lifesitenews--2020-02-14--German-speaking Catholics disappointed pope’s Amazon Synod doc not liberal enough

February 13 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — Following the publication of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia , numerous German-speaking bishops , theologians , and Catholic organizations have weighed in on the document .
As LifeSiteNews reported yesterday , Cardinal Reinhard Marx , president of the German bishops ’ conference , emphasized that the apostolic exhortation did not expel the final document of the Amazon Synod , which calls for married priests and new ministries for women .
“ By no means is it off the table with the publication of the exhortation !
Rather , Pope Francis speaks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the final document ’ together with the apostolic letter , and invites us ‘ to read it in full , ’ ” Marx said .
The archbishop of Munich pointed out that in the final document of the synod , a majority of two thirds of the 280 participants who had come to Rome to talk about “ New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology ” in the context of Amazonia , a vast region in South America , “ spoke out in favor of exceptions to mandatory celibacy.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ German Catholics , Thomas Sternberg , accused Pope Francis of not finding “ the courage to implement real reforms regarding the issues of the ordination of married men and the liturgical competences of women , which have been discussed for 50 years.
” Sternberg , who is one of the key organizers of the synodal path in Germany , drew also some encouragement from the apostolic exhortation .
“ He expressly reaffirms again and again his conviction that the Church must become a synodal Church , in which the participation of the laity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the proclamation of the Good News has a central role .
With this message he encourages us , in our church in Germany , to consistently continue the Synodal Path , which we began very successfully in Frankfurt , ” he said of Pope Francis .
According to Sternberg , the pope sees “ the necessity to give our church a contemporary shape , oriented to the different cultural challenges , in order to be able to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people.
” Sternberg described Querida Amazonia as reinforcing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Church , both in terms of access to the priesthood and the participation of women in the services and ministries of the Church.
” “ We are convinced that the Eucharist , as source and summit , must remain possible locally , as Pope Francis reiterates in this letter .
The question of the conditions for admission to the ordained ministry must take second place to this , ” he argued , echoing Cardinal Marx .
Bishop Franz-Joseph Overbeck of Essen , who is also the bishop responsible for Adveniat , a Catholic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ synod , lamented that married priests were not allowed by Pope Francis .
“ I would have wished to the parishes in Amazonia that Pope Francis had followed the decisions of the Amazon Synod and — as a regional solution — had given access to priestly ordination to proven married men ( as so-called viri probati ) from the Amazon region by way of a dispensation , ” the bishop , who has previously shown his openness to female “ priests , ” said .
“ Our relief organization for Latin America , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the training of lay people and religious for pastoral tasks , including the leadership of congregations , ” Overbeck emphasized .
According to Overbeck , Querida Amazonia allows for further discussion on the issues troubling the Amazon region .
“ And this discussion is necessary .
However , it also shows that the Church is already taking big steps regarding her culture of debate .
When I took up my ministry as bishop for Adveniat ten years ago , I could not have imagined such a lively and comprehensive debate covering all areas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of discussion and debate , the bishop of Essen also mentioned the synodal path in Germany , which he considered to be an encouraging sign of the new culture of discussion and awakening .
Similarly , Bishop Gebhard Fürst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart pointed out that the papal document allows for new discussions , even if the ordination of married men to the priesthood had not been mentioned .
“ Bishop Fürst , however , continues to see the diaconate of women as a desirable possibility , for which he will continue to work in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ release stated .
“ In the local church of Rottenburg-Stuttgart we strongly promote equal rights for men and women .
We value the services of women very highly and want to further promote the filling of leadership positions also with lay people , ” the bishop stressed .
Fürst also indicated that his diocese will join the pact of the catacombs .
As LifeSiteNews reported during the Amazon Synod , “ Cardinals and bishops and other participants in the Vatican ’ s Synod on the Amazon have re-enacted a ‘ pact of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ promoters ” at the Second Vatican Council .
“ The group led by Pope Francis ’ chosen head of the synod , Cardinal Claudio Hummes , released the language of the pact pledging to help the ‘ native peoples ’ preserve their ‘ spiritualities , ’ ” the report continued .
A Catholic women ’ s organization in Germany ( kfd ) , which has about 450,000 members , called the apostolic exhortation “ a devastating result for any woman who had hoped for equal rights within the Catholic Church.
” “ After @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the synod , this is deeply bewildering .
On the one hand , women ’ s work and commitment are praised .
At the same time , women are accused of lusting for power because they ask for an official acknowledgment of these praised charisms , ” the organization declared .
“ Women express their commitment rooted in the deep conviction that God has created humans equal and with equal rights , ” the statement continued .
It can not be supported “ that the Church keeps denying women these rights , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s organization , means degrading human beings based on biology .
Father Hubert Wolf , a professor of Church history in Münster , said it is again the bishops ’ turn to move forward with the issue of married priests , given that Pope Francis did not replace the final document of the Amazon synod with his apostolic exhortation .
According to a report published by katholisch.de , the news website of the German bishops , Wolf “ explained the pope ’ s reluctance with his responsibility for the unity of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ from the reactionary camp.
’ ” “ I doubt , however , that Francis did himself a favor by this maneuvering , which can also be interpreted as weakness , ” the professor mused .
With regard to the role of women in the Church , Wolf maintained that Querida Amazonia is likely “ to be a great disappointment and unacceptable for many women.
” The pope ’ s image of women is hardly communicable today , he said .
In Vienna , Jan-Heiner Tück teaches dogmatic theology at the university .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pope “ decided not to make a decision.
” “ No relaxation of compulsory celibacy , no viri probati , nothing .
He does not reject the final report of the Amazon Synod on this point , but neither does he endorse it .
Francis keeps his word — and disappoints , ” Tück summarizes the document .
As LifeSiteNews reported on Wednesday , both Cardinal Gerhard Müller , the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , and Bishop Marian Eleganti , an auxiliary bishop in Switzerland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ positive light .
Müller called the German bishops to a “ religious about-face , ” given that Pope Francis had refused to allow female “ deacons ” and married priests in the Amazon region .
The German cardinal acknowledged the pope ’ s post-synodal apostolic exhortation in a positive way , calling it a “ pastoral letter of prophetic power.
” In his statement , he maintained that while Querida Amazonia refers to the final document of the Amazon synod , “ the pope does not draw from it any dramatic and disconcerting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ section 101 of the apostolic exhortation .
For Müller , this section states clearly “ that the priest is sacramentally conformed to Christ , the head of the Church , by virtue of ordination .
Therefore , only a man can symbolically and sacramentally represent Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church.
” “ We can only be grateful to Francis for this unusual and unexpected clarity .
It means , once again , a rejection of the priesthood for women .
Francis sees the place of women in ministries ( with effective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that do not require ordination , ” Eleganti agreed .
With many representatives of German-speaking Catholicism arguing that the door has been left open for further discussion on contested issues like female “ deacons ” and married priests , it remains to be seen how the situation develops .
The synodal path will certainly continue looking at celibacy and the role of women , given that two of the four study groups are to focus exactly on those two issues , with the other two studying power and sexual morality .

While Cardinal Reinhard Marx insisted that married priests and female 'deacons' are still open to debate, others called 'Querida Amazonia' a disappointment for not pushing these issues.
February 13, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Following the publication of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia, numerous German-speaking bishops, theologians, and Catholic organizations have weighed in on the document.
As LifeSiteNews reported yesterday, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops’ conference, emphasized that the apostolic exhortation did not expel the final document of the Amazon Synod, which calls for married priests and new ministries for women.
“By no means is it off the table with the publication of the exhortation! Rather, Pope Francis speaks of his desire ‘to officially present the final document’ together with the apostolic letter, and invites us ‘to read it in full,’” Marx said.
The archbishop of Munich pointed out that in the final document of the synod, a majority of two thirds of the 280 participants who had come to Rome to talk about “New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology” in the context of Amazonia, a vast region in South America, “spoke out in favor of exceptions to mandatory celibacy.”
The president of the Central Committee of German Catholics, Thomas Sternberg, accused Pope Francis of not finding “the courage to implement real reforms regarding the issues of the ordination of married men and the liturgical competences of women, which have been discussed for 50 years.”
Sternberg, who is one of the key organizers of the synodal path in Germany, drew also some encouragement from the apostolic exhortation.
“He expressly reaffirms again and again his conviction that the Church must become a synodal Church, in which the participation of the laity in the shaping of the Church and the proclamation of the Good News has a central role. With this message he encourages us, in our church in Germany, to consistently continue the Synodal Path, which we began very successfully in Frankfurt,” he said of Pope Francis.
According to Sternberg, the pope sees “the necessity to give our church a contemporary shape, oriented to the different cultural challenges, in order to be able to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people.”
Sternberg described Querida Amazonia as reinforcing “the existing positions of the Roman Church, both in terms of access to the priesthood and the participation of women in the services and ministries of the Church.”
“We are convinced that the Eucharist, as source and summit, must remain possible locally, as Pope Francis reiterates in this letter. The question of the conditions for admission to the ordained ministry must take second place to this,” he argued, echoing Cardinal Marx.
Bishop Franz-Joseph Overbeck of Essen, who is also the bishop responsible for Adveniat, a Catholic relief organization heavily involved in the Amazon synod, lamented that married priests were not allowed by Pope Francis.
“I would have wished to the parishes in Amazonia that Pope Francis had followed the decisions of the Amazon Synod and — as a regional solution — had given access to priestly ordination to proven married men (as so-called viri probati) from the Amazon region by way of a dispensation,” the bishop, who has previously shown his openness to female “priests,” said.
“Our relief organization for Latin America, Adveniat, has for decades been promoting the training of lay people and religious for pastoral tasks, including the leadership of congregations,” Overbeck emphasized.
