Aberrosexual Bishop Sent to Austrian Monastery to Clean Up

Klosterneuburg has been waiting for the election of a new provost and abbot for two years. In between, a papal delegate managed the cloister and was charged with investigating allegations of sexual abuse and cover-ups. There are now doubts that the investigation really went properly on all points.

(Vienna) The Canadian news site LifeSiteNews raises serious allegations of homosexuality related to the investigations into sexual abuse in the Augustinian monastery in Klosterneuburg near Vienna. The allegations by Maike Hickson and editor-in-chief John Henry Westen concern how the monastery management dealt with the allegations of abuse, but also the Roman investigation of the same. Today 41 canons live in Klosterneuburg, which was founded in 1114. The Augustinian monastery is one of the richest monasteries in the world.

The allegations of abuse concern two former members of the house, one dismissed and the other deceased. The allegations of cover-up, however, concern the former provost of the monastery and the Roman delegate.

In 2017, reports of sexual abuse at the cloister had surfaced, sparking a major media frenzy. The monastery reacted confidently and seemed to be able to clear up all the allegations. But was that really the case? LifeSiteNews has since cast doubt on the account.

The Veix case

The allegations concerned Canon W. Veix, who in 1993 had put a 13-year-old altar boy under the influence of alcohol and sexually abused him. The abbey reacted immediately: WV was asked to leave the order. He agreed and left the monastery within six days. A canonical expulsion procedure would have taken a longer period of time. Rome was asked to dispense the vows and informed of the serious incident. "Until he left the cloister, which must be done by order from Rome, the monastery was obliged by canon law to support him and removed him from the monastery to an apartment in Vienna. This responsibility ended when he left in 1994,” the monastery announced in a 2017 a public press release.

The matter becomes controversial from this moment on. WV was ordained a priest in the Romanian diocese of Oradea (Oradea) in 1996 and then became active again in the German-speaking regions. Among other things, he received a parish in the Federal Republic of Germany, where he molested an even younger victim, which ultimately led to his laicization.

At the time of the incident in Klosterneuburg, Canon Bernhard Backovsky was master of novices. In 1995 he was elected the 66th provost and 17th Lateran abbot of the monastery. It was a post he held until 2020. From 2002 to 2017 Propst Backovsky was also Abbot General of the Austrian Congregation and from 2010 to 2016 Abbot Primate of the International Confederation of Augustinian Canons.

In 2017, the spokesman for the monastery publicly announced:

“The monastery knew nothing of his ordination by the bishop of Oradea. We were not contacted either. It should be noted that the novice master at the time and today's general abbot, provost Bernhard Backovsky, made no effort whatsoever to enable Mr. Veix to be ordained a priest in any way. If the Diocese of Oradea had asked Klosterneuburg Abbey, Mr. Veix would never have been ordained a priest. Neither the diocese of Basel nor the diocese of Würzburg made an inquiry in the monastery regarding Veix. Since the monastery knew just as little about this priestly ordination as it did about his employment in Basel and Würzburg, the monastery had no opportunity to warn the dioceses of Basel and Würzburg."

 WV reported the monastery to the ecclesiastical authority in Rome, which is the Congregation of Religious. At the request of the boy's mother, the boy's mother waived a complaint before secular jurisdiction "so as not to further incriminate her child and to prevent the abuse from becoming public knowledge. However, it should definitely be ensured that Mr. Veix is removed from the monastery, which was done within 6 days with all the consequences of canon law.”

LifeSiteNews accuses Provost Backovsky of having witnesses who testified that he actually helped WV get ordained a priest in Romania. The suspicion soon arose that VW could not have succeeded in being admitted to priestly ordination so quickly without support. If so, Backovsky would have been complicit if WV, endowed with the office and reputation of a priest, was able to abuse other boys. But why should the provost have done that? An eyewitness, according to LifeSiteNews, testified that WV once boasted to him that he had "Backovsky and his brother in his pocket". And he added that Provost Backovsky was "my reinsurance".

The Rohrig case

The second case weighs more heavily. It concerns the Canon P. Floridus Röhrig, who died in 2014 and was a church historian professor at the University of Vienna and one of the most prominent members of the abbey. As such, he has received numerous honors. "As a person and as a priest, however, he seems to have lived a very different life," according to LifeSiteNews. The Canadian news site was able to speak to one of his victims, PR [a pseudonym as the victim wishes to remain anonymous], who, aged just 13, had been “repeatedly subjected to the most severe sexual abuse. He and his older brother both stated that Dr. Floridus," according to LifeSiteNews.

