{"id":62737,"date":"2026-09-15T10:48:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T08:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/?p=62737"},"modified":"2026-09-15T10:48:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T08:48:50","slug":"synodality-under-scrutiny-cardinals-raise-serious-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2026\/09\/15\/synodality-under-scrutiny-cardinals-raise-serious-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Synodality Under Scrutiny: Cardinals Raise Serious Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"synodality<\/p>\n

Several cardinals are voicing synodality doubts<\/strong>, urging the Church to carefully consider how this approach should serve ecclesial communion and mission.<\/i><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

The debate over synodality<\/strong><\/mark> remains very much alive in the Church.<\/p>\n

Some reject<\/strong> it outright, others promote it as an anticipated form of democracy and progress<\/strong>, while others simply call for its meaning to be clarified<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And there are many positions in between.<\/p>\n

The debate is also taking place among bishops and cardinals<\/strong> themselves, ahead of the 2028<\/strong> ecclesial assembly, which will assess the synodal process and its implementation.<\/p>\n

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Stay up to date by subscribing<\/strong> to our new channels:<\/p>\n

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Cardinal Scola: Church or Parliament?<\/h2>\n

A particularly significant position has been expressed by Cardinal Angelo Scola<\/strong>, Archbishop Emeritus of Milan.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, he argued that synodality \u00abmust\u00bb<\/i> have a future in the Church, so that \u00abthe attempt to give form to communal action<\/strong> can become an effective way of putting Christian life into practice\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The former Archbishop of Milan, however, also warned against the risk of turning the Church into a kind of parliament<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For Scola, the starting point is therefore not synodality itself, but communion<\/strong>: synodality must be a method at the service of ecclesial life, rather than becoming the Church’s organizing principle.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

As a Bishop, What I Think of the Synod’s Synthesis Report<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\n(27\/10\/2025)<\/small><\/p>\n

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Brandm\u00fcller and the Protestant Influence<\/h2>\n

The judgment of Cardinal Walter Brandm\u00fcller<\/strong> is much more direct.<\/p>\n

The Church historian recently distinguished<\/a><\/strong> between the Catholic synod and a democratic conception of synodality which, in his view, would be influenced by the Protestant model developed by Luther in the 16th century.<\/p>\n

The main issue concerns the idea of giving everyone an \u00abequal voice\u00bb<\/em>, laypeople and pastors<\/strong> alike, through democratic procedures. Such a model, Brandm\u00fcller argues, would be incompatible<\/strong> with Catholic ecclesiology.<\/p>\n

He also proposed restoring greater importance to \u00absynods of the particular Churches\u00bb<\/i>, provided that they remain faithful to the hierarchical structure<\/strong> of the Church.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

What Is Synodality? A Useful Clarification of Its Distortions<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\n(18\/09\/2025)<\/small><\/p>\n

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What Is Its Purpose? The Question Raised in the Netherlands<\/h2>\n

From the Netherlands came a strongly critical position from Auxiliary Bishop Rob Mutsaerts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In a letter<\/a><\/em><\/strong> to Leo XIV, he asked whether the entire synodal process<\/strong> is actually bringing people closer to Christ and salvation.<\/p>\n

In his view, the Church should not become a permanent \u00ablistening organization\u00bb<\/i>, but should clearly proclaim<\/strong> what human beings are called to.<\/p>\n

His bishop, Gerard de Korte<\/strong>, publicly criticized<\/a><\/em><\/strong> Mutsaerts’ decision to address the Pope through an open letter, while not commenting on the substance of his objections.<\/p>\n

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\"synodality<\/p>\n

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Synodality: Cardinal Sarah’s Doubts<\/h2>\n

Cardinal Robert Sarah<\/strong>, Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, made a particularly significant point<\/a><\/em><\/strong>: \u00abCommunion<\/strong> is an end; synodality<\/strong> is a means, to be tested\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n

In other words, synodality is not an end in itself but must be assessed according to its capacity to serve<\/strong> ecclesial communion.<\/p>\n

On the same occasion, again speaking about synodality, the Guinean cardinal observed that it should be \u00abtheologically grounded in the notion of communion<\/strong>, which is much older and richer, also in order to avoid ideological distortions\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Synodality: The Bishop Remains the One Who Makes Decisions<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\n(13\/06\/2026)<\/small><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

M\u00fcller: Risks to the Church’s Hierarchy<\/h2>\n

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig M\u00fcller<\/strong>, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has also criticized<\/a><\/em><\/strong> the proposal to replace the Church’s hierarchical model<\/strong> with a democratic process, going so far as to call it a \u00absin against the Holy Spirit\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n

He subsequently returned to the issue, stating that during the two sessions of the Synod he had personally witnessed a process that was allegedly being used to weaken<\/strong> the Church’s hierarchical-sacramental structure and replace it with a kind of \u00abupside-down pyramid\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n

While challenging a widespread interpretation of the synodal process, Cardinal M\u00fcller acknowledges<\/a><\/em><\/strong> in synodality \u00abthe principle of shared responsibility<\/strong>\u00bb<\/i>. Because \u00abwe cannot say that one part of the Church, such as the laity, is passive, while another, the Magisterium and the bishops, is active. We have a shared responsibility\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"synodality<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What Is Catholic Synodality?<\/h2>\n

The comparison between these positions therefore shows that the issue is not simply being \u00abfor\u00bb<\/em> or \u00abagainst\u00bb synodality<\/em><\/strong>. It would be immature to reduce the debate to this, although some unfortunately do.<\/p>\n

Rather, the question is which form of synodality<\/strong> is truly compatible with the nature of the Catholic Church: a method capable of fostering communion and the shared responsibility of the faithful, without<\/strong> turning the Church into a democracy or losing sight of its sacramental and hierarchical structure.<\/p>\n

A reassurance in this regard came three months ago<\/a><\/em><\/strong> from a conference attended by Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the General Secretariat of the Synod.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cardinals raise synodality doubts, questioning how the process can serve communion without weakening the Church’s hierarchy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":15,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2217,2219,1591,2216,2218],"class_list":["post-62737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-angelo-scola","tag-gerhard-ludwig-muller","tag-robert-sarah","tag-synodality-doubts","tag-walter-brandmuller"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSynodality Under Scrutiny: Cardinals Raise Serious Questions - UCCR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cardinals raise synodality doubts, questioning how the process can serve communion without weakening the Church's hierarchy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2026\/09\/15\/synodality-under-scrutiny-cardinals-raise-serious-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Synodality Under Scrutiny: Cardinals Raise Serious Questions - 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