According to Overbeck, Querida Amazonia allows for further discussion on the issues troubling the Amazon region. “And this discussion is necessary. However, it also shows that the Church is already taking big steps regarding her culture of debate. When I took up my ministry as bishop for Adveniat ten years ago, I could not have imagined such a lively and comprehensive debate covering all areas of the Church.”
In this context of discussion and debate, the bishop of Essen also mentioned the synodal path in Germany, which he considered to be an encouraging sign of the new culture of discussion and awakening.
Similarly, Bishop Gebhard Fürst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart pointed out that the papal document allows for new discussions, even if the ordination of married men to the priesthood had not been mentioned. “Bishop Fürst, however, continues to see the diaconate of women as a desirable possibility, for which he will continue to work in the future,” the diocesan press release stated.
“In the local church of Rottenburg-Stuttgart we strongly promote equal rights for men and women. We value the services of women very highly and want to further promote the filling of leadership positions also with lay people,” the bishop stressed.
Fürst also indicated that his diocese will join the pact of the catacombs. As LifeSiteNews reported during the Amazon Synod, “Cardinals and bishops and other participants in the Vatican’s Synod on the Amazon have re-enacted a ‘pact of the catacombs’ first undertaken by Liberation Theology promoters” at the Second Vatican Council.
“The group led by Pope Francis’ chosen head of the synod, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, released the language of the pact pledging to help the ‘native peoples’ preserve their ‘spiritualities,’” the report continued.
A Catholic women’s organization in Germany (kfd), which has about 450,000 members, called the apostolic exhortation “a devastating result for any woman who had hoped for equal rights within the Catholic Church.”
“After what women had expected in the wake of the synod, this is deeply bewildering. On the one hand, women’s work and commitment are praised. At the same time, women are accused of lusting for power because they ask for an official acknowledgment of these praised charisms,” the organization declared.
“Women express their commitment rooted in the deep conviction that God has created humans equal and with equal rights,” the statement continued. It cannot be supported “that the Church keeps denying women these rights,” which, according to the women’s organization, means degrading human beings based on biology.
Father Hubert Wolf, a professor of Church history in Münster, said it is again the bishops’ turn to move forward with the issue of married priests, given that Pope Francis did not replace the final document of the Amazon synod with his apostolic exhortation.
According to a report published by katholisch.de, the news website of the German bishops, Wolf “explained the pope’s reluctance with his responsibility for the unity of the Church, also in view of criticism ‘from the reactionary camp.’”
“I doubt, however, that Francis did himself a favor by this maneuvering, which can also be interpreted as weakness,” the professor mused.
With regard to the role of women in the Church, Wolf maintained that Querida Amazonia is likely “to be a great disappointment and unacceptable for many women.” The pope’s image of women is hardly communicable today, he said.
In Vienna, Jan-Heiner Tück teaches dogmatic theology at the university. Regarding the apostolic exhortation, he said the pope “decided not to make a decision.”
“No relaxation of compulsory celibacy, no viri probati, nothing. He does not reject the final report of the Amazon Synod on this point, but neither does he endorse it. Francis keeps his word — and disappoints,” Tück summarizes the document.
As LifeSiteNews reported on Wednesday, both Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Bishop Marian Eleganti, an auxiliary bishop in Switzerland, see Querida Amazonia in a more positive light.
Müller called the German bishops to a “religious about-face,” given that Pope Francis had refused to allow female “deacons” and married priests in the Amazon region.
The German cardinal acknowledged the pope’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation in a positive way, calling it a “pastoral letter of prophetic power.”
In his statement, he maintained that while Querida Amazonia refers to the final document of the Amazon synod, “the pope does not draw from it any dramatic and disconcerting conclusions.”
Both Müller and Eleganti praised section 101 of the apostolic exhortation.
For Müller, this section states clearly “that the priest is sacramentally conformed to Christ, the head of the Church, by virtue of ordination. Therefore, only a man can symbolically and sacramentally represent Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church.”
“We can only be grateful to Francis for this unusual and unexpected clarity. It means, once again, a rejection of the priesthood for women. Francis sees the place of women in ministries (with effective influence also on organization and leadership) that do not require ordination,” Eleganti agreed.
With many representatives of German-speaking Catholicism arguing that the door has been left open for further discussion on contested issues like female “deacons” and married priests, it remains to be seen how the situation develops. The synodal path will certainly continue looking at celibacy and the role of women, given that two of the four study groups are to focus exactly on those two issues, with the other two studying power and sexual morality.
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lifesitenews--2020-02-14--Dubia cardinal criticizes German ‘synodal path’ as protestantizing Catholic Church

February 13 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — Cardinal Walter Brandmüller , one of the two remaining dubia cardinals , has just published in the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost a thorough analysis of the German synodal path ’ s preparatory document that deals with the question of power .
As he shows , this document has been permeated by arguments that are similar to the ones used by Martin Luther in the 16th century and is undermining the Church ’ s hierarchical structure as it was established by Jesus Christ Himself .
The German bishops have started a two-year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” which aims at questioning the Church ’ s teaching and discipline regarding such important matters such as celibacy , female ordination , the role of the laity , and homosexuality .
At the end of this process , they plan to decide , together with many laymen , upon a reform agenda for the Catholic Church in Germany .
Part of that reform agenda is the strengthening of the laity , in the field of participation and even in the field of Church leadership .
The leadership under Cardinal Reinhard Marx @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Central Committee of German Catholics , a lay organization ) established last year four discussion forums ( on power , women , sexuality , celibacy ) , each of which published , in September 2019 , a preparatory document for the two-year discussions .
Since the members of these forums remain the same — except with a few additional members — their documents can give us a good idea of what the plans of this reform process are .
As Cardinal Brandmüller says in his new analysis , here is a great danger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protestantized or even turned into an NGO .
He writes about the preparatory text : “ Here one is all too obviously oriented toward the model of the Protestant regional churches , their structures and synods .
This applies , difficult to understand , also to the composition and structures of the ‘ synodal path.
’ Such a model of church — the ‘ synodal path , ’ — corresponds , admittedly , rather to that of a non-governmental organization of socio-pedagogical design than to the Church of Jesus Christ.
” The German @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of last September presents the concept of a democratic church , aimed at weakening the importance of ordination .
He says : “ When there is talk of a fundamental equality of all Church members , then that is , when correctly understood , a matter of course , but in this context , it is only a copying of Luther : ‘ For what has crawled out of Baptism can boast that it has already been ordained priest , bishop and pope… ’ that ‘ we are all equally priests.
’ ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ text by Martin Luther , commenting that “ it is astonishing to what extent the demands of the synod paper correspond to Luther ’ s concern.
” In his sharp analysis , this prelate sees mainly “ political ” language and a political way of thinking that is alien to the Catholic Church and reminds one rather of a parliament or company .
Brandmüller notices in this document “ the exclusion of the really central objects the actual illness of the official German Catholicism ” — namely “ the circling around oneself , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out into all the world , ’ the proclamation of the Gospel.
” As an important conclusion , the German prelate and church historian writes that “ the obvious attempt to impose secular , democratic structures with its procedures on the Church is basically directed against the essence , the very mystery of the Church.
” Please see here the full analysis of Cardinal Walter Brandmüller : Now the “ synodal path ” has begun .
To see where it should lead , it may not be too late to take a thoughtful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Preparatory Forum ” of September of last year .
For the time being , it may suffice to take a look at the working paper specifically dedicated to the topic “ Power and Separation of Powers in the Church — Common Participation and Sharing in the Mission.
” Although this text may meanwhile seem outdated with regard to relativizing explanations , it nevertheless reveals quite unprotectedly the world of ideas and intentions of its authors .
Now , one might think that it is about the central truths of the Faith and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 21st century — how necessary that would be !
But none of this is mentioned in the preparatory paper — just as in the discussion within the Church in Germany .
What is to be discussed and decided upon , rather , is power in the Church , the role of women , celibacy and sexual morals , as it has been done incessantly and tiringly since the Würzburg Synod of 1971 [ a synod held in Würzburg by the German bishops from 1971 to 1975 —M.H. ]
.
It is shattering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of topics or the exclusion of the really central objects , the actual illness of official German Catholicism becomes now visible : the circling around oneself , the self-referentiality that replaces the “ going out into all the world , ” the proclamation of the Gospel .
There one then notes with astonishment how often in this text the term “ power ” occurs , when in the Church — quite differently from the civil society — it must be about not “ power , ” but “ authority.
” But this means @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conferred , and answered for by mandate .
So much for the “ key term ” of the text .
When then there is talk about the “ standards of a plural society in a democratic constitutional state , ” the observance of which is expected by many Catholics “ also in their Church , ” then it is nevertheless to be asked what in the eyes of the authors still distinguishes the Church from a secular community .
If that is what it is really about , then you can actually start @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ... ” and formulate intentions , etc .
For example , there is talk of participation ( in what ? )
of all members of the People of God and of the separation of powers .
The “ power , ” it says there , is so far “ unilaterally bound to the consecration.
” There is talk of a “ unilateralization of the ordained ministry.
” Thus , the question arises of a common participation of all faithful in the assumption , exercise , responsibility , and control of power .
Now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are office and ordination connected ?
” In such a perspective , even this question is then asked : “ how power of leadership ( ! )
in liturgy , teaching , and diakonia [ charity , pastoral care ] is divided in such a way that ... ” In the end , it is thus basically about “ power , participation , and separation of powers ” in the Church .
Finally , the paper relies “ on the intuition of the People of God , ” on the “ possibilities of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” whereby “ the signs of the time ” are to be considered .
Thus , the Church could be led into the width that God opens up .
“ We do not want a new Church , but a renewed Church .
We want to live and think of the Faith differently from how it was before the turning point , which is set by coming to terms with the abuse.