The former novice of the monastery and today's pastor in Hamburg, Michael Imlau, became the key witness against P. Floridus Röhrig and Provost Backovsky. He himself became a victim of the progressive members of the cloister, as he says himself, and in order not to endanger their influence in the house, he was removed from the monastery.

Michael Imlau revealed in 2019 that Röhrig had a reputation for being "Lower Austria's biggest child molester" in the cloister. He himself, he told LifeSiteNews, had witnessed evening tales from Röhrig as he was drunk recounting "his strange adventures in London" - and Röhrig was often drunk in the evenings. An older canon, who wanted to protect others from Röhrig, yelled at him one day in front of other canons that he should stay away from a young canon: "You bastard, keep your disgusting hands off X!" The young man did not know what the invitation was Röhrigs to accompany him would entail. According to Imlau. None of the canons present would have defended Röhrig. According to Imlau, they were silent.

As a spiritual assistant, Röhrig was responsible for scouts in the region and, according to Imlau, regularly took the boys with him on “cultural trips”. Both PR and his brother testified that Rohrig took them to nudist beaches where he took pictures of the boys naked. According to Imlau, the drunk Röhrig once showed two of his confreres some of these photos.

According to Imlau, Provost Backovsky remained inactive in the Röhrig case, which is why he was able to continue his activities and die as a member of the community.

The Roman Inquiry

The incidents that became known prompted the Roman Congregation of Religious to send a papal delegate to Klosterneuburg, who took over the management of the cloister after the resignation of Provost Backovsky for health reasons and had the task of investigating the cases of sexual abuse and possible misconduct by Provost Backovsky in dealing with the allegations. There was an accusation of cover-up. The investigation was recently completed. Was it really? LifeSiteNews also expresses doubts about this.

Whether Provost Backovsky resigned voluntarily in May 2020 remains to be seen. He had headed the monastery for 25 years. In the summer of that year, however, the house was visited by the Vatican, which resulted in the appointment of a papal delegate. From this it becomes clear that there were things that needed to be dealt with.

In November 2020, the Vatican appointed Bishop Josef Clemens, former secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, as papal delegate for the monastery. He would be in charge of the investigation. To do this, he in turn commissioned an external expert.

What did the investigations of the papal delegate reveal? 

He established sexual misconduct by members and former members of the monastery and failures in preventing or subsequently processing cases of abuse on the part of the monastery management at the time. Therefore, the emeritus provost Bernhard Backovsky was given a canonical monitio ( admonition). The reasons for this admonition remained vaguely formulated. The identified “deficiencies” were not named. Nor was it said whether Rohrig was guilty. Rather, the old abbot was given space to apologize for his behavior.

Msgr. Clemens also stated that "the investigation, as recommended by the Holy See, is closed" and it is now important "to look to the future and to make a new beginning". Former provost Backovsky was ordered to stay away from the monastery "for a reasonable time" as a punishment. However, according to LifeSiteNews, he may already have returned to the cloister.

an incident

In November 2021 there was an incident that called into question the work of the papal delegate. On the feast of St. Leopold, the founder of the monastery, he quoted in the sermon from a scientific work about the Austrian Margrave Leopold III. the saint of the late Canon Röhrig, whose misconduct he had to investigate. He not only quoted Röhrig in the footnotes but also mentioned him by name in his sermon.

The waves grew rough and still haven't calmed down. Victims and their defenders saw themselves betrayed. You spoke of a "provocation" that opened up new wounds. Ironically, the "child molester no. 1 of the monastery", according to Johannes Heibel from a victim support association, was honored. How was Bishop Clemens able to put a perpetrator in the foreground?

Life SiteNews interviewed the bishop and now former papal delegate. Until the election of the 67th Provost and 18th Lateran Abbot, provost Maximilian Fürnsinn of Herzogenburg Abbey will be the administrator of Klosterneuburg Abbey.

Questioned by LifeSiteNews, Bishop Clemens admitted a lack of sensitivity, which he would have been better off avoiding. However, he defended his actions by quoting from a scientific work that was to be seen independently of the author's person. Proper citation and the corresponding reference are academic standards. Röhrig was only mentioned directly because Clemens used his translation of a Latin quotation. In no way can a justification for Röhrig's misconduct be read from this.

LifeSiteNews also asked Bischofs Clemens if Röhrig was found guilty, but received no real answer. The bishop referred to the procedure used.

Wasn't transparency part of the mission of the papal delegate? This impression was reinforced for LifeSiteNews when it learned on May 15 from Rev. Michael Imlau that he and another priest had met with Msgr. Clemens to lament the non-hearing of two key witnesses. However, the papal delegate declared the case closed. [Haughtily and legalistically]

The bishop made it clear to Pastor Imlau that at the time there was silence on the Röhrig case "to avert damage to the Church". That is legitimate, but today it is seen as an own goal since the Church urgently needs to deal with the sexual scandals, which according to the Polish professor and priest Dariusz Oko are above all the problem of a "homo-heresy".

Bishop Clemens indicated twice that now the suspicion of Pastor Imlau and Johannes Heibel is directed against himself that he had participated in a cover-up. "By not fully informing the public, he fits seamlessly into the ranks of the cover-up," Heibel is quoted as saying to LifeSiteNews.

Papal delegate under criticism

LifeSiteNews goes further, questioning Bishop Clement's appointment as papal delegate a speaking of a "controversial personal history." Clemens, a priest of the Bishop of Paderborn, received his doctorate in moral theology in 1983. He then served for twenty years as personal secretary to Joseph Ratzinger, then Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed him, apparently at the suggestion of Cardinal Ratzinger, undersecretary of the Congregation of Religious, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and titular bishop of Segermes. Cardinal Ratzinger consecrated him as a bishop on January 6, 2004 in St. Peter's Basilica.

As Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former Apostolic Nuncio to the US, revealed to LifeSite, the usual Vatican scrutiny before appointment as a bishop raised strong suspicions that Clement was an active homosexual. Because of his duties at the time, he himself was involved in this review.
According to Archbishop Viganò, it was the then Apostolic Nuncio in the Federal Republic of Germany, Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, who informed him of these "strong suspicions" in an official capacity. According to Viganò, Cardinal Ratzinger was then warned against Clemens' homosexuality. He nevertheless supported the bishop's appointment of his former secretary.

Viganò's assessment of a possible appointment of Clemens as a bishop was therefore "negative". Clemens was nevertheless appointed and ordained bishop. In the past, when he became Pope Francis' prosecutor in connection with former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in the USA, the former Apostolic Nuncio had spoken of homosexual cliques in the church that would cover each other and ensure promotions.

LifeSiteNews also notes that, according to a "reliable source," Cardinal Ratzinger approached then-Archbishop Joachim Cardinal Meisner of Cologne to see if he would accept Clemens into his diocese. The exact context of this statement is unclear, since neither the time is mentioned nor is it said whether this request was intended instead of an appointment as a bishop or whether Clemens was to be chosen auxiliary bishop of Cologne.

According to LifeSiteNews, however, the answer from Cologne given by Cardinal Meisner is certain: "I can confirm," according to the anonymous source, "that Cardinal Meisner told us that he refused Ratzinger's request to accept Clemens in Cologne, namely with the words: 'No, because of homosexuality'. He [Meisner] also wanted to offer Clemens therapy, which he refused.”

LifeSiteNews also cites another source, this time Roman: "The fact that Josef Clemens was and is an active homosexual is well known among us here in Rome."

According to Archbishop Viganò, "there was quite a dispute between Gänswein and Clemens" when Cardinal Ratzinger elected today's Archbishop Georg Gänswein as his new secretary.

LifeSiteNews confronted Bishop Clemens with the statements, which he categorically rejected. Claims that he is a practicing homosexual are "an untruth". He has no knowledge of Archbishop Viganò's claims and his appeal to Cardinal Lajolo: 

"With these clear and unequivocal answers, I consider the matter closed."

Inquiries from LifeSiteNews to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the Vatican Press Office and Cardinal Lajolo, now 87, went unanswered.

LifeSiteNews isn't very happy with the whole thing. They insinuate that the Vatican may have deliberately appointed a papal delegate who is himself "strongly suspected" of being an active homosexual, and concludes the report by saying:

“Is this how the Vatican is dealing with the plight of victims of sexual abuse in Klosterneuburg following assurances from Pope Francis that sexual abuse and the cover-up of sexual abuse are now being handled differently?”

