The world synod begins in the Vatican on Wednesday. Several conservative churchmen are demanding answers to key questions in advance. They are critical of the Pope’s reform approaches.
Shortly before the World Synod in Rome, five cardinals called on Pope Francis to clarify central questions of Catholic teaching in a critical letter.
The churchmen, who are considered conservative, including the German Walter Brandmüller, asked the head of the Catholic Church five critical questions on controversial topics in a so-called Dubia letter, as Brandmüller confirmed at the request of the German Press Agency. Several Catholic media had previously reported.
In a dubia letter, theological questions are framed as doubts, to which the pope usually responds in a “yes-or-no” format. According to media reports, the cardinals wanted to know whether blessing ceremonies for homosexual couples and the ordination of women should remain banned.
They also referred to the world synod beginning on Wednesday and asked whether it could exercise decision-making power that should primarily be reserved for the pope or the college of bishops. According to observers, the five are critical of the Pope’s reform approaches.
Not the first letter
The cardinals sent a first version of the letter in July, to which the Pope also responded. However, according to media reports, his answer was not in the usual dubia format, which is why the cardinals wrote another letter to the pontiff in August with reformulated questions. They received no answer to this. The letter then became public two days before the start of the eagerly awaited world synod. At the meeting in the Vatican, clergy and non-clergy debated about participation and a different way of dealing with things in the church.
In addition to the 94-year-old Brandmüller, Cardinals Raymond Burke from the USA, Juan Sandoval from Mexico, Robert Sarah from Guinea and the Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, Joseph Zen, also wrote the letter. Brandmüller wrote a similar critical letter to the Pope in 2016, causing displeasure in the Vatican. Back then it was about dealing with divorcees.
Source: Stern
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