” So much for the introductory chapter .
In the following , the text gets to the point more clearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ widespread understanding of the Church in Germany , ” “ which is characterized by a charging of the ordained ministry as ‘ holy violence , ’ ” which corresponds “ less to a Catholic necessity than to an anti-modern tendency.
” But that was a new invention after the Enlightenment .
Significantly , there is not given any proof — which is hard to give .
Then the authors find particularly offensive “ the concentration of sacramental , legislative , executive , administrative and legal authority , ” which is said to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Question marks must also be placed behind this assertion .
And again , the “ normative claims that are lived practice in modern democratic constitutional states , ” as well as in the Church , are decisively opposed to this questioned system .
“ The universal claim to freedom and equality , which the Church raises [ ?
! ]
, can not be asserted by her without contradiction when it bounces off the institutional walls of the Church.
” Did the authors think here of Luther ’ s writing “ To @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speaks of these very walls ?
Moreover , a distinction must be made between “ being of equal value ” and “ being equal ” !
Once again , the authors are venturing onto the slippery slope when they claim that since the 19th century the Church has “ strongly organized herself according to the model of a monarchy ” — really ?
How then ?
At the end of the section — for how many times and in an undifferentiated way — the “ normative principles of freedom and equality ” are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had to be “ organized at the level of the institutional possibilities of the time.
” Let us leave it at that for now .
The direction in which the Church is to be led is clearly recognizable .
But now , in the end , “ principles ” are formulated , which , however , require critical examination .
The introductory statement , “ understanding and exercise of power , participation and separation of powers are key issues ” is in fact itself the key to understanding the whole text , indeed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ synodal path.
” According to the text , the Church needs a “ new reflection on the calling and empowerment of the whole Church [ ! ]
to proclaim the Gospel.
” This demand is immediately made concrete : it is about nothing more and nothing less than the abolition of celibacy and access of women to the ordination of priests and bishops , which is to be openly discussed .
The reference to the necessity of a regulation for the entire Church is only a fig leaf , with which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is for the time being still to be veiled .
And then : The theological basis for it consists in the fundamental equality of all Church members , which is sacramentally sealed in Baptism and Confirmation and is expressed in the “ common priesthood of all believers.
” Why then ordination to the priesthood would still be required remains unsaid .
Once again , it is not recognized that the equal rank of all members of the Church is nevertheless connected with a difference in vocation .
Were the authors aware that — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Confirmation — they were simply repeating the statements of Luther ’ s pamphlets of 1520 ?
When there is talk of a fundamental equality of all Church members , then that is , when correctly understood , a matter of course , but in this context it is only a copying of Luther : “ For what has crawled out of Baptism can boast that it has already been ordained priest , bishop and pope ... ” that “ we are all equally priests.
” Thus says Luther in “ To the Christian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Improvement of the Christians , ” a writing in which he , among other things , not only mocks , but denies the sacrament of Holy Orders .
It is astonishing to what extent the demands of the synod paper correspond to Luther ’ s concern .
There is then also talk of the separation of powers , of the rights of the faithful — and of the claim that “ power of leadership and decision-making can not be exclusively bound to ordination.
” “ The leadership of the congregations is also one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bound to ordination !
The next topic is the selection of bishops , for which “ participation of those concerned ” is considered necessary .
Finally , the “ synodal path ” should decide also upon a framework for differentiation and co-operation of the different ministries in the Church , including the episcopal ministry .
And again a “ problematic-monopolistic ” image of the Church is criticized , which would have to be broken up by processes of “ accountability and control , of participation and separation of powers.
” So it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ The pastoral ministry of bishops as well as of pastors [ !
! ]
is undisputed in the Catholic Church .
Nevertheless : it does not justify absolutism in the exercise of ecclesiastical authority.
” Of course !
But has this ever been denied ?
However , “ also common and shared decision-making powers ” were necessary .
“ Rights to have a say , rights of decision '' — obviously by laymen — were already documented here and there .
Regional differences are also conceivable .
Again there is talk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power , ” which are “ to be invested in a participatory way and to be practiced sustainably , ” when it is about personnel decisions , distribution of finances , and determination of the “ major ( ecclesial-political and pastoral ) lines.
” If there were not also talk of ecclesial and pastoral politics , one could be reminded of the topics of the supervisory board meeting of an industrial company .
It is astonishing enough that finally the term “ sacramental authority ” appears , even if it is immediately again @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course , not to be neglected is the mention that procedures for the separation of powers ( what is that ? )
as a control of power have “ proved themselves in modern democracies.
” If now it is also demanded that “ Church leadership ” ( what is that ? )
, legislation , and jurisdiction should not be in the hands of the bishop alone , this not only goes beyond the scope of the existing law , but also contradicts the hierarchical structure of the Church grounded in the sacrament @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough that it is nevertheless recognized in casual tones : “ The episcopate is indispensable and central for the structure of the Church , ” as indeed “ the bishop ’ s ministry in ordination and in the assignment to leadership ” is clarified in the Catholic Church .
It is difficult to see how the contradictory statements or demands concerning the episcopate could be reconciled with one another .
Finally , the text takes giant steps toward the goal of democratizing the Church : selection processes in the form of elections “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ? )
with participation of elected representatives of the whole People of God , accountability of all office bearers to “ democratically elected bodies , ” time limitation — i.e.
, probably term limits — for important executive offices ... would have a result that would have only the name in common with the “ Church of Jesus Christ.
” So much just to characterize the actual aim of this paper — and thus of the whole synodal enterprise .
The obvious attempt to impose secular , democratic structures with its procedures on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ essence , the very mystery of the Church .
Read with due attention , our text thus grants deep insight not only into the ideas and intentions of the authors , which are probably to be found in the vicinity of the “ Central Committee of German Catholics.
” The reader here also hears language as it is usually to be heard in the political milieu .
It is a political vocabulary that the reader encounters in an ecclesial text .
It is quite characteristic that in its 19 pages , the word @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an observation that shows what the authors are ultimately concerned with : power .
It seems to have been forgotten that authority can exist in the Church only as an authority exercised by the Lord of the Church by virtue of a mandate , and that this authority is conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders , and not by popular election .
The religious and pious phrases interspersed rather abruptly contrast strangely with the political vocabulary of the text .
This is probably a reference to the existence of different authors .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is about politics .
“ Your language betrays you — you are a Galilean ” ( Mt .
26:73 ) .
A further characteristic of the text is the one-sided emphasis on the participation of the laity in the Church .
One might think this was previously unknown .
Meanwhile , the authors here meet with open doors — and thus reveal their simple ignorance of canon law , which — according to Codex Iuris Canonici Can .
224–231 — determines the rights and duties of the laity .
The demands made in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beyond that .
Here , one is all too obviously oriented toward the model of the Protestant regional churches , their structures and synods .
Here one is all too obviously oriented toward the model of the Protestant regional churches , their structures and synods .
This applies , difficult to understand , also to the composition and structures of the “ synodal path.
” Such a model of church — the “ synodal path , ” — corresponds , admittedly , rather to that of a non-governmental organization of socio-pedagogical design than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is as significant as it is strange to see how little the authors of our text understood that the Church of Jesus Christ is neither a monarchy nor a democracy , etc .
She is a mystery of faith that can not be adequately grasped by human categories , and about which even Holy Scripture can speak only in images .
But where is this insight in the present text — apart from the slight use of theological , pious vocabulary ?
One might think that for the “ synodal path ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lumen Gentium of the Second Vatican Council first of all is decisive .
In the present text , however , no reference is made to it .
Also , where are the relevant documents of the post-conciliar teaching authority ?
And what about those passages of the Gospels where the mission of the apostles is mentioned , where it is about the nature of the Church as the Body of Christ , as the House of God , as the vine ?
Well , Jesus said not to the crowd or to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Whoever listens to you , listens to Me , receives the Holy Spirit .
If you forgive the sins of any , ” et cetera , but , rather , only to the Twelve , who were gathered in the Upper Room , and who were given the commission “ Do this in remembrance of Me.
” All this , and also Paul with his spirit-filled vision of the mystery of the “ Church ” — all this is not supposed to have any meaning for the “ synodal path ” ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ II ’ s constitution Lumen Gentium on the Church .
How urgently , even evocatively , does the admonition of the Apostle Paul sound here : “ Do not make yourselves equal to this world ” ( Rom .
12:2 ) .
This appeal applies today in a special way to the bishops , the Catholics of Germany .

The preparatory document for the German bishops' synodal path, says Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, is obsessed with 'power' and will turn the Church into an NGO.
February 13, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, one of the two remaining dubia cardinals, has just published in the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost a thorough analysis of the German synodal path’s preparatory document that deals with the question of power. As he shows, this document has been permeated by arguments that are similar to the ones used by Martin Luther in the 16th century and is undermining the Church’s hierarchical structure as it was established by Jesus Christ Himself.
The German bishops have started a two-year discussion process called the “synodal path,” which aims at questioning the Church’s teaching and discipline regarding such important matters such as celibacy, female ordination, the role of the laity, and homosexuality. At the end of this process, they plan to decide, together with many laymen, upon a reform agenda for the Catholic Church in Germany. Part of that reform agenda is the strengthening of the laity, in the field of participation and even in the field of Church leadership.
The leadership under Cardinal Reinhard Marx and Professor Thomas Sternberg (of the Central Committee of German Catholics, a lay organization) established last year four discussion forums (on power, women, sexuality, celibacy), each of which published, in September 2019, a preparatory document for the two-year discussions. Since the members of these forums remain the same — except with a few additional members — their documents can give us a good idea of what the plans of this reform process are.