 

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image : Wikicommons

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Bergoglio Wants Men of the West to Surrender

Edit: Of course, a south of the border type with militant Marxist attitudes, like Bergoglio, will disapprove of free men being armed, but this Pope is hardly disinterested. Rather than representing the Church founded by Jesus Christ, this evil man seems desirous to style himself as a kind of celebrity spiritual leader of the Globohomo with its schemes to destroy the West and enslave the human race. It’s a little hard to understand why a man, even an Ersatz Bishop, whose life is defended by men who carry guns, would want to deprive others of the right of self-defense.

Actually, if Bergoglio agrees to dismiss the Swiss Guards and forbid any security detail protecting him from carrying guns, he might be credible.

Rather than admitting this clear conflict of interest, Bergoglio adds his two cents in a conflict that is calculated to disadvantage free men in the United States. Why doesn’t he spend more time protecting victims or human trafficking in Mexico or the victims of abortion numbering in the millions and leading to an ever darker and more economically disadvantaged world. His indifference to the welfare of workers and the unborn isn’t all, he doesn’t care about the victims of priests and bishops he protects. 

Rather than protecting the law abiding people of Western countries from being swamped by lawless murderous immigrants, Bergoglio encourages their lawless rampage. So his school shooter, Salvador Ramos,  surely must be one of Bergoglio’s immigrants, no?   Allegedly, he was born in Fargo, North Dakota, but it’s very likely his parents and grandparents are themselves immigrants.

[Georgia Public Broadcasting] I am praying for the children and adults who were killed, and for their families," Pope Francis said in his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. 

The pope said it's time for new limits on the sale of guns. Pope Francis says that his heart is broken over the mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, and that the U.S. must act to prevent the spread of guns. 

“I am praying for the children and adults who were killed, and for their families. It is time to say enough to the indiscriminate trafficking of arms," Francis said on Wednesday, during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. In the attack, 19 students and two adults died. The 18-year-old gunman, who lived in Uvalde, reportedly bought at least two semi-automatic rifles after his most recent birthday.

AMDG

“Zeit”: Bishop of Limburg Promotes Priest Despite Credible Accusations of Sexual Misconduct

A Protestant pastor in training and a Catholic community administrator in training have made sex abuse allegations that the diocese has already classified as “credible”: Bätzing spoke out against the priest “formally reprimanding” him but promoted him anyway

Limburg (kath.net) The Bishop of Limburg, Georg Bätzing, appointed the man he had warned of molesting two women as regional dean.  The diocese confirmed both the allegations against the man and his promotion.  This was reported by the "Zeit" and the "Spiegel".  Bätzing had given the man a "formal reprimand".  Two women have accused the priest of both verbally and sexually harassing them.  According to "Zeit", the priest verbally and physically sexually harassed a female Protestant pastor who was still in training in 2000, and the diocese considers the allegations to be credible.  Another female parish administrator, who was also still in training, is said to have molested this pastor around 2006/2007”.  The reports of both women are the "Zeit" before.

Nevertheless, this priest was promoted to regional  dean – even AFTER the bishop had issued a “formal reprimand”.  The "Spiegel" cites from the justification by the press office of the diocese of Limburg: "Also because it was not a matter of criminal behavior, the pastor had insight and remorse and he had apologized to the community administrator for his behavior, the bishop then appointed him to the office of regional dean.”

Bishop Bätzing has been the President of the German Catholic Bishops' Conference (DBK) since March 2020.

 Archive photo Bishop Bätzing (c) Diocese of Limburg

AMDG

Homily by Cardinal Gerhard Müller at the Eucharistic Adoration for Life

Two days before this year's March for Life in Rome, the Eucharistic Adoration for Life took place, at which Cardinal Gerhard Müller preached a homily.

On the occasion of the Eucharistic Adoration for Life, which takes place every year just before the anniversary of the passage of the infamous law 194 that allowed abortion in Italy on May 22, 1978, Cardinal Gerhard Müller presided over the solemn ceremony in the Roman parish of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. 

This year's March for Life in Rome took place on May 22nd. Cardinal Müller delivered a sermon which we reproduce below:

Recently, the Holy Father has pointed out the drastic demographic decline that threatens the future of Europe and America, and it is not just a question of mere utilitarian thinking so that business and government can continue with future consumers, customers and taxpayers. The reason for this question is theological in nature:

“Man is the only creature that God willed for himself” (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes , 24), for every human being is predestined by God (as far as his present existence on earth is concerned) “in beings and form of his Son, that he may be the firstborn of many brethren" (Romans 8:29).

