest. Women have a “central part to play in Amazonian communities,” including “access to positions, including ecclesial services, that do not entail Holy Orders,” Francis stated in Querida Amazonia. “Here it should be noted that these services entail stability, public recognition and a commission from the bishop. This would also allow women to have a real and effective impact on the organization, the most important decisions and the direction of communities, while continuing to do so in a way that reflects their womanhood.” https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nc...ty-to-rehash-possibility-of-women-deacons?amp
Eccles, our comic genius blogger points out in his latest post that Cardinal Hollerich's name is an anagram of Hell Choir!
Synod on Synodality to open debate on wide range of hot topics Decision-making methods, the place of women, migrants, homosexuals, cultural traditions, climate change, priestly formation. Rarely has a document from Rome covered so many themes in such an open manner. Jun 30, 2023 Press conference to present the "working instrument" on the Synod on synodality, at the Holy See Press Office, June 20, 2023. (Photo by ALESSIA GIULIANI/CPP) By Loup Besmond de Senneville Decision-making methods, the place of women, migrants, homosexuals, cultural traditions, climate change, priestly formation. Rarely has a document from Rome covered so many themes in such an open manner. But they are all there in the new Instrumentum laboris (Latin for “working document”) for the first of two assemblies of the Synod on Synodality, which will take place October 4-29 and bring together bishops and lay people to reflect on the future of the Roman Catholic Church. Officials at the Synod’s secretariat released the new 60-page text on June 20 at a press conference in Rome. Through a series of questions addressed to the participants of the Synod on Synodality, which Pope Francis launched in October 2021 and which has already led to consultation with Catholics worldwide, the authors of the new document outline the future of what they call a “synodal Church”, one that is more attuned to its grassroots. In fact, the word appears 71 times in the text, which the Synod secretariat issued in Italian, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The Instrumentum laboris is intended to organise the work of October, but “is not to be a first draft of the Final Document of the Synodal Assembly”, warned the authors. Nevertheless, the series of questions that it presents over 33 of its pages still offers a fairly clear vision of the Church. Recognising “what is good” in the world Beyond the first part, which is a spiritual presentation on the concept of synodality, the Synod secretariat outlines, through the themes chosen or the way of asking its questions, the vision of a Church more attentive to the grassroots, where the question of margins is omnipresent. It is an institution of believers who are called upon to play a more active role, and which must rethink its way of announcing its message to the contemporary world. This is a far cry from a fortress Church, under siege, which should be defending what it has achieved. “What is the attitude with which we approach the world? Do we know to recognise what is good and, at the same time, commit ourselves to prophetically denounce all that violates the dignity of persons, human communities and creation?” asks the working document. It explains that such a question is necessary in view of the “abuse crisis” that has shaken the Church. “To the penitence it owes to victims and survivors for the suffering it has caused, the Church must add a growing and intensified commitment to conversion and reform in order to prevent similar situations from happening again in the future,” it states. Integrating “LGBTQ+ people” in the Church The text raises the question of integrating “those who do not feel accepted in the Church, such as the divorced and remarried, people in polygamous marriages, or LGBTQ+ Catholics”. It is notable that this is the first time that such a Church document from Rome uses the acronym, rather than homosexuals or people with same-sex attraction. Additionally, the document expresses concern about “racial, tribal, ethnic, class or caste-based discrimination, also present in the People of God”. On the other hand, certain themes are omitted, such as bioethics and the pre-conciliar liturgy. Moreover, the place of women, which was one of the major themes that came up in consultations with Catholics around the world, is also a central issue of the working document. The text goes so far as to raise the question of women deacons, without explicitly mentioning the ordination of women priests, to which Pope Francis has repeatedly stated his opposition. “What new ministries could be created to provide the means and opportunities for women’s effective participation in discernment and decision-making bodies?” question the document’s authors. Another highly sensitive topic the Synod secretariat does not side-step is the ordination of married men. “As some continents propose, could a reflection be opened concerning the discipline on access to the priesthood for married men, at least in some areas?” the document proposes. This issue was already addressed without being resolved at the last Synod assembly held in Rome, which was devoted to the Amazon. Addressing the issue of the authority of Catholic leaders, clerics and laity alike, and the need to adapt their formation, the Synod secretariat goes so far as to question the role of priests, bishops ... and even the Pope. “How should the role of the Bishop of Rome and the exercise of his primacy evolve in a synodal Church?” it asks. It’s a question previously unimaginable in a document published by the Vatican. --LCI https://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news...en-debate-on-wide-range-of-hot-topics/71724/1