As Cardinal Brandmüller says in his new analysis, here is a great danger that the Church in Germany is being protestantized or even turned into an NGO. He writes about the preparatory text: “Here one is all too obviously oriented toward the model of the Protestant regional churches, their structures and synods. This applies, difficult to understand, also to the composition and structures of the ‘synodal path.’ Such a model of church — the ‘synodal path,’ — corresponds, admittedly, rather to that of a non-governmental organization of socio-pedagogical design than to the Church of Jesus Christ.”
The German cardinal especially highlights that the preparatory document of last September presents the concept of a democratic church, aimed at weakening the importance of ordination. He says: “When there is talk of a fundamental equality of all Church members, then that is, when correctly understood, a matter of course, but in this context, it is only a copying of Luther: ‘For what has crawled out of Baptism can boast that it has already been ordained priest, bishop and pope…’ that ‘we are all equally priests.’”
Cardinal Brandmüller refers here to a certain text by Martin Luther, commenting that “it is astonishing to what extent the demands of the synod paper correspond to Luther’s concern.”
In his sharp analysis, this prelate sees mainly “political” language and a political way of thinking that is alien to the Catholic Church and reminds one rather of a parliament or company.
He states:
Again there is talk of “leadership offices and exercise of power,” which are “to be invested in a participatory way and to be practiced sustainably,” when it is about personnel decisions, distribution of finances, and determination of the “major (ecclesial-political and pastoral) lines.” If there was not also talk of ecclesial and pastoral politics, one could also be reminded of the topics of the supervisory board meeting of an industrial company.
Brandmüller notices in this document “the exclusion of the really central objects the actual illness of the official German Catholicism” — namely “the circling around oneself, the self-referentiality that replaces the ‘going out into all the world,’ the proclamation of the Gospel.”
As an important conclusion, the German prelate and church historian writes that “the obvious attempt to impose secular, democratic structures with its procedures on the Church is basically directed against the essence, the very mystery of the Church.”
Please see here the full analysis of Cardinal Walter Brandmüller:
The German “synodal path”
Now the “synodal path” has begun. To see where it should lead, it may not be too late to take a thoughtful look at the “Working Paper of the Preparatory Forum” of September of last year. For the time being, it may suffice to take a look at the working paper specifically dedicated to the topic “Power and Separation of Powers in the Church — Common Participation and Sharing in the Mission.” Although this text may meanwhile seem outdated with regard to relativizing explanations, it nevertheless reveals quite unprotectedly the world of ideas and intentions of its authors.
Now, one might think that it is about the central truths of the Faith and their convincing proclamation in the world of the 21st century — how necessary that would be!
But none of this is mentioned in the preparatory paper — just as in the discussion within the Church in Germany.
What is to be discussed and decided upon, rather, is power in the Church, the role of women, celibacy and sexual morals, as it has been done incessantly and tiringly since the Würzburg Synod of 1971 [a synod held in Würzburg by the German bishops from 1971 to 1975 —M.H.].
It is shattering to see how, with this choice of topics or the exclusion of the really central objects, the actual illness of official German Catholicism becomes now visible: the circling around oneself, the self-referentiality that replaces the “going out into all the world,” the proclamation of the Gospel.
There one then notes with astonishment how often in this text the term “power” occurs, when in the Church — quite differently from the civil society — it must be about not “power,” but “authority.”
But this means that it has to be exercised, conferred, and answered for by mandate. So much for the “key term” of the text.
When then there is talk about the “standards of a plural society in a democratic constitutional state,” the observance of which is expected by many Catholics “also in their Church,” then it is nevertheless to be asked what in the eyes of the authors still distinguishes the Church from a secular community.
If that is what it is really about, then you can actually start making demands with a “We want…” and formulate intentions, etc. For example, there is talk of participation (in what?) of all members of the People of God and of the separation of powers. The “power,” it says there, is so far “unilaterally bound to the consecration.” There is talk of a “unilateralization of the ordained ministry.” Thus, the question arises of a common participation of all faithful in the assumption, exercise, responsibility, and control of power.
Now finally also the question: “How are office and ordination connected?” In such a perspective, even this question is then asked: “how power of leadership (!) in liturgy, teaching, and diakonia [charity, pastoral care] is divided in such a way that …” In the end, it is thus basically about “power, participation, and separation of powers” in the Church. Finally, the paper relies “on the intuition of the People of God,” on the “possibilities of theology to think of the Church differently,” whereby “the signs of the time” are to be considered.
Thus, the Church could be led into the width that God opens up. “We do not want a new Church, but a renewed Church. We want to live and think of the Faith differently from how it was before the turning point, which is set by coming to terms with the abuse.” So much for the introductory chapter.
In the following, the text gets to the point more clearly. Here the authors note a “widespread understanding of the Church in Germany,” “which is characterized by a charging of the ordained ministry as ‘holy violence,’” which corresponds “less to a Catholic necessity than to an anti-modern tendency.” But that was a new invention after the Enlightenment. Significantly, there is not given any proof — which is hard to give.
Then the authors find particularly offensive “the concentration of sacramental, legislative, executive, administrative and legal authority,” which is said to be only a development of the 19th century. Question marks must also be placed behind this assertion.
And again, the “normative claims that are lived practice in modern democratic constitutional states,” as well as in the Church, are decisively opposed to this questioned system.
“The universal claim to freedom and equality, which the Church raises [?!], cannot be asserted by her without contradiction when it bounces off the institutional walls of the Church.” Did the authors think here of Luther’s writing “To the Christian nobility…,” which speaks of these very walls? Moreover, a distinction must be made between “being of equal value” and “being equal”!
Once again, the authors are venturing onto the slippery slope when they claim that since the 19th century the Church has “strongly organized herself according to the model of a monarchy” — really? How then?
At the end of the section — for how many times and in an undifferentiated way — the “normative principles of freedom and equality” are invoked, according to which the Church had to be “organized at the level of the institutional possibilities of the time.”
Let us leave it at that for now. The direction in which the Church is to be led is clearly recognizable.
But now, in the end, “principles” are formulated, which, however, require critical examination. The introductory statement, “understanding and exercise of power, participation and separation of powers are key issues” is in fact itself the key to understanding the whole text, indeed the actual intention behind the enterprise called the “synodal path.”
According to the text, the Church needs a “new reflection on the calling and empowerment of the whole Church [!] to proclaim the Gospel.”
This demand is immediately made concrete: it is about nothing more and nothing less than the abolition of celibacy and access of women to the ordination of priests and bishops, which is to be openly discussed. The reference to the necessity of a regulation for the entire Church is only a fig leaf, with which the clear commitment to the female priesthood is for the time being still to be veiled.
And then: The theological basis for it consists in the fundamental equality of all Church members, which is sacramentally sealed in Baptism and Confirmation and is expressed in the “common priesthood of all believers.” Why then ordination to the priesthood would still be required remains unsaid. Once again, it is not recognized that the equal rank of all members of the Church is nevertheless connected with a difference in vocation. Were the authors aware that — with the exception of the mention of Confirmation — they were simply repeating the statements of Luther’s pamphlets of 1520?
When there is talk of a fundamental equality of all Church members, then that is, when correctly understood, a matter of course, but in this context it is only a copying of Luther: “For what has crawled out of Baptism can boast that it has already been ordained priest, bishop and pope…” that “we are all equally priests.” Thus says Luther in “To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation on the Improvement of the Christians,” a writing in which he, among other things, not only mocks, but denies the sacrament of Holy Orders. It is astonishing to what extent the demands of the synod paper correspond to Luther’s concern.
There is then also talk of the separation of powers, of the rights of the faithful — and of the claim that “power of leadership and decision-making cannot be exclusively bound to ordination.” “The leadership of the congregations is also one of these tasks.” It is not bound to ordination!
The next topic is the selection of bishops, for which “participation of those concerned” is considered necessary. Finally, the “synodal path” should decide also upon a framework for differentiation and co-operation of the different ministries in the Church, including the episcopal ministry. And again a “problematic-monopolistic” image of the Church is criticized, which would have to be broken up by processes of “accountability and control, of participation and separation of powers.”
So it is very surprising when one reads in conclusion: “The pastoral ministry of bishops as well as of pastors [!!] is undisputed in the Catholic Church. Nevertheless: it does not justify absolutism in the exercise of ecclesiastical authority.” Of course! But has this ever been denied? However, “also common and shared decision-making powers” were necessary. “Rights to have a say, rights of decision” — obviously by laymen — were already documented here and there. Regional differences are also conceivable.
Again there is talk of “leadership offices and exercise of power,” which are “to be invested in a participatory way and to be practiced sustainably,” when it is about personnel decisions, distribution of finances, and determination of the “major (ecclesial-political and pastoral) lines.” If there were not also talk of ecclesial and pastoral politics, one could be reminded of the topics of the supervisory board meeting of an industrial company.
It is astonishing enough that finally the term “sacramental authority” appears, even if it is immediately again about “authority to rule.” Of course, not to be neglected is the mention that procedures for the separation of powers (what is that?) as a control of power have “proved themselves in modern democracies.”
If now it is also demanded that “Church leadership” (what is that?), legislation, and jurisdiction should not be in the hands of the bishop alone, this not only goes beyond the scope of the existing law, but also contradicts the hierarchical structure of the Church grounded in the sacrament of Holy Orders. It is astonishing enough that it is nevertheless recognized in casual tones: “The episcopate is indispensable and central for the structure of the Church,” as indeed “the bishop’s ministry in ordination and in the assignment to leadership” is clarified in the Catholic Church.
It is difficult to see how the contradictory statements or demands concerning the episcopate could be reconciled with one another. Finally, the text takes giant steps toward the goal of democratizing the Church: selection processes in the form of elections “and deliberations” (what is that?) with participation of elected representatives of the whole People of God, accountability of all office bearers to “democratically elected bodies,” time limitation — i.e., probably term limits — for important executive offices…would have a result that would have only the name in common with the “Church of Jesus Christ.”
