Concerning the Synodal Path, Koch referred to a growing chorus of concern expressed by Church leaders around the world about its call for sweeping changes to the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and other issues.
Koch recalled the “fraternal concern” expressed by the Polish Catholic bishops, the alarm of the Nordic Bishops’ Conference, as well as the recent “fraternal open letter” signed by four cardinals and more than 80 bishops warning that the ongoing process in Germany could undermine the Church’s credibility and lead to schism.
Koch called for a dialogue about “what the Holy Father and what the German bishops each understand by the Synodal Way,” adding these were two distinct meanings.
“I don’t see these as identical. For the pope, synodality is … a spiritual event. That is, he invites us to listen to one another and, in listening to one another, to listen to the Holy Spirit for what he wants to say to us,” Koch explained.
“In Germany, I have the impression that synodality consists in dealing with the structures, something that Pope Francis already urged very energetically in his “Letter to the People of God” in Germany, that it is first and foremost not about structures but spirituality. And secondly, that the synodality on the whole should serve evangelization, as the pope has now also established in the Apostolic Constitution for the Roman Curia.”
Pope Francis addressed Catholics in Germany directly in a historic 28-page letter in 2019. In it, addressing what he called the “erosion” and “decline of the faith” in the country, the pope called on the faithful to convert, pray, and fast — and he urged them to proclaim the Gospel.
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