From the article in America Magazine discussing the working document:
"Since its release in June, the instrumentum laboris or working document for the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region has provoked fierce criticism from some segments of the Catholic Church, with responses from influential cardinals and petitions against it circulating on the internet.
"...German Cardinals Walter Brandmüeller and Gerhard Müeller, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith until 2017, both presented extended critiques of the working document."
"...Cardinal Brandmüeller objected to the terminology of parts of the document, particularly formulations like “Mother Earth” and “the cry of the earth and of the poor.” In his opinion, such choice of words reflects an anti-rational reproach of the Western culture, leading to a “pantheistic idolatry of nature.”
"The cardinal also raised questions about the “real intentions” of the organizers of the synod, saying that they hope to abolish priestly celibacy and to allow the ordination of women ministers."
"In fact, in a brief section about the challenges of the church in relation to the vast territorial distances in the Amazon, the document suggests the possibility of ordaining married men—especially indigenous men—and a study on “the type of official ministry that can be conferred to women,” who play a central role in the Amazonian church."
"But for the Pan-Amazon Synod’s organizers and sympathizers, much of the unhappiness with “New Paths” simply reflects the critics’ Eurocentricism. Many, the Rev. Dario Bossi said, “have little knowledge of the Amazon and in some cases have no commitment to its people.”
It seems to be a case of the "usual suspects" having an axe to grind. I don't see in their comments much concern for ministry to the actual people who live in Amazonia, or for the availability of the sacraments to the people. I wonder what the naysayers would have said about the efforts of missionaries such as St. Francis Xavier, or Matteo Ricci, who worked to build bridges from the Church to the cultures of the people they ministered to.
UPDATES:
Here are some links to articles on the NCR site today, dealing with the Synod:
The Decolonial and Intercultural Hopes of the Pan-Amazon Synod by Daniel P. Horan
and The Amazon Synod Has Set Pope Francis' Professional Haters on Edge by Sean Michael Winters.
UPDATES:
Here are some links to articles on the NCR site today, dealing with the Synod:
The Decolonial and Intercultural Hopes of the Pan-Amazon Synod by Daniel P. Horan
and The Amazon Synod Has Set Pope Francis' Professional Haters on Edge by Sean Michael Winters.
Thanks for posting the article and the link. I would also encourage everyone to read the Working Document.
ReplyDeleteI am very busy today and tomorrow so I may not make extensive comments, but I will likely comment on a couple of issues either in response to the discussion here, or else as a separate post linked to some other material.
We should take synods seriously. John Allen has joked that Francis has down the unthinkable, actually making synods interesting for the press and the participants. Under previous Pope they were very dry and predictable. The joke was the JP2 read his breviary because he had already written the post synodal exhortation to tell every body what it was all about.
The British Jesuits' on-line mag has a good article on the synod. I think you can reach it this way:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/synod-amazon-new-paths-whole-world?mc_cid=5cffa28001&mc_eid=26a3f6c658
Unlike Brandmueller and Mueller, the author knows what he is talking about. Unfortunately, most of what too many Americans will know will come directly or diluted from B&M.
I just gotta add that Herr Dr. Cardinal Bradmuller's objection to "the cry of the earth and of the poor" ignores Romans 8:22, plus Job 34:28 and the 34th psalm. That's what I hear in those words. If he hears something else, he ought to get his nose out of AfD pamphlets and get back to his Breviary.
Thanks for the link, Tom. It is a good article. I had never come across the British Jesuits' journal before.
DeleteThanks Tom, for this excellent short article on the complexity of the conversations that take place with regard to the Amazon region.
DeleteThe indigenous practices of ‘good living’ are certainly different from our ideas of the ‘good life.’
We are not conversing with pristine native cultures but rather with complex cultural adaptations to centuries of colonization, industrialization, and now the global culture.
Ecclesial structures and authorities are not neutral and external above the socio-economic history. Rather they are a part of the colonization, industrialization, and the global culture. Hence the necessity of conversion as well as conversation.
Finally because of the global economy we have much responsibility for what happens in the Amazon. However the changes that need to take place in the USA are different from those that need to take place in the Amazon.
I think the article could have articulated better the integration between socio-economic-cultural changes and environment changes that are behind the notion of “integral ecology”. I agