(Above, a rainbow flag placed at the Altar in this was a queer Mass celebrated in Munich this spring by Cardinal Reinhard Marx who now claims homosexuality is not sin.
Today I was contacted by a friend from the US. This link takes me to UnHerd’s piece that describes Germany as “Europe’s bordello.” Because “industrialized prostitution” and sex trading are out of control in Germany. How are the Catholic bishops of the country addressing this crisis? They must disassemble the Church’s teachings about sexual morality as quickly as possible.
Some of the German Catholic laity don’t sit idly by while their bishops demolish the Church. New Beginning is trying alert Catholics all over the world about the events in Germany. It hopes that corruption and deceit don’t spread beyond Germany’s borders. Here is a link to their website. This group claims that the corrupt episcopal elites are trying to take down Catholicism. Most Catholics have either stayed away or opted to not participate in this process because they don’t feel able to make any changes. The site (emphasis added in the original):
Few Catholics in Germany and worldwide have ever gone through all the paper and made a decision under the pretense of reforming the abuse scandal. While the ‘”faithful” and their desires for reforms are discussed there, few Catholics take part in this discussion, which is mostly pushed forward by Church officials. Many Catholics in Germany consciously avoid the discussion because they don’t want to be involved and are not heard.
They claim that many German bishops do bad things under the cover of bureaucracy and confusion. So:
We have taken the initiative of the Catholic laity to shed light on the many foundational and implementation texts. For you and all others, we have created a compilation that includes the most important topics and quotes from the orientation text as well as all four forums in the Synodal Path. All information has been translated into many languages. (Spanish, English, Italian). The texts are available to download in the appropriate languages by clicking the link below. The texts speak for themselves. This is more transparent than the media interpretations which circulate widely and are widely disseminated. You can read the German Synodal Path for yourself!
Dear Cardinals and Bishops: Please read the summaries from the German Synodal Path decisions and, if necessary, let us know your opinion. We are Catholic laity in Germany and we ask for your prayers.
New Beginning does this by translating the German bishops’ words and disseminating these words so that Catholics all over the world know what these bishops do. It is shocking. This official statement by the bishops regarding the Synodal Path’s reforms is a clear indication that they are ignoring long-standing, authoritative Catholic teaching.
(30) “Reforms are an essential part of the tradition: Worship changes; doctrine develops; Caritas emerges. Tradition is the act of looking at the Church as it exists today and the faith that God has given to shape it. The Church tradition is open to all.
context of new discoveries and new insights and new experiences that challenge traditional faith, call for new responses that testify deeper to the revealed truths of God. This serves the Church’s growth, the proclamation and communion with all those to whom God’s grace extends. The wisdom and philosophy of the peoples, science, and the arts, as well as the daily life of the Church, were and continue to be inspiring factors in the development and ongoing unfolding of the tradition. Prophetic voices can be found both within and outside of the Church. The way people live and think over time changes. Tradition shapes these changes and helps shape them.
Traditional Anglicans, Episcopalians and trads from other Mainline Protestant traditions will all know what’s happening here. This is the bare assertion that the Spirit of What’s Happening Now, as expressed in Scripture and authoritative Tradition, is more important than Holy Spirit.
These passages are from Synodal documents. Again, emphasis is on New Beginning.
The German bishops deny truth in plain English. They want to make space for radical theological dissent within Catholic Church. They will take over the entire Catholic Church when they have full power. This has been the case in almost all churches that have been overthrown by progressives. This is a trap that traditionalist Protestants in the Mainline fall for every day. It is absurd for Catholic bishops — Catholic Bishops! It is absurd to say that Catholicism has a “legitimate diversity of core beliefs.” This claim is at the heart of Catholicism, as it relates to being under the authority and authority of the Pope, bishops, and Magisterium (teaching authority).
The Synod wants to change the definition of priesthood from a sacramental model, to one that is more Protestant preaching. They want priests’ main function to be proclaiming God’s Word and not celebrating Mass. They also want women priests and God-knows what-else priests.
You can read more here. Pope John Paul II’s final ruling on the ordination and ordination of women to priesthood was “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis”.
If you disagree with the revisionist progressives, Don’t forget to talk about multiple truths.
It’s mostly about sex. It is always about sex. This PDF translation contains some Synodal statements about sexuality.
These people are insane! It is absurd to claim that Catholic sexual teachings compelled priests molest and sodomize minors and children, particularly boys. It is just plain obscene. There’s more.
They pledge to challenge the Church’s teachings on sex, marriage and contraception. They even proposed to legalize pounding one’s Panzer. And:
It is false on two fronts. The first is the brazen claim that homosexuality does not pose a risk for sexual abuse. However, it is completely contrary to the facts. The John Jay report in the USA found that more than 80 percent of victims of sexual abuse were men. In seminaries and clerical institutions, there were homosexual networks that existed. This, while not necessarily causing abuse but made it difficult for priests who had been sex with gay men to speak out against minor abusers. Richard Sipe, a prominent scholar on clerical sexual behavior, was a church liberal. In 2002, he stated that gay men shouldn’t be allowed to seminary. This was not because they couldn’t make good priests — he was a liberal again — but for their protection. A man with same-sex attraction would have difficulty maintaining chastity because the networks were so prevalent and aggressive. Sipe said that even if he falls, it will be “tamed” because the predators in the network will know that he was blackmailable, and they won’t have to worry that he challenges them.
It is important to clarify: being gay does not automatically make you an abuser. This is evidently true for heterosexuals as well. It is a fabrication to say that homosexuality in the Catholic priesthood was not responsible for the abuse scandal. Even if homosexuality was not considered a risk factor for sexual abuse it does not mean that the Catholic Church should change its teachings on sexuality. Because homosexuals can sexually abuse children, the Bible doesn’t tell us what it says about homosexuality. I’m 100 percent certain that Synodal participants are aware of this. They simply want to use this deceptive logic in order to overturn Catholic teaching.
More:
German Catholic bishops who accept the Synodal path want to claim that the Church does not have the authority to teach sexual teaching. The autonomous individual is responsible for sex. Some laity believe that sexual relationships with their partners are “joyful” and liberating, and these feelings override Biblical truth. As I recall the German Catholic bishops telling Moses from the summit at Sinai that they felt an irreparable disconnect between Mosaic teaching and their joyful, liberating religious experiences of worshipping a golden calves.
They will certainly queer the Church publically, not just behind closed doors.
It is there. It is a bright red line. The Bible defines sin as a sin. And the Catholic Church considers sinful for nearly two thousand years. It is no longer a crime. So say German bishops. If anyone in the German Church attempts to hire or fire people based on the teachings of the Catholic Church:
And:
New Beginning has also translated key Synod officials’ media interviews. Here is an example of an interview with Helmut Dieser (the Bishop of Aachen):
Recently, you said that homosexuality can be willed by God. What does that mean?
Bishop Dieser: The science of homosexuality is – as science proves – not a mishap or a disease. It’s an expression.
It is not a result of original sin. The world is vibrant, I have to add.
Creation is varied. Then I might also be open to accepting diversity in the field of sexuality.
It is a will of God and does no harm to the Will of God
God doesn’t have anything against a man and a woman being together.
Bishop Dieser: The feeling of having sex and loving one another is not an anomaly, but a variation of human sexuality.
These are excerpts of a Star interview with Cardinal Reinhard Marsch, the Archbishop from Munich, this March. They were translated by New Beginning
As archbishop and first cardinal, your church celebrated a queer service. Is homosexuality not a sin in the church until recent times?
Marx: Homosexuality does not constitute a sin. It demonstrates a Christian attitude to have two people stand up for one another in joy and pain. This is the primacy and importance of love, particularly in sexual encounters. Although I have to admit, I wouldn’t have thought of celebrating a church service in this manner ten or fifteen year ago. It was something I looked forward to.
Why now?
Marx: We have tried for years to make it possible for queer people to be included in the archdiocese. Since 2000, there has been a queer Catholic community that holds regular church services. They invited me to this anniversary. They had been through hostilities and it was important to them that they find a home in the Church.
Many conservatives will find it provocative to see a cardinal holding a rainbow flag at his altar. Is Rome calling you already?
Marx: Although I have received a lot of letters about this topic in recent years, I believe I am doing the right things. Since years, I feel more comfortable expressing my opinions and want to share the church doctrine. The church is evolving with the times: LGBTQ+ people are created and loved by God, and we all have a responsibility to fight discrimination. Although the church may be slower in certain areas, this trend is everywhere. A few years back, many companies wouldn’t have allowed openly gay board members.
No company has homosexuality included in its company statutes.
Marx: Why do you talk about sin so often? It’s about the quality and quantity of relationships. Sin is turning away, away from God and the Gospel. You cannot assume this of those in same-sex relationships, then say, “Away with them.”
Please explain why homosexual, queer and transgender persons should be included in Catholic doctrine.
Marx: The inclusive ethics we are referring to is not more relaxed than some may claim. It is not about meeting at eye level and respecting each other. It is in the relationship that love is demonstrated. This means not making the other person an object, not using or humiliating them, being loyal to one another, and reliable. The Catechism does not have a set of rules. You are allowed to question what is there. These questions were discussed during the family synod, but we were reluctant to write anything. I stated that there are people who live in intimate, loving relationships and also have a sexual expression. We are going to argue that this is not worth anything. There are some people who believe sexuality is a limited thing that can be reproduced, but what does this tell those who cannot have children? It is a little strange for me to talk too much about sexuality details.
After complaining that the interviewer won’t ask him about other Christian teachings he then says that he doesn’t have much interest in talking about the Incarnation or other topics. It’s true, he’s correct about that. However, it is also true that Cardinal Marx can claim that a 2,000 year-old moral teaching of Catholicism, one that is solidly grounded in Scripture and is most deeply rooted in the Bible’s human-person model, can be overturned with a vote by the bishops. Then, who cares about what they have to share about the Incarnation. They will have proven that the Catholic Church’s claims to magisterial power are nonsense.
To me, it seems obvious that the German Catholic Church institutionally is in schism. Not only me but also the New Beginning People. After the September Synodal Path meeting, they issued a press release stating, in part:
The “New Beginning” initiative sees the formation of a German national clergy at the 4th Plenary Assembly of the Synodal Path. The Holy See still stated unambiguously on July 21: “The Synodal Path” in Germany was not authorized to compel the faithful and bishops to adopt new forms of governance, new orientations of doctrine or morals. Today, we know that the synodals and the majority of German bishops violated the directive in spirit, letter, and even with stated intention. They accepted texts that undermine the Church’s magisterium, undermine episcopal authority, and destroy the Church’s continuing teachings on Christian anthropology (“created in man and woman”) on love, marriage and sexuality. The Presidium also announced that it would not accept the negative vote against Forum IV’s basic text, “Living with Successful Relationships,”
The paper, which scandalously elevates homosexual and bisexual practices morally and theologically, was defeated in the vote of 21 brave bishops. Several bishops declared against all synodality, every understanding of democracy, that they would still orient themselves in their respective dioceses to this rejected draft. On his own, Bishop Georg Batzing declared that he would still introduce the text to the worldwide synodal process as well as submit it for the ad-limina visit by the German bishops in Rome. We wonder: What’s the point of having debates and votes about the Synodal Path if every “unwanted result” is just ignored? This includes the president of Germany
Bishops’ Conference?
More:
Some bishops, including the president of German Bishops’ Conferece, have already stated that they will continue to implement their “proposals” in Rome even if they are rejected. Announcements are making it clear that the “testimony to unity” with which the Body is faithful to Christ the Lord is being undermined. There is also a new “German Catholic” next to the “Roman Catholic”.
The majority of German bishops will leave the faithful who are bound by the Catholic faith alone. How can they trust “their” bishops if the majority of them deny truths to believe by virtue of the catholic faith? 751 CIC), communion with the universal Church
These decisions place priests above all in precarious situations: If a priest or religious educator represents the binding ethics, and he preaches it in catechesis, he is immediately released from discipline and goes into the ecclesiastical out in the Synodal Path.
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This is a link to New Beginning’s website, where you will find all of this information and more. Chrome will automatically display the German language when you use it. They must also have an English mode, I believe. We praise God for these brave Catholics. Germany’s Catholic Church is the most wealthy national Catholic church in all of Europe. Phil Lawler, a Catholic writer, explained the reasons for this in an article from a few years ago. Excerpt:
First, consider the money flowing into the Catholic Church. This is not because the faithful drop money in the collection plates at Mass but because they are required to contribute a portion of their income to the Church by law. German law states that anyone who is registered as a member or associate of a religious congregation must pay the “churchtax” which is collected by government. The government is responsible for the majority of the Catholic Church’s wealth in Germany. Only the faithful are indirectly affected. The potential for corruption, which is the ability to bend Church policies in order to have smooth dealings between the government and the Church, should be apparent right away.
Also, notice that I use the term “faithful” loosely when I say the funds are indirectly received from them. German citizens are obligated to pay the “church tax” regardless of whether they are actively involved in their religious community. Any Catholic who is registered is subject to the ‘church tax’ regardless of whether he shows up at a parish church.
Two things can be drawn from this curious policy. The first is that the Catholic Church enjoys enormous financial power. The second is that the Catholic hierarchy has an obvious and compelling incentive to increase the number of Catholics who are registered, regardless of whether or not they practice their faith.
The financial wealth of Germany’s Church is incredible. In the past three years, the ‘church tax’ has generated more than EUR5 trillion ( $5.3 Billion) with actual revenues trending up. This huge income allows the German hierarchy sponsor a variety of educational, social, and medical programs. The Catholic Church is actually the 2nd largest employer in the country, after the government.
The “Bishop Of Bling” was the subject of much media attention last year. He was Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz van Elst who resigned as head of Limburg diocese following criticisms for spending $43million to remodel his residence. His spending habits are not that different from other German prelates. For example, Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich is the president of the German Bishops’ Conference and a member of Pope’s Council of Cardinals. He has spent $186 million to build his new archdiocesan headquarters.
A German cardinal can earn a salary of approximately $16,000 per month, which is three times that of his American counterpart. This figure does not include his home, car, health care and travel expenses. A German prelate is paid the same compensation as a senior corporate executive, which in reality, he does. The state pays the prelate, which is a key difference.
However, the state only pays if citizens register as Catholics. The government supports Church-sponsored programs and also pays bishops if there is a drop in the number of Catholics who are registered. The bishops are suspicious of Catholics who don’t register their church affiliation. In fact, the German hierarchy has taken steps against unregistered Catholics from receiving the sacraments.
This cannot continue.
