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In his new article “Pope Francis Disappoints Progressives. He Will Do So Again,” Fr. Thomas Reese describes a source of frustration for some papal supporters: the slow pace of change in certain areas of the Church.
From the pope’s “temporary no” to the ordination of married men (Reese’s words) to Francis’s current “no” to the ordination of women deacons, the pope has surprised many by stepping back—more than once—from the precipice of change.
So why do the pope’s maneuvers to change the Church often seem to stall?
Councils and Synods
The way Reese sees it, Pope Francis is sympathetic to progressive voices—but is locked in a dilemma of pacing.
On the one hand, Reese says, “Moving too quickly could blow up the church, as it did with many other denominations.” On the other hand, Reese continues, “Moving too slowly means losing the young.”
To elaborate on this issue, Reese zeros in on a key difference between a council and a synod.
The Second Vatican Council, says Reese, “had a revolutionary impact on the church.” It was a massive gathering involving all the world’s bishops from 1962 to 1965. To be sure, says Reese, “some of the [council’s] texts included ambiguous language each side could interpret as it willed,” moderating the pace of change. Ultimately, however, “reform was set irrevocably in motion.”
A synod, says Reese, “is not a council.” Its sessions are much shorter—and a synod “cannot resolve issues on which the church is divided.”
What is needed in a synodal church, Reese says, is patience.
Martini and Synodality
Ultimately, there was a man in the Church who deeply believed in the power of synodality.
That man was Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini of the St. Gallen mafia, a group of high-ranking churchmen who wanted to liberalize the Church. Every year, starting in the mid-1990s, members would meet at or near St. Gallen, Switzerland to plot a revolution in the Church.
Read the rest: https://onepeterfive.com/new-synodal-working-document-continuing-plan-to-ordain-women/
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