Every human being is embraced by God's salvific will from the moment of conception to the moment of his last breath. Therefore, any act of injustice against the life and integrity of another human being, especially the killing of a child in the womb (or even in the test tube [in vitro] or incubator) is a “despicable crime” ( Gaudium et Spes, 51). For life is sacred and protected by God Himself, as the fifth commandment of the Decalogue states: 

"Thou shalt not kill" (Deut 5:17).

The legal order in all societies and states is aimed at human coexistence on the basis of morality; Morality means directing our actions towards good, based on the recognition of the fundamental dignity and rights of human beings, inherent in their nature and guaranteed by God. As human beings and Christians, we are convinced that the real (and not just abstractly theorized) physical man never exists as a purpose and instrument for something else or for the interests of others. This is the basis of our image of man and the criterion of all ethics.

On the other hand, the opposite of this is the starting point of all crimes against humanity and cynical contempt for human beings, with which Josef Stalin declared that Gulag prisoners only had a right to life because they were useful for the construction of the White Sea Canal. One Heinrich Himmler, commander of the notorious SS, said of his boss Hitler that he was "interested in the lives of a thousand Russian women only until they have dug an anti-tank trench for the Wehrmacht". And these are just two particularly drastic examples of the depths of human contempt in the political ideologies of a not too distant time. If one believes that there is overpopulation on our planet that consumes resources or negatively affects the climate, one cannot, however, propagate and justify the killing of life in the womb without revealing oneself as a diabolical misanthrope. Pope Francis, to whom some proponents of “reproductive health” (ie, abortion) invoke, says this in a very blunt way.

The materialists in power in the Western capitalist states and international organizations, as well as the communist dictators in China and its allied states, reject the doctrine of the creation of man in the image of God because they do not believe in God as believe our Creator and Judge. On the contrary, they claim to put themselves in the place of God and in their foolish arrogance are not even able to defeat the tiny coronavirus. Someone recently said: The oligarchs in Russia are mafiosi and in the West they call themselves philanthropists, so beware of those who pose as the saviors of humanity when they are only pursuing their own interests.

While the pandemic crisis and the measures taken to combat it have left millions of people in hardship and poverty, the world's ten richest people have simultaneously added hundreds of billions to their fortunes.

The dominant ideological current in politics, economy and communication thinks in a Darwinian-socialist perspective. This means that whoever asserts himself in the struggle for power, money and propaganda also has the law on his side, which is why only the powerful have the right to determine who is allowed to live and who must die based on their interests. They claim to determine which life is worth living and which life is not. Others even consider it a higher form of humanity to guarantee life only if born healthy, while it must be eliminated if born ill or in old age, in order to avoid present and future suffering. Or in the case of multiple pregnancies, only the child that the parents like according to their needs and preferences should survive; for example, China implemented the brutal and inhumane one-child policy for decades and forced women to kill their children. But whoever thinks in terms of the fundamental rights inscribed in man's spiritual and moral nature, or who invokes revelation in the Word of God as the ultimate criterion for man's image, can never find a just reason for killing an innocent human being.

We are in a “war against the saints” ( Rev 13:7), not only in the inhumane war against the Ukrainian people but also in the West, which is radically denying its Christian roots. Behind those responsible for all the suffering is “the beast that came up out of the earth', the epitome of wickedness and ungodliness unleashed by the life and death struggle of God's followers and against Christ the Lamb of God. Anyone who takes a pro-life position in Europe or America today is insulted, persecuted, discriminated against and marginalized. US Supreme Court justices who oppose abortion rights face death threats and their families' safety is threatened. Mobs fueled by the neo-Marxist media are burning Catholic churches in a country that prides itself on freedom of religion, expression and conscience. In Germany, as in all of Europe, where a campaign of annihilation against life, marriage and the family is underway,

In the pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council addressed not only believers in Christ, but all people, as Magna Carta Pro Vita on the basis of inalienable human rights:

“Furthermore, which is contrary to life itself, like every kind of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, and also voluntary suicide; whatever violates the sanctity of the human person, such as mutilation, physical or mental torture, and attempts at psychological coercion; whateverI offends human dignity, such as inhumane living conditions, arbitrary detention, deportation, slavery, prostitution, trafficking in women and young people, then also substandard working conditions in which the worker is treated as a mere means of subsistence and not as a free and responsible person: all these and other similar acts are in themselves a disgrace; they are a decomposition of human culture, degrade those who do wrong far more than those who suffer it. At the same time, they are supremely contrary to the Creator's honor” (Gaudium et Spes, 27).