So much just to characterize the actual aim of this paper — and thus of the whole synodal enterprise. The obvious attempt to impose secular, democratic structures with its procedures on the Church is basically directed against the essence, the very mystery of the Church.
II
Read with due attention, our text thus grants deep insight not only into the ideas and intentions of the authors, which are probably to be found in the vicinity of the “Central Committee of German Catholics.” The reader here also hears language as it is usually to be heard in the political milieu. It is a political vocabulary that the reader encounters in an ecclesial text. It is quite characteristic that in its 19 pages, the word “power” appears 79 times — an observation that shows what the authors are ultimately concerned with: power. It seems to have been forgotten that authority can exist in the Church only as an authority exercised by the Lord of the Church by virtue of a mandate, and that this authority is conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders, and not by popular election. The religious and pious phrases interspersed rather abruptly contrast strangely with the political vocabulary of the text. This is probably a reference to the existence of different authors. But the overall impression remains: it is about politics. “Your language betrays you — you are a Galilean” (Mt. 26:73).
A further characteristic of the text is the one-sided emphasis on the participation of the laity in the Church. One might think this was previously unknown. Meanwhile, the authors here meet with open doors — and thus reveal their simple ignorance of canon law, which — according to Codex Iuris Canonici Can. 224–231 — determines the rights and duties of the laity.
The demands made in our text, however, go far beyond that. Here, one is all too obviously oriented toward the model of the Protestant regional churches, their structures and synods. Here one is all too obviously oriented toward the model of the Protestant regional churches, their structures and synods. This applies, difficult to understand, also to the composition and structures of the “synodal path.” Such a model of church — the “synodal path,” — corresponds, admittedly, rather to that of a non-governmental organization of socio-pedagogical design than to the Church of Jesus Christ.
It is as significant as it is strange to see how little the authors of our text understood that the Church of Jesus Christ is neither a monarchy nor a democracy, etc. She is a mystery of faith that cannot be adequately grasped by human categories, and about which even Holy Scripture can speak only in images. But where is this insight in the present text — apart from the slight use of theological, pious vocabulary?
One might think that for the “synodal path” of the German Catholics, the Constitution Lumen Gentium of the Second Vatican Council first of all is decisive. In the present text, however, no reference is made to it. Also, where are the relevant documents of the post-conciliar teaching authority?
And what about those passages of the Gospels where the mission of the apostles is mentioned, where it is about the nature of the Church as the Body of Christ, as the House of God, as the vine? Well, Jesus said not to the crowd or to the women and disciples who followed Him: “Whoever listens to you, listens to Me, receives the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any,” et cetera, but, rather, only to the Twelve, who were gathered in the Upper Room, and who were given the commission “Do this in remembrance of Me.”
All this, and also Paul with his spirit-filled vision of the mystery of the “Church” — all this is not supposed to have any meaning for the “synodal path”? Apparently, this also applies to Vatican II’s constitution Lumen Gentium on the Church.
How urgently, even evocatively, does the admonition of the Apostle Paul sound here: “Do not make yourselves equal to this world” (Rom. 12:2). This appeal applies today in a special way to the bishops, the Catholics of Germany.
Translation by LifeSite’s Maike Hickson.
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lifesitenews--2020-02-14--FBI arrests seminary prof for threatening to kill journalist who exposed sex-abuse coverup

BUFFALO , New York , February 13 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) ― A Buffalo diocesan seminary professor has been arrested after allegedly threatening to kill reporter Charlie Specht .
Dr. Paul J. Lubienecki , 62 , is also alleged to have threatened diocesan whistleblower Fr .
Ryszard Biernat and to have told Bishop Richard Malone ’ s former secretary Siobhan O ’ Connor that he hoped she would burn in hell .
Lubienecki was arrested by the FBI yesterday morning and appeared in a Buffalo courtroom yesterday afternoon .
He has now been charged with cyberstalking .
According to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lecturer faces five years in prison if found guilty .
Lubienecki teaches at both Christ the King Seminary and SUNY ( State University of New York ) Fredonia .
He received a Ph.D in History in 2013 from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland , Ohio , and his specialty is the Catholic labor movement .
O ’ Connor told LifeSiteNews that the FBI had advised the victims not to “ make any formal comments on the matter.
” But on Facebook , both she and Fr .
Biernat thanked well-wishers and expressed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grateful that Charlie and his family can be at peace tonight , ” O ’ Connor wrote yesterday .
Biernat added , “ I really feel bad for Mr. Specht and his family .
He was giving a voice to so many victims , and what he gets in return is death threats.
” O ’ Connor described the saga as “ crazy beyond the realm of fiction.
” Specht told LifeSiteNews that the only comments he is allowed to make can be found in the WKBW story published yesterday .
For more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s lead reporter on the Buffalo diocese clerical sexual abuse and cover-up crisis .
In the summer of 2018 , O ’ Connor , distressed by Bishop Malone ’ s mishandling of the crisis , leaked confidential diocesan documents to Specht a week before she resigned as Malone ’ s secretary .
A passionate advocate for victims of clerical abuse , O ’ Connor called upon Malone to resign .
She was joined by her friend and fellow diocesan secretary , Fr .
Ryszard Biernat , who accused Malone of inaction regarding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a diocesan priest .
Not everyone was grateful for the spotlight that Specht , O ’ Connor , and Biernat shone on the embattled diocese .
According to a sworn affidavit to a Buffalo court by FBI special agent Randal E. Garvey , Specht began to receive harassing phone calls from numbers associated with Lubienecki in August 2019 .
Among the messages were such sentiments as “ Nice going , a******* , you ’ re a real fraudulent reporter ” and “ So Malone is still bishop … and you ’ re still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” On December 4 , 2019 , the day Pope Francis accepted Malone ’ s resignation , Specht received the following message : “ Oh , you must be so happy .
You destroyed the Diocese of Buffalo and Bishop Malone .
Oh , you must be so proud .
You ’ re a piece of s*** , you really are a piece of s*** .
( ... ) You must be so proud of how you destroyed everything .
I ’ m gon na destroy your career.
” O ’ Connor and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4 .
The caller told Biernat that , among other things , “ you destroyed a good bishop , a good man .
You must be proud of being such an a****** .
Leave the priesthood or we ’ ll get you.
” In his rant against O ’ Connor , the caller said that “ you got rid of a good man .
I love the bishop and now you got rid of him .
Such an a****** .
I hope you burn in hell.
” On February 4 , it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ close .
Specht received a new message that day ― and this one contained a death threat .
“ You must be so happy the seminary ’ s closing , ” the caller said .
“ I know where you live ( ... ) .
You ’ re a bad person .
I ’ m going to find you .
I ’ m going to kill you.
” Specht reported the call to police .
According to Special Agent Garvey ’ s affidavit , the reporter had advised him that “ based on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ( Specht ) is in fear for his life and has suffered substantial emotional distress.
” According to WKBW , its parent company had arranged for Specht , his wife and his children to move from their home to an “ undisclosed location with around-the-clock protection from a private security firm.
” The 7 Eyewitness News reporter told WKBW , “ We were shocked , surprised and scared.
” “ I got the feeling that this one person ― whoever they were ― had spent months harassing me about really personal things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he continued .
“ I wanted my family to be safe .
We put our trust in law enforcement to find out who was doing this.
” Garvey told the court that he believes Lubienecki is the culprit because of phone records linking the professor to the messages and also the similarity of Lubinecki ’ s voice in a public speech he gave to the voice in the messages .
According to WKBW , Specht discovered the identity of the man police suspected was his harasser only after Lubienecki ’ s arrest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gratitude to the legal authorities and explained where criticism of the press should end .
“ We are grateful that federal prosecutors and the FBI made this a priority , ” the reporter said .
“ Criticism of news reporting is acceptable and even welcomed .
But making personal threats against a reporter for simply doing his job goes against the entire American belief in a free press.
” Lubienecki did not give a statement to the media when he left the courthouse yesterday afternoon .
When 7 Eyewitness News reporter Eileen Buckley @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say , he retorted , “ You can ’ t get near me ― you know that ?
” “ Why would you make a threat to somebody , especially to kill them ?
” Buckley asked .
“ Isn ’ t that against the teaching of the Catholic faith ?
” The Diocese of Buffalo has released a statement by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger , the diocese ’ s temporary apostolic administrator , condemning the abuse of journalists .
“ There is no place -- nor should there be any tolerance -- @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the news media or any one else , ” Scharfenbeerger said via Twitter .
“ This is against who we are as Christians , but also against our nation ’ s founding principles that guarantee freedom to the press and freedom of speech , ” he continued .
“ As a Church , we must be able to withstand the glaring light of scrutiny -- even as we seek to pierce the darkness with our own light , demonstrating Christ ’ s abundant love , forgiveness and care for us all.
” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hold the powerful accountable for decisions that have damaged our community there is the possibility of backlash , ” he said .
“ We want to thank the FBI for its thorough investigation and swift action .
Our employees ’ safety is our priority.
” LifeSiteNews has reached out to Dr. Lubienecki but has not yet received a response .

Paul Lubienecki allegedly sent a message to the reporter covering the story in the scandal-ridden Diocese of Buffalo that said, 'I'm going to kill you.'
BUFFALO, New York, February 13, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) ― A Buffalo diocesan seminary professor has been arrested after allegedly threatening to kill reporter Charlie Specht.
Dr. Paul J. Lubienecki, 62, is also alleged to have threatened diocesan whistleblower Fr. Ryszard Biernat and to have told Bishop Richard Malone’s former secretary Siobhan O’Connor that he hoped she would burn in hell.