I.Media - published on 09/09/23 In light of the start of the Synod on Synodality, an ecumenical prayer vigil will be held at St. Peter's Square on September 30. Twelve heads of Christian churches and communities and more than 3,000 young people from dozens of countries are expected in Rome for an ecumenical prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Square on September 30, 2023. This event is to introduce the General Assembly of the Synod on the future of the Church, which will take place from October 4 to 29. The prayer, organized by the ecumenical Taizé Community in collaboration with about 15 other movements, was presented in a press conference at the Vatican on September 8. The organizers explained that in addition to young people aged 18 to 35 — who will spend a weekend in Rome on the theme ‘Together: Gathering of the people of God’ — a dozen leaders from various Christian communities and Churches will attend and lead the vigil with Pope Francis. That morning, the 86-year-old Pontiff will celebrate a consistory to create 21 new cardinals. The list of Christian representatives The Orthodox Churches will send six representatives to the vigil: the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, the Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem, a representative of Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria, the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Ephrem II, the representative of the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Mar Paulus Benjamin, and Archbishop Abune Ermias, on behalf of the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Various Protestant denominations will also be taking part: Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Church; Anne Burghardt, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation; and Bernd Wallet, Archbishop of the Old Catholic Church. The Evangelical and Pentecostal communions will be represented by Thomas Schirrmacher, General Secretary of the World Evangelical Alliance; William Wilson, President of the Pentecostal World Fellowship; and Kuzipa Nalwamba of the World Council of Churches. The program and the young people’s participation The vigil will begin on Saturday, September 30, with testimonies from 5 pm to 6 pm, prior to the arrival of Pope Francis. It will start with a sung prayer to invoke the Holy Spirit which says: “Adsumus, Sancte Spiritus, veni a nos, adesto nobis” in Latin, meaning, “We are here before you, Holy Spirit, come to us, dwell in our hearts.” Pope Francis will then give an introductory speech, followed by an opening prayer by Patriarch Bartholomew, a reading from the Bible, and intercessions read by the various Christian delegates. At the end, the 12 leaders, together with the Pontiff, will bless Synod participants. The 3,000 young people who are joining this ecumenical prayer will be coming to Rome for the weekend and participating in various activities. They will arrive the night before from around 43 countries and be hosted by families and parishes in Rome. They will then participate in workshops on Saturday morning on the theme “together” before pilgrimaging to St. Peter’s Square. The space will be decorated with trees, bushes, and flowers to remember the importance of celebrating creation and there will be moments of prayers and music in the afternoon before the vigil begins. Three-day spiritual retreat After the vigil the leaders will then dine in the atrium of Paul VI Hall before departing that evening for the north of Rome for a spiritual retreat in preparation for the General Assembly. The retreat will last until October 3. In addition to the Synod’s governance team, the assembly comprises 362 members — with voting rights — accompanied by eight special guests, 56 experts and facilitators, and 12 delegates from other Christian denominations. Their three-day spiritual retreat will be led by the Synod’s two spiritual assistants, British Dominican priest Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe, and Italian Benedictine nun Maria Ignazia Angelini. The participants will then return to the Vatican on October 4 for the beginning of the Synod. The day’s program includes the solemn opening Mass with Pope Francis at 9 am, which will also be the first celebration with the Cardinals created on September 30; and the first General Congregation in the afternoon, with speeches by General Secretary Cardinal Mario Grech, the General Relator Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, and Pope Francis. Unlike the work that follows, this first day will be open to the public.
Will this be a kind of "moonlight speech" that John XXIII gave at the opening of the Second Vatican Council?
One great Sign about the Synod is that Pope Francis has decided to keep their goings on secret. As St John informs us , the children of darkness do their deeds in the dark. The agreement between the Vatican and the Chinese Communists arranged by that child molester and pervert McCarrick is also secret.
And it’s been reported that the current pope met secretly with Pfizer executives twice before releasing those videos urging 1.3 billion Catholics to be vaccinated as an “act of love”. What pope does that!? Can you imagine Pius 10 or John Paul 2 doing anything remotely similar to that? Psalms 64:2 1 Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint; protect my life from the threat of the enemy. 2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the plots of evildoers. 3 They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. 4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear. 5 They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk about hiding their snares; they say, “Who will see it ?”
Well on the plus side it will all work itself out in the end, we have the Lord's promise If the Church were a Nation or Political party I would say we are, all of us dead meat and utterly defeated . But the Church is the Bride of Christ and He will swiftly come to her aid My guess is the next Pope will ge the ONE and will knock the ball out of the field for all of us
yes reminds me of the Secret Societies... https://www.americamagazine.org/fai...ngolia-china-vietnam-russia-plane-rome-245995
I went to Mass in my parish this weekend. We have a new Parish Priest who I have a good opinion of. He usually gives very spiritual scripture based sermons and is very reverent of the Eucharist. I was shocked by the Mass he said. Currently they are celebrating Creation. All sounds good but he started the Kyrie and prayed Lord have mercy on our ecological sins. I had a rush of blood to the head but I do remember him mentioning plastic in the ocean and dead turtles. I could not make head nor tail of the Prayers of the Faithful but they were all in the same vein about mother earth, creation and the cry of the poor and raising our social justice awareness. I felt very upset, but finished out the Mass. It seems the same thing went on the previous week. I considered saying something and was talking to a man outside the church who is very angry about it. He was going to go to the priest but his wife stopped him. I'm now thinking I will go elsewhere for weekend Mass. He doesn't say Mass during the week in our Church. We have a very saintly retired priest who offers Mass during the week. He wasn't present. He must have said Mass privately in his own house. On Facebook I saw our Bishop walking all over the city reading meditations on creation and the earth. It is so upsetting. We have approximately 30,000 babies murdered in our hospitals by doctors and nurses who had committed to protecting life and the church fails to mention it. They are concerned it seems about turtles. The Bishop never attended a pro life March. I saw him at a few meetings but didn't speak and left immediately when challenged. May God have mercy on our broken church and country. The church has been captured and it's all coming down from the top
This is so disturbing and heart breaking. And it is I fear only the beginning of the horrors of EcoChurch. Save the turtles but let the babies be killed. The kind of insanity of liberal group think because after all a woman's right to her own body blah blah ad nauseum. To me it is so OBVIOUS that if you fail to protect the weakest humans among us--the true least of our brothers--then all your religious rhetoric is worse than clanging cymbals or hollow gongs to borrow from St Paul. One expects worldlings to miss this obvious connection but priests? Bishops? Consecrated souls?
I remember about 40 years ago when concerns about pollution emerged and I would sometimes stop and collect trash that others had dumped on the roadside. We have come a long way! Environmentalism has morphed into a religion: gaia worship. And now Pope Francis is about to publish another encyclical on saving the environment. I suppose the People of God will be called to take more decisive action. A new Gospel: Repent and believe the Bad News. Lord have Mercy!
Well Jesus told the Disciples if they went into one town and were not welcome to shake the dust of their feet And to go into another I would be inclined to vote with my feet
I remember years ago a young Passionist preaching on prayer . He suggested it was a good idea to pray naked and use candles as it would put us in a more relaxed place My feet headed for the door before my brain had even given them orders
By ,'Ideology ', the Holy Father means Church Doctrines Apparently he told one of his henchmen recently that the Vatican is full of , 'Fanatics' The mind fairly boggles