In this hour of struggle for life and against death in the unborn, for the dignity of the seriously ill, but also for those at risk of suicide, if one wants to convince them that death (disguised as mercy) is their right, we Christians must remind them:

"Open your mouth for the sake of the mute, for the rights of all who are weak" (Proverbs 31:8).

 

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image : Corrispondenza Romana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Synodality -- A Codeword Under the Magnifying Glass

Jesuit General Pedro Arrupe, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini and Pope Francis, a way to "complete" Vatican II.

(Rome) “Synodality” is a keyword of Pope Francis' pontificate.  At first, even inveterate Vaticanists thought it was a lapse when the new pope used this hitherto unknown word.  Even the Vatican press office believed he meant “collegiality,” a term not found in any document of Vatican II but which became a progressive code word in the post-Conciliar period.  However, Francis stuck to his neologism.  Only after a delay did the Catholic world begin to realize that the Argentine Pope was referring to far-reaching changes intended to give the Church a “new face”.

Katholisches.info wrote in November 2018: "From Martini's collegiality to Bergoglio's synodality".  In fact, there is an inner connection.  The two terms are in line, the latter, however, as a further development of the former.

From Martini's collegiality to Bergoglio's synodality

Collegiality was a key word of Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini (1927-2012), Archbishop of Milan from 1979 to 2002, President of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences and a Jesuit like Bergoglio.  For almost 20 years, Martini was the spiritus rector of the secret group of Sankt Gallen, an association of the highest progressive churchmen to sabotage the pontificate of John Paul II and install a successor they liked.  The extended arm of this group became active in 2013 as Team Bergoglio.  Next August 31st marks the tenth anniversary of Martini's death.  It was he who vigorously called for the immediate resignation of Benedict XVI. behind closed doors in June 2012.  A few months later when Martini had died in the meantime, the German Pope, actually and surprisingly did exactly that.

In the 2005 conclave, Martini himself had hopes for the papal throne, but had to recognize his hopelessness for this cause.  He then brought Cardinal Bergoglio into play to at least prevent the election of Benedict XVI.

Martini and Bergoglio, although both members of the Society of Jesus, did not really see each other, mainly for personal reasons.  Martini came from a completely different social environment and was intellectually superior to the Argentine - and was himself convinced of it.  However, both had one thing in common: They had been protégés of the same man, Jesuit General Pedro Arrupe, who led the order from 1965 to 1981/83 and revolutionized it to his detriment.

Martini was the declared opponent of two popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI.  The cardinal already saw himself in the antechamber to the papal throne, which is why, in a coquettish play on words, he did not describe himself as anti-pope, but as ante-pope.  The allusion was explicit nonetheless.  Although Martini did not make it to the papacy in 2005, his self-assessment proved to be true, albeit in a slightly different sense: he became the ante-pope, the one who preceded the pope of his election.  A few months after his death, this wish was granted in the 2013 conclave.  Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian bishops, headlined three days ago, May 17, that Martini "anticipated Pope Francis".  In fact, it was Martini who was the first to say that God was "not Catholic."  On this point, too, in his first, spectacular interview with Eugenio Scalfari for La Repubblica in autumn 2013, Francis was already following a predetermined path.

Synodality is taking shape

In the fall of 2014, “synodality” began to take shape with the first Family Synod taking place.  It quickly became apparent that the wind had turned.  The rules of the Synod have been changed.  The Pope emphasized “free speech”.  But that was only a sham for the public.  In reality, what only few noticed, the synod was trimmed down to the last detail by the papal direction for a specific result.  Opposing opinions were obstructed and hidden from the outside world.

Was that the "synodality" Francis meant?  Just an optical illusion, but in reality a well-crafted instrument of power to enforce his line?  Observers of Church events tried to understand.  But Francis is rooted in leftist thinking because of his formation through people and ideas.  It is therefore about structural changes.