Lubienecki was arrested by the FBI yesterday morning and appeared in a Buffalo courtroom yesterday afternoon. He has now been charged with cyberstalking. According to Specht’s employer WKBW, the lecturer faces five years in prison if found guilty.
Lubienecki teaches at both Christ the King Seminary and SUNY (State University of New York) Fredonia. He received a Ph.D in History in 2013 from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and his specialty is the Catholic labor movement.
O’Connor told LifeSiteNews that the FBI had advised the victims not to “make any formal comments on the matter.” But on Facebook, both she and Fr. Biernat thanked well-wishers and expressed gratitude to the FBI.
“Very grateful that Charlie and his family can be at peace tonight,” O’Connor wrote yesterday.
Biernat added, “I really feel bad for Mr. Specht and his family. He was giving a voice to so many victims, and what he gets in return is death threats.”
O’Connor described the saga as “crazy beyond the realm of fiction.”
Specht told LifeSiteNews that the only comments he is allowed to make can be found in the WKBW story published yesterday.
For more than a year, Specht was WKBW’s lead reporter on the Buffalo diocese clerical sexual abuse and cover-up crisis. In the summer of 2018, O’Connor, distressed by Bishop Malone’s mishandling of the crisis, leaked confidential diocesan documents to Specht a week before she resigned as Malone’s secretary. A passionate advocate for victims of clerical abuse, O’Connor called upon Malone to resign. She was joined by her friend and fellow diocesan secretary, Fr. Ryszard Biernat, who accused Malone of inaction regarding the sexual harassment of a seminarian by a diocesan priest.
Not everyone was grateful for the spotlight that Specht, O’Connor, and Biernat shone on the embattled diocese. According to a sworn affidavit to a Buffalo court by FBI special agent Randal E. Garvey, Specht began to receive harassing phone calls from numbers associated with Lubienecki in August 2019. Among the messages were such sentiments as “Nice going, a*******, you’re a real fraudulent reporter” and “So Malone is still bishop … and you’re still a bad Catholic and a horrible reporter.”
On December 4, 2019, the day Pope Francis accepted Malone’s resignation, Specht received the following message: “Oh, you must be so happy. You destroyed the Diocese of Buffalo and Bishop Malone. Oh, you must be so proud. You’re a piece of s***, you really are a piece of s***. (…) You must be so proud of how you destroyed everything. I’m gonna destroy your career.”
O’Connor and Biernat also received anonymous messages on December 4. The caller told Biernat that, among other things, “you destroyed a good bishop, a good man. You must be proud of being such an a******. Leave the priesthood or we’ll get you.” In his rant against O’Connor, the caller said that “you got rid of a good man. I love the bishop and now you got rid of him. Such an a******. I hope you burn in hell.”
On February 4, it was announced that Christ the King Seminary would close. Specht received a new message that day ― and this one contained a death threat.
“You must be so happy the seminary’s closing,” the caller said. “I know where you live (…). You’re a bad person. I’m going to find you. I’m going to kill you.”
Specht reported the call to police. According to Special Agent Garvey’s affidavit, the reporter had advised him that “based on the multiple voicemail messages he has received, (Specht) is in fear for his life and has suffered substantial emotional distress.” According to WKBW, its parent company had arranged for Specht, his wife and his children to move from their home to an “undisclosed location with around-the-clock protection from a private security firm.”
The 7 Eyewitness News reporter told WKBW, “We were shocked, surprised and scared.”
“I got the feeling that this one person ― whoever they were ― had spent months harassing me about really personal things, and was now threatening violence,” he continued.
“I wanted my family to be safe. We put our trust in law enforcement to find out who was doing this.”
Garvey told the court that he believes Lubienecki is the culprit because of phone records linking the professor to the messages and also the similarity of Lubinecki’s voice in a public speech he gave to the voice in the messages.
According to WKBW, Specht discovered the identity of the man police suspected was his harasser only after Lubienecki’s arrest yesterday. The reporter expressed both his gratitude to the legal authorities and explained where criticism of the press should end.
“We are grateful that federal prosecutors and the FBI made this a priority,” the reporter said.
“Criticism of news reporting is acceptable and even welcomed. But making personal threats against a reporter for simply doing his job goes against the entire American belief in a free press.”
Lubienecki did not give a statement to the media when he left the courthouse yesterday afternoon. When 7 Eyewitness News reporter Eileen Buckley asked him if he had anything to say, he retorted, “You can’t get near me ― you know that?”
“Why would you make a threat to somebody, especially to kill them?” Buckley asked.
“Isn’t that against the teaching of the Catholic faith?”
The Diocese of Buffalo has released a statement by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, the diocese’s temporary apostolic administrator, condemning the abuse of journalists.
“There is no place — nor should there be any tolerance — for threats or harassment towards members of the news media or any one else,” Scharfenbeerger said via Twitter.
“This is against who we are as Christians, but also against our nation’s founding principles that guarantee freedom to the press and freedom of speech,” he continued.
“As a Church, we must be able to withstand the glaring light of scrutiny — even as we seek to pierce the darkness with our own light, demonstrating Christ’s abundant love, forgiveness and care for us all.”
Marc Jaromin, WKBW vice president and general manager, also issued a statement.
“As journalists, we know when we hold the powerful accountable for decisions that have damaged our community there is the possibility of backlash,” he said.
“We want to thank the FBI for its thorough investigation and swift action. Our employees’ safety is our priority.”
LifeSiteNews has reached out to Dr. Lubienecki but has not yet received a response.
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lifesitenews--2020-02-14--Amazon priest: Synod fathers used indigious people to ‘attack Catholic faith’

February 13 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – People in the Amazon region had no interest at all for the Amazon synod and said , on the contrary , they were used by it “ to attack the Catholic faith.
” Father Ignacio Maria Doñoro should know .
He founded a home for youngsters – boys and adolescents – from the margins of society .
In the Peruvian Amazon , he said in a recent interview with Infovaticana , a major Spanish-speaking Catholic website , what the poor people are thirsting for is God .
Ignacio Maria Doñoro is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chaplains are known – who moved from assisting victims of ETA terrorism to various international missions .
He has been in the Peruvian Amazon for the last 10 years as a part of the Prelature of Moyobamba .
He called his institution “ Hogar Nazaret ” – “ Home of Nazareth ” which takes in high-risk and socially-excluded children and teenagers .
The website of Hogar Nazaret is here .
In the interview , Fr .
Doñoro is very clear about what the Amazon needs : dedicated , celibate priests who have totally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are “ sanctifiers of the people.
” “ After God , priests are everything , ” he told Infovaticana , quoting Saint Jean-Marie Vianney .
Asked about the Pachamama veneration in Rome , he told the interviewer that the boys of Hogar Nazaret so much love Our Lord and the Virgin Mary that they would surely have reacted like “ the young people ” who entered into Santa Maria in Traspontina – Alexander Tschugguel and another person – and threw the “ demonic statuettes ” in the Tiber .
Doñoro added that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them “ in the physical heart of our Holy Mother Church , above the holy remains of St. Peter and St. Paul.
” Below is a translation of the part of Infovaticano journalist Fernando Beltrán ’ s talk with Fr .
Doñoro that directly concerns his work in the Amazon .
It took place and was online before the publication of the Apostolic Exhortation “ Querida Amazonía , ” but remains very timely .
Fernando Beltrán : What are the greatest difficulties facing evangelization in the Amazon ?
Ignacio Maria Doñoro : Difficulties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here talking to them about God , whom they have never heard of , is marvelous .
These people are truly hungry for God .
They are moved .
In El Salvador , something very funny happened to me .
I said a Mass that lasted 45 minutes .
The people were very angry and asked me how it could have lasted so little ; they had not come for hours and hours walking to hear such a short Mass .
They said they wanted to delight more in the Lord and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that I should tell them more , that the Mass should last longer .
The next Mass took me an hour and a half , and to them it also seemed very short ...
The people here are hungry for God .
That is why the presence of God here is very great .
His words resound in the Amazon with great force .
Here you find communities that only have Mass once a year and are happy to be able to welcome the priest .
They love priests very much !
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you , they ask for your blessing … I usually carry several rosaries in my pocket and hand them out throughout the day .
That a priest should give them a rosary is for them a caress from God to their heart .
What these people want and need are holy priests , devoted in body and soul .
FB : What were the Catholics ’ expectations during the recent Synod ?
Did the work and the final document reflect the desires of the Amazonian people in your opinion ?
IMD : Here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which in theory established a dialogue on the problems of the Amazon , had no significance at all .
No one was talking about the Synod .
No one .
They didn ’ t hear about it .
The people here are very poor .
It is also true that , like most , they have television , but what they watch is soap opera .
They don ’ t read newspapers or get information .
In my opinion , it does not make much sense to have made a synod only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that certain issues have been raised , and also about the way they have been raised , because it is strange , but these are things that have nothing to do with the reality of the Amazon .
In the midst of some of the controversies that have arisen around the Synod , some words of Cardinal Robert Sarah , Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments , have given me personally a lot of light : “ I fear that some Westerners are using this assembly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thinking in particular of the ordination of married men , the creation of women ’ s ministries and the jurisdiction of the laity .
These points touch on the structure of the Universal Church .
To take advantage of them to introduce ideological plans would be an unworthy manipulation , a dishonest deception and an insult to God who guides his Church and entrusts her with his plan of salvation .
Furthermore , I was surprised and outraged that the spiritual distress of the poor in the Amazon was used as an excuse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worldly Christianity .
It is abominable.
” I , who have been in this blessed land for 10 years now , first in Madre de Dios , then in Moyobamba , what I see every day is that the simple people are thirsty for God , they thirst for truth .
Christ is the only Truth .
They may be poor , but they are not fools , and they like the truth .
… That is what they need .
That ’ s their greatest desire .
FB : In Europe , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pachamama.
” To what extent is this figure related with the Amazon ?
What did you think when you saw the images of the strange ceremony in the Vatican gardens where one of these figures was worshipped in front of the Pope ?
IMD : I remember with emotion , the moment before the end of the Synod , when they broadcast a video of some young people who entered the church of the Carmelites , near the Vatican , where the demonic statuettes were exposed on an altar , and threw them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can not help thinking that my children of the Nazareth Home , who love Jesus and the Virgin Mary very much , would have felt just as badly as those young people , which would surely have led them to act in a similar way .
Andrea Tornielli , the Vatican ’ s editorial director , called those who committed these acts “ vandals ” and “ new iconoclasts.
” He said that “ this was not idolatry , but a symbol of fertility , of the earth and the sacredness of life.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ supported by such limited concepts , showed the fragility of his reasoning and left a very bitter taste .
I can affirm that I saw these idols for the first time in the images that came to us from Rome .
I wept when I saw them in the physical heart of our Holy Mother Church , above the holy remains of St. Peter and St. Paul .
I was scandalized and , like me , the event scandalized millions of Catholics all over the world .
I think that somehow , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ utilized to attack the Catholic faith .
The last of the earth , the smallest , the weakest , were used to show , moreover , a different reality from the one we experience here .
I repeat that I have not seen the Pachamama or these other idols here and I have been here for 10 years now .
The Catholics of this region with whom I have spoken felt bad when they saw these things that did not represent them or mean anything to them .
They feel , as many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Heart of Jesus .
The only Queen of the Amazon is the Mother of God .
It is precisely this region of the Amazon that is named “ Mother of God ” in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary .
For a Christian – and that also means , of course , a Christian of the Amazon – there is no other God or savior but Jesus Christ , the Son of God , born from the virginal womb of Mary .
FB : During the last few weeks the focus has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which will gather the fruits of the synod .
There are many expectations in this exhortation .
Some have the hope – reflected in the final document of the Synod - that the Pope will allow the ordination of married people for special pastoral needs in those regions .
How would you feel about such a measure ?
In your experience there , do you see the need for such a decision ?
Would that argument not be applicable to other places in the world with a lack of priests ?
IMD @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like the Church throughout the world , needs holy and learned priests , priests who are humble and joyful .
Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that , on one occasion , when she was speaking with a priest , he said , “ Mother , for me Jesus is everything .
I have no time or space left for other affections.
” And Mother Teresa understood that if that priest was bringing so many souls to God , it was because he was united to Him .
I think that today , more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elsewhere in the world , what is needed is not the ordination of married people , but priests in love with Christ .
That is the priest ’ s job : to bear witness of the merciful and unconditional love of Jesus Christ and to bring souls to God .
And all this after years of study , prayer and discernment , after which he is ordained to give glory to God and serve others .
The priest is the sanctifier of God ’ s people .
He is a sanctifier through the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Baptism , the Eucharist and the sacrament of Reconciliation .
The holy Curé d ’ Ars , Saint Jean-Marie Vianney , patron saint of priests , said something that may be shocking because the words he uses are strong , but that contains a great truth : “ After God , the priest is everything !
Leave a parish 20 years without a priest and they will worship the beasts .
When you want to destroy religion , you start by attacking the priest , because where there is no priest , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is no sacrifice , there is no religion.
” I think that today , more than ever , in the Amazon and elsewhere in the world , what is needed is not the ordination of married people , but priests in love with Christ , with an undivided heart that they do not wish to share with anyone else but Him .
God chooses his priests , who consecrate themselves to him in the fullness of their life , in an unconditional “ fiat.
” Christ was celibate and he asks us priests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gift of our virginity , just as he wanted to give it to the Father for love of us .
It is a wonder !
Bishop Rafael Escudero , who was a Synodal Father at the Synod on the Amazon , wanted to warn of the dangers that the ordination of viri probati could entail : “ Old married men who are ordained would mean a kind of second class priesthood and the identity of the Catholic priest would be reduced to a mere sacramental function .
The priest , from being a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of counsel , a teacher of Christian life , a close presence of Christ , would become a mere functionary of the Mass.
” I think that those dangers of which Bishop Escudero warns are real .
The mission entrusted by Christ to the priest is so great – and I quote again the Curé of Ars – that “ if he were to become aware of it , he would die .
God obeys him : he says two words and Our Lord descends from heaven .
The joy of saying Mass @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” All of us priests have read and meditated on these beautiful words hundreds of times .
God has trusted us so much that he has placed himself in our humble hands .
We can not fail him .
We can not lower our ministry or divide it into first and second class priests .
God deserves everything .
FB : One of the issues that carried most weight at the October synod was ecology .
How do you see that problem ?
Do you see it as a priority ?
What do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Church in the Amazon ?
IMD : I am going to answer the first question from the reality I know .
I have taught my children at Hogar Nazareth to respect plants .
The exuberance in the forest is impressive .
Nature is so beautiful that it speaks to us of God and we must respect it .
That is why taking care of our common home is important .
But here in the Amazon , along with a tremendous depredation of nature , there is a depredation of the human being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come to the point of considering that the other is one thing , that the woman is a possession of the man .
... That is why I would have liked the Synod to have raised these kinds of questions and spoken , among other things , about the dignity of women , the dignity of mothers and how to solve many of their problems .
This seems to me to be a priority issue .
Earlier , I quoted Mother Teresa , who is one of the great figures of human history @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the history of the Nazareth Home .
She insisted a lot on the defense of unborn children .
She said that something out of the ordinary happened when the Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth and the unborn child jumped for joy in the presence of Jesus .
“ It is very strange that God would use an unborn child to proclaim the coming of Christ .
We know the things that are happening to unborn children – how their own mothers end their lives !
Abortion has become the greatest destroyer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ truth today .
The unborn children are the poorest of the poor .
They are so close to God !
I always beg the doctors in the hospitals of India never to kill a child .
If no one wants it , I will keep it.
” These words of Mother Teresa move me to action .
Many women are deceived here .
All too often I meet girls who are terrified because they think they have to have an abortion .
The crime of abortion is terrible and we are always struggling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going , despite the lack of financial and human means to help these young women have their children , and regain joy through love .
None of them have ever regretted bringing their child into the world .
Another issue that I consider fundamental is to make a clear and firm commitment to the truth .
For the truth in morals , for the truth in God ’ s revelation ( without sweeteners ) , for the truth in the great debates that are opening up , to face them with courage .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ gender ideology , to the value of human life before its conception and to the end of its days , etc .
At the same time , and together with these great themes , it is fundamental to seek supernatural means , such as prayer , Holy Mass , adoration , personal encounter with the Living Christ in the Eucharist , devotion to the Virgin Mary … I believe that this is what we have to do , here in the Amazon and in the rest of the world , because the Church @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like to give voice to the poor .
Let us not forget the neediest .
The people of the Amazon , precisely because they are the poorest , deserve the best .
They deserve priests who are totally dedicated to their ministry , who become one with Christ , whose heart is undivided .
That is what I believe is needed .
It is not because there is a need for priests that I am going to look for second-rate priests .
… Besides , a formation is needed .
Here the formation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years , much longer than in Spain .
In my Prelature , an immense effort is being made for the seminary .
I think it ’ s a good bet .
That requires forming native priests , and that takes many years , much effort , much sacrifice , much money , and much prayer .
And all this is what is being done in Moyobamba , here , in the Amazon , thanks to God and to the generous dedication of many people .

February 13, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – People in the Amazon region had no interest at all for the Amazon synod and said, on the contrary, they were used by it “to attack the Catholic faith.”
Father Ignacio Maria Doñoro should know. He founded a home for youngsters – boys and adolescents – from the margins of society. In the Peruvian Amazon, he said in a recent interview with Infovaticana, a major Spanish-speaking Catholic website, what the poor people are thirsting for is God.
Ignacio Maria Doñoro is a former “Padre” – as army chaplains are known – who moved from assisting victims of ETA terrorism to various international missions. He has been in the Peruvian Amazon for the last 10 years as a part of the Prelature of Moyobamba. He called his institution “Hogar Nazaret” – “Home of Nazareth” which takes in high-risk and socially-excluded children and teenagers. The website of Hogar Nazaret is here.
In the interview, Fr. Doñoro is very clear about what the Amazon needs: dedicated, celibate priests who have totally given their lives to God and who are “sanctifiers of the people.” “After God, priests are everything,” he told Infovaticana, quoting Saint Jean-Marie Vianney.
Asked about the Pachamama veneration in Rome, he told the interviewer that the boys of Hogar Nazaret so much love Our Lord and the Virgin Mary that they would surely have reacted like “the young people” who entered into Santa Maria in Traspontina – Alexander Tschugguel and another person – and threw the “demonic statuettes” in the Tiber.
Doñoro added that he himself “wept” when he saw them “in the physical heart of our Holy Mother Church, above the holy remains of St. Peter and St. Paul.”
Below is a translation of the part of Infovaticano journalist Fernando Beltrán’s talk with Fr. Doñoro that directly concerns his work in the Amazon. It took place and was online before the publication of the Apostolic Exhortation “Querida Amazonía,” but remains very timely.
***
Fernando Beltrán: What are the greatest difficulties facing evangelization in the Amazon?
Ignacio Maria Doñoro: Difficulties? There are none. To be here talking to them about God, whom they have never heard of, is marvelous. These people are truly hungry for God. They are moved. In El Salvador, something very funny happened to me. I said a Mass that lasted 45 minutes. The people were very angry and asked me how it could have lasted so little; they had not come for hours and hours walking to hear such a short Mass. They said they wanted to delight more in the Lord and that they wanted to know more. And that I should tell them more, that the Mass should last longer. The next Mass took me an hour and a half, and to them it also seemed very short …
The people here are hungry for God. That is why the presence of God here is very great. His words resound in the Amazon with great force.
