Spanish bishop warns that the Synod on Synodality cant re-invent the mission of the Church – Catholic News Agency

The Church is not a parliament

Fernndez emphasized that the synodal process cannot be equated to the way in which secular governments draft, debate, and pass their laws. "The synods and assemblies are not to contradict what the Spirit says to his Church as if the Church were a civil parliament, which changes the laws at the demand of the voters, he said.

For this reason, he said, warnings about the danger of schism in the case of the Church in Germany also must be applied to the Synod on Synodality.

"What is happening at the Synod of the Church in Germany, and that the Holy See has warned that it doesnt have the power to oblige the bishops and the faithful to adopt new forms of government and new approaches to doctrine and morals ought to be applied to the whole Church, Fernndez said.

Synods and assemblies. May God help us in these moments of turbulence in society and also in the Church, the prelate added.

One of the controversies that have been part of the process of the Synod on Synodality took place in Spain, where the archdioceses of Barcelona and Zaragoza included among their proposals the abolition of priestly celibacy and that women have access to the priesthood.

In the final synthesis of the diocesan phase of the Synod on Synodality, which was closed June 11 by the Spanish Bishops Conference, it states that "although these are issues raised only in some dioceses and, in them, by a small number of groups or individuals, we see fit to incorporate into this synthesis, due to their relevance in the essential ecclesial dialogue and with our fellow citizens, the request they make regarding the need to discern in greater depth the issue concerning optional celibacy in the case of priests and the ordination of married men; to a lesser extent, the issue of women's ordination has also come up.

The synthesis published by the Spanish Bishops Conference will go to Rome to be included in the previous work of the Synod on Synodality.

The Synod of Bishops, which will have as its theme "For a Synodal Church: communion, participation, and mission," will be held in October 2023 at the Vatican.

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When inaugurating the work of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 10, 2021, Pope Francis said that "the synod is a path of spiritual discernment, of ecclesial discernment, which takes place in adoration, in prayer, in contact with the Word of God.

The preparation for the Synod has three stages: at the diocesan level, the continental level, and at the level of the Universal Church.

This last stage will take place when the General Secretariat of the Synod sends to the participants of the Synodal Assembly the text of the second Instrumentum Laboris, or working document of the Synod.

This second working instrument will be the one that the Synod Fathers will discuss in the Synodal Assembly in October 2023.

At the conclusion of their debates, the Synod Fathers will present a final document to Pope Francis.

Finally, the Holy Father could publish a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, which does not necessarily have to agree with the final document of the Synod Fathers.

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Spanish bishop warns that the Synod on Synodality cant re-invent the mission of the Church - Catholic News Agency