Do you remember that a large number of priests in the UK signed a letter asking the members of the Synod to affirm Catholic doctrine?
That sounds so strange to me as I read back in the head what I just wrote. To what point have we arrived where such request even has to be contemplated, much less acted upon with concrete initiatives?
From Ed Pentin at the National Catholic Register:
STATEMENT OF THE BRITISH CONFRATERNITY OF CATHOLIC CLERGY
Feast of Ss Simon & Jude, Apostles Wednesday 28th October 2015
The British Province of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, at our Annual Colloquium, in St Edmund’s College, Ware, expresses gratitude to the Fathers of the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod on “the Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and in the contemporary world”, for affirming, in a climate of challenge and confusion, Christ’s unchanging teachings and the Church’s constant doctrine regarding marriage, the family, and the true meaning and purpose of human sexuality. We particularly appreciate their upholding the importance of the family as the foundation of civilisation, confirming marriage as an indissoluble union between one man and one woman, affirming the teaching of Humanae Vitae on the essential procreative nature of the marriage act, and the brave refusal to accept the ideological colonization of those who promote same-sex unions. We are certain that thus remaining in the truth of Christ will bear great fruit for the Church and for souls.
We continue to pledge ourselves to proclaim the beauty of marital love, of supporting faithful families in their courageous witness, and in encouraging and accompanying those who have been wounded by our broken culture, to be healed and made strong again in Christ.
We recognise the special concern shown by the Synod Fathers for the divorced and civilly remarried. We pledge ourselves to minister to those in this situation, according to the mind of Christ, and the Law of his Gospel. As pastors, we strive to help them discern the will of God in their lives, as the Synod has recalled: ‘this discernment can never be detached from the exigencies of truth and the charity of the Gospel proposed by the Church’. The discipline of the Sacraments, especially the Most Holy Eucharist, must faithfully reflect the Church’s solemn doctrinal teaching. We express relief that the Synod Fathers did not heed attempts to separate doctrine from sacramental and pastoral practice.
Finally, in ministering to all the families and individuals entrusted to our care, we note the special value of the magisterium of Pope St John Paul II, and, in particular, his Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio. We remain committed to the great work of being joyful Ministers of God’s Mercy, and pledge ourselves to faithfully follow the bold but gentle example of the Good Shepherd who never abandons His sheep.
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Father Z,
I request you reflect and write a note on the formation of a proper Catholic conscience, and the role of discernment in this process. These terms appear to me to have no consistent meaning in recent the writings of various Bishops. HELP and THANKS!
Bishop Athanasius Schneider wrote essentially the same thing (although at much greater length and with a lot of citations from the Fathers) and it was pretty clear that he thought we’re close to a tipping point when the only good thing you can say is that the Synod did not overtly reject 2000 years of Catholic doctrine. He mentioned that during the Trinitarian crises of the early Church, the heretics spent a lot of time fashioning phrases that would let them deny doctrine by confusing it and emptying it of meaning without really having to come out and deny it in so many words.