On September 18, 2018, the Vatican published the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis Communio signed by Francis three days earlier.  A document of almost explosive scope, which, however, received little attention and has not yet been applied.  So far, the synod of bishops introduced in 1965 by Pope Paul VI.  was only advisory in character.  Since Episcopalis Communio, they can also have magisterial authority.  Pope Francis stated in article 18 of the new constitution regarding the final report of the synod:

 "If expressly approved by the Pope, the final document is part of the ordinary magisterium of the successor of Peter."

 “Should the Pope give the synodal assembly decision-making authority in accordance with can.  343 of the Code of Canon Law, the final document, once ratified and promulgated by him, is part of the ordinary magisterium of the successor of Peter.”

The approach is reminiscent of the EU as revealed by then EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker:

 “We decide something, then put it out there and wait a while to see what happens.  If there is no big shouting and no riots because most people do not understand what has been decided, then we will continue - step by step until there is no turning back."

An advisory body became (if necessary) a decision-making body.  At the same time, Pope Francis stressed suspiciously often that he didn't want to change anything, just initiate processes - albeit irreversible ones if possible.

In this sense, Episcopalis Communio  became a legal norm in reserve, for the right moment.  It can be applied at any time.

The next step

Meanwhile, on March 19, 2022, the next step was taken with the Apostolic Constitution, Praedicare Evangelium.  In the course of the reorganization of the Roman Curia and the associated redistribution of responsibilities, two words have been omitted.  A little thing that is easy to overlook at first glance – a supposed little thing.  This constitution, with which the curial reform was implemented, which Francis had declared to be one of the main concerns of his pontificate and which had been demanded for years and decades, above all by progressive Church circles, ultimately went down almost “modestly” on the stage.  But the devil is known to be in the details.  Who likes to read laws and rules of procedure?  In addition, this central constitution for the reorganization of the Roman Curia is only available in Italian to this day.

The change?  Instead of the "synod of bishops", as it was called in the Italian documents, Praedicare Evaelium only speaks of "synod".  This opened the way to an undefined, broader understanding of the synod, which is completely foreign to the Orthodox Church and has hitherto been in the Catholic Church.  With exceptions.  In the German-speaking world, experiments were carried out in the 1970s in the sense of a Protestant synod understanding, above all the Würzburg Synod 1971-1975, which were then stopped by John Paul II.  With the "Synodal Path", the German Bishops' Conference is making another attempt, with the expected catastrophic consequences.

The difference?  Not only do bishops meet and are entitled to vote, but also lay people.  The Protestant understanding of "assembly" is carried over to the leadership level of the Church.

This coincides with another, no less drastic innovation by Praedicare Evangelium.  Authority no longer derives from the consecration of a bishop, but from the missio canonica, the ecclesiastical commission.  This is a double axis shift, down and sideways.  Every priest, every theology professor and every religion teacher is equipped with one.  Everyone can also lead the highest curia office and everyone can participate in synods and be entitled to vote.

Both changes show the intention of reorganizing the hierarchical constitution of the Church in the sense of Protestant and democratic elements.  However, this affects the nature of the Church.  According to the zeitgeist, everything has to be inclusive.

 The "Synodal Church"

If the Church is "synodal" - Francis repeatedly spoke of a "synodal church" - then this implies that the synod is the central element of that church.  Initially, some thought that Francis wanted to weaken the papacy in favor of a collegial governing body of bishops like the Holy Synod known to the Orthodox Church.  However, Francis thinks far beyond that.

In papal circles, synodality was already defined as a state of "permanent synod".  The power of governance would pass to a permanent synod, which would be a kind of inclusive parliament, using Episcopalis Communio.  This idea of ​​a "permanent synod" also goes back to Cardinal Martini, to which Cardinal Michael Czerny, also a Jesuit and close confidante of Pope Francis, referred with satisfaction on Monday in Milan.  The occasion was the presentation of Martini's collected works, which are published by the Bompiani publishing house of the foundation named after Martini.

In April 2019, Francis was supported by the Council of Cardinals he created to introduce “synodality” at all levels and admit women to all positions of leadership.  This practice of gender equality hides the fact that the question is not about women or men, but about clerics or lay people and about bishops or non-bishops.  The noticeable suppression of the sacrament of Holy Orders and the ministry of Peter under Francis shines through.  The latter seems paradoxical, since Francis' rule is more authoritarian than any of his immediate predecessors.

Francis goes the way there by convening ordinary and extraordinary synods, double synods, preliminary synods, recommending state synods and also multi-year synods, such as the bishops’ synod on synodality, the so-called “synod synod”, which lasts until 2023.

The synod as a workshop for experiments

It is known that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, prior to his election as Pope, was displeased with Roman interventions, corrections, additions and deletions in synodal documents.  Some suspect that he therefore resorted to the unusual means of having all paragraphs of the working paper published, including those that did not win a two-thirds majority.  All were published at his behest, along with the respective voting results.  An approach that was not without criticism, as some recognized the promotion of a polarization that contradicts the synod principle of community and unity practiced up to now.

The polarization was exacerbated by Francis with the convening of the Amazon Synod, which took place in October 2019, and the circumstances in which it came about and its one-sided, little-confidence-inspiring preparation.  Overall, at no point was the Amazon Synod geared toward consensus, but rather a largely one-sided event by a particular segment of the Church.  The accusation was therefore voiced early on that the synod was not intended to solve problems at all, but to promote a certain progressive agenda.

Francis pulled the handbrake at the last moment.  How this came about is not entirely clear.  The fact is that Cardinal Robert Sarah, together with Benedict XVI.  published a plea for celibacy and the priesthood, to the great annoyance of Santa Marta.  After Francis had nurtured expectations in the above-mentioned circles for years to abolish celibacy for priests and to open the priesthood to lay people, especially women, a bitter disappointment followed for them.  Approval for his pontificate has continued to decline since then.

It became clear to everyone that synodality is actually not a synonym for collegiality, that Pope Francis rather regards synodality as a workshop for experiments, even at the expense of collegiality.  In doing so, he pays close attention to sounding out how far he can go without exposing himself to great resistance and even more serious accusations of heterodoxy.  Francis acts deliberately and strategically.

However, his person is to be distinguished from the structural changes that he undertook through the two constitutions Epicopalis Communio and Praedicare Evangelium.  A successor could see things differently and apply the possibilities opened up by Francis more radically.  The conditions for this were created by the Argentine Pope.

Synod final report without vote and German special way

Speaking of a two-thirds majority: So far, in the case of synods of bishops, which are a product of the Second Vatican Council and take place every three years, that is only forwarded to the pope for his post-synodal letter that can be based on the approval of at least two-thirds of the synod fathers, has been the rule.  The completely different practice of Francis is not without consequences.  Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops since 2020, demanded that the final document of the Synod of Bishops should come about according to new rules, i.e. without a final vote.  All paragraphs should be sent to the bishops' conferences, whose amendments will be obtained and only then published.

Cardinal Grech was previously Bishop of Gozo (Malta) and a particularly ardent supporter of Pope Francis.  He made a name for himself in Santa Marta in 2016 with the implementation of the controversial post-synodal document Amoris Laetitia.

And as on other points, Francis' pontificate means support for the German "Sonderweg" [German Special Way].  It is no coincidence that two of the four cardinals of the so-called Bergoglio team, which organized his election to the papacy, came from the Federal Republic of Germany.  It appears that there was agreement among them on the essential points in the run-up to the conclave.  In all steps taken by the majority of the German Bishops' Conference in the direction of their "revolution", they use doors that Francis previously opened, whether to the homosexual agenda, intercommunion or "synodality".

 That is exactly what Francis wants.  He initiates and expects others to pass the ball on.  But he wants to keep control of the game, which is a trait of his character.  In this respect, things do not always run smoothly between him and the German progressives, who have a firm stranglehold on the Church in the German-speaking world.

 The “synodal path” in Germany, like the state synods in Ireland and Australia, go back to Francis.  In Italy, the pope even loudly called for a synod in March 2019 because he was dissatisfied with developments.

He opened Pandora's box and initiated a "trial" with unforeseeable consequences because each of these Bergoglian synods represents a potential threat to the unity of the Church, the German one in particular. 

And as always, Francis is holding back, hardly appears to the outside world and does not interfere.  This is based on a Hegelian principle.

The same path leads from Martini's collegiality to Bergoglio's synodality.  It is about the "completion" of the Second Vatican Council, as implemented by the Jesuits in the spirit of Pedro Arrupe.

 Cardinal Michael Czerny SJ put it this way on May 16:

 “Cardinal Martini was a prophet.  His visions foreshadowed avenues in the Church.”

It is Pope Francis who is walking these paths.  Martini, Czerny, "did what the Council demanded of him".

 Text: Giuseppe Nardi

 Image: Wikicommons/MiL

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG