CV NEWS FEED // Cardinals Raymond Burke and Gerhard Müller have openly condemned the decision by the German Synodal Way assembly to begin officially “blessing” sexual relationships between persons of the same sex.
The recent gathering of the Synodal Way concluded with 176 out of 202 participants voting in favor of offering blessings for same-sex couples in Catholic dioceses.
Cardinals Burke and Müller reproved the German bishops in an interview on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.”
“It is absolutely blasphemic to make a blessing about those forms of life which is, according to the biblical and the ecclesial doctrine a sin because all forms of sexuality outside of a valid matrimony is sin and cannot be blessed,” Müller said.
Likewise, Burke said that, “Whether it’s a departure, heretical teaching and denial of one of the doctrines of the faith, or apostasy in the sense of simply walking away from Christ and from his teaching in the Church to embrace some other form of religion, these are crimes.”
Last year, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith restated the Church’s long standing doctrine on the sacrament of marriage, writing that “the Church does not have, and cannot have, the power to bless unions of persons of the same sex.”
Of the 58 German bishops present at the synod assembly, 38 approved the motion. The Chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, dismissed those who did not side with the synod’s decision in a press conference afterwards. “We have people everywhere who have a hard time with the resolutions.” Batzing said. “My point is always: What are we taking from you? These are more psychological reasons than real theological reasons or questions of piety.”
The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, commented in a recent interview that the synod did not have the authority to make this decision, but did not openly condemn the decision itself. “The Synodal Path has taken decisions that do not correspond exactly to what is currently the doctrine of the Church,” he stated.
Pope Francis had previously expressed concern that the Synodal Way process was “very, very ideological” and “made by the elites” but has not commented yet on the move with same-sex blessings.
“There must be a trial and they must be sentenced,” Müller added, “and they must be removed from their office if they are not converting themselves and they are not accepting the Catholic doctrine.”
Burke said that the German synod is using the Church to promote an agenda rather than to preach the Gospel:
These are human inventions, human ideologies that are being pushed and the Church is being used. And what it does is it renders the Church then into some kind of a human agency, almost like a government agency that’s being manipulated to foster certain programs and certain agenda. And so we need to wake up to what is happening.
Bishop Joseph Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler, TX has also denounced the synod’s actions in a tweet:
The president of every Bishop’s Conference around the world should denounce the schismatic vote of the 38 German bishops who have voted to bless same sex unions. We must speak out and call them to return to Catholic teaching. They have hardened their hearts to the Truth.
The former communications director for the Diocese of Bauchi, Nigeria, Fr. Justine John Dyikuk, was asked in an interview by Crux if the African synod would follow suit to the German bishops.
“I am optimistic that Africa will not buy into such cheap proposals,” Dyikuk responded, adding: “Simply put, going the way of the German synod is going against the tenets of sacred scripture, sacred tradition and magisterial teachings.”