Here you find communities that only have Mass once a year and are happy to be able to welcome the priest. They love priests very much! You go down the street and everyone greets you, they ask for your blessing …
I usually carry several rosaries in my pocket and hand them out throughout the day. That a priest should give them a rosary is for them a caress from God to their heart. What these people want and need are holy priests, devoted in body and soul.
FB: What were the Catholics’ expectations during the recent Synod? Did the work and the final document reflect the desires of the Amazonian people in your opinion?
IMD: Here in the Amazon Forest, the Synod, which in theory established a dialogue on the problems of the Amazon, had no significance at all. No one was talking about the Synod. No one. They didn’t hear about it. The people here are very poor. It is also true that, like most, they have television, but what they watch is soap opera. They don’t read newspapers or get information.
In my opinion, it does not make much sense to have made a synod only for the Amazon and I am concerned that certain issues have been raised, and also about the way they have been raised, because it is strange, but these are things that have nothing to do with the reality of the Amazon.
In the midst of some of the controversies that have arisen around the Synod, some words of Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, have given me personally a lot of light: “I fear that some Westerners are using this assembly to advance their plans. I am thinking in particular of the ordination of married men, the creation of women’s ministries and the jurisdiction of the laity. These points touch on the structure of the Universal Church. To take advantage of them to introduce ideological plans would be an unworthy manipulation, a dishonest deception and an insult to God who guides his Church and entrusts her with his plan of salvation. Furthermore, I was surprised and outraged that the spiritual distress of the poor in the Amazon was used as an excuse to support typical projects of bourgeois and worldly Christianity. It is abominable.”
I, who have been in this blessed land for 10 years now, first in Madre de Dios, then in Moyobamba, what I see every day is that the simple people are thirsty for God, they thirst for truth. Christ is the only Truth. They may be poor, but they are not fools, and they like the truth. … That is what they need. That’s their greatest desire.
FB: In Europe, the focus has been on “the Pachamama.” To what extent is this figure related with the Amazon? What did you think when you saw the images of the strange ceremony in the Vatican gardens where one of these figures was worshipped in front of the Pope?
IMD: I remember with emotion, the moment before the end of the Synod, when they broadcast a video of some young people who entered the church of the Carmelites, near the Vatican, where the demonic statuettes were exposed on an altar, and threw them into the river Tiber. … I cannot help thinking that my children of the Nazareth Home, who love Jesus and the Virgin Mary very much, would have felt just as badly as those young people, which would surely have led them to act in a similar way.
Andrea Tornielli, the Vatican’s editorial director, called those who committed these acts “vandals” and “new iconoclasts.” He said that “this was not idolatry, but a symbol of fertility, of the earth and the sacredness of life.” His arguments, so weak and supported by such limited concepts, showed the fragility of his reasoning and left a very bitter taste.
I can affirm that I saw these idols for the first time in the images that came to us from Rome. I wept when I saw them in the physical heart of our Holy Mother Church, above the holy remains of St. Peter and St. Paul. I was scandalized and, like me, the event scandalized millions of Catholics all over the world.
I think that somehow, the indigenous people of the Amazon Forest were utilized to attack the Catholic faith. The last of the earth, the smallest, the weakest, were used to show, moreover, a different reality from the one we experience here. I repeat that I have not seen the Pachamama or these other idols here and I have been here for 10 years now.
The Catholics of this region with whom I have spoken felt bad when they saw these things that did not represent them or mean anything to them. They feel, as many do, a need to repair the Heart of Jesus. The only Queen of the Amazon is the Mother of God. It is precisely this region of the Amazon that is named “Mother of God” in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
For a Christian – and that also means, of course, a Christian of the Amazon – there is no other God or savior but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born from the virginal womb of Mary.
FB: During the last few weeks the focus has been on Pope Francis’ next post-synodal exhortation, which will gather the fruits of the synod. There are many expectations in this exhortation. Some have the hope – reflected in the final document of the Synod – that the Pope will allow the ordination of married people for special pastoral needs in those regions. How would you feel about such a measure? In your experience there, do you see the need for such a decision? Would that argument not be applicable to other places in the world with a lack of priests?
IMD: I believe that the Amazon, like the Church throughout the world, needs holy and learned priests, priests who are humble and joyful. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that, on one occasion, when she was speaking with a priest, he said, “Mother, for me Jesus is everything. I have no time or space left for other affections.” And Mother Teresa understood that if that priest was bringing so many souls to God, it was because he was united to Him.
I think that today, more than ever, in the Amazon and elsewhere in the world, what is needed is not the ordination of married people, but priests in love with Christ.
That is the priest’s job: to bear witness of the merciful and unconditional love of Jesus Christ and to bring souls to God. And all this after years of study, prayer and discernment, after which he is ordained to give glory to God and serve others.
The priest is the sanctifier of God’s people. He is a sanctifier through the sacraments he administers: above all, Baptism, the Eucharist and the sacrament of Reconciliation. The holy Curé d’Ars, Saint Jean-Marie Vianney, patron saint of priests, said something that may be shocking because the words he uses are strong, but that contains a great truth: “After God, the priest is everything! Leave a parish 20 years without a priest and they will worship the beasts. When you want to destroy religion, you start by attacking the priest, because where there is no priest, there is no sacrifice, and where there is no sacrifice, there is no religion.”
I think that today, more than ever, in the Amazon and elsewhere in the world, what is needed is not the ordination of married people, but priests in love with Christ, with an undivided heart that they do not wish to share with anyone else but Him.
God chooses his priests, who consecrate themselves to him in the fullness of their life, in an unconditional “fiat.” Christ was celibate and he asks us priests to espouse him and give him the gift of our virginity, just as he wanted to give it to the Father for love of us. It is a wonder!
Bishop Rafael Escudero, who was a Synodal Father at the Synod on the Amazon, wanted to warn of the dangers that the ordination of viri probati could entail: “Old married men who are ordained would mean a kind of second class priesthood and the identity of the Catholic priest would be reduced to a mere sacramental function. The priest, from being a pastor of the community, a source of counsel, a teacher of Christian life, a close presence of Christ, would become a mere functionary of the Mass.”
I think that those dangers of which Bishop Escudero warns are real. The mission entrusted by Christ to the priest is so great – and I quote again the Curé of Ars – that “if he were to become aware of it, he would die. God obeys him: he says two words and Our Lord descends from heaven. The joy of saying Mass will not be understood except in heaven.” All of us priests have read and meditated on these beautiful words hundreds of times. God has trusted us so much that he has placed himself in our humble hands. We cannot fail him. We cannot lower our ministry or divide it into first and second class priests. God deserves everything.
FB: One of the issues that carried most weight at the October synod was ecology. How do you see that problem? Do you see it as a priority? What do you think should be the priorities for the Church in the Amazon?
IMD: I am going to answer the first question from the reality I know. I have taught my children at Hogar Nazareth to respect plants. The exuberance in the forest is impressive. Nature is so beautiful that it speaks to us of God and we must respect it. That is why taking care of our common home is important.
But here in the Amazon, along with a tremendous depredation of nature, there is a depredation of the human being. People are trafficked, and we come to the point of considering that the other is one thing, that the woman is a possession of the man. … That is why I would have liked the Synod to have raised these kinds of questions and spoken, among other things, about the dignity of women, the dignity of mothers and how to solve many of their problems. This seems to me to be a priority issue.
Earlier, I quoted Mother Teresa, who is one of the great figures of human history, and who has much to do with the history of the Nazareth Home. She insisted a lot on the defense of unborn children. She said that something out of the ordinary happened when the Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth and the unborn child jumped for joy in the presence of Jesus. “It is very strange that God would use an unborn child to proclaim the coming of Christ. We know the things that are happening to unborn children – how their own mothers end their lives! Abortion has become the greatest destroyer of peace, of love, of truth today. The unborn children are the poorest of the poor. They are so close to God! I always beg the doctors in the hospitals of India never to kill a child. If no one wants it, I will keep it.”
These words of Mother Teresa move me to action. Many women are deceived here. All too often I meet girls who are terrified because they think they have to have an abortion. The crime of abortion is terrible and we are always struggling to get the Home for Unborn Children going, despite the lack of financial and human means to help these young women have their children, and regain joy through love. None of them have ever regretted bringing their child into the world.
Another issue that I consider fundamental is to make a clear and firm commitment to the truth. For the truth in morals, for the truth in God’s revelation (without sweeteners), for the truth in the great debates that are opening up, to face them with courage. I refer, for example, to gender ideology, to the value of human life before its conception and to the end of its days, etc.
At the same time, and together with these great themes, it is fundamental to seek supernatural means, such as prayer, Holy Mass, adoration, personal encounter with the Living Christ in the Eucharist, devotion to the Virgin Mary … I believe that this is what we have to do, here in the Amazon and in the rest of the world, because the Church is universal.
Finally, I would like to give voice to the poor. Let us not forget the neediest. The people of the Amazon, precisely because they are the poorest, deserve the best. They deserve priests who are totally dedicated to their ministry, who become one with Christ, whose heart is undivided. That is what I believe is needed. It is not because there is a need for priests that I am going to look for second-rate priests. … Besides, a formation is needed. Here the formation of priests lasts a minimum of 10 years, much longer than in Spain. In my Prelature, an immense effort is being made for the seminary. I think it’s a good bet. That requires forming native priests, and that takes many years, much effort, much sacrifice, much money, and much prayer. And all this is what is being done in Moyobamba, here, in the Amazon, thanks to God and to the generous dedication of many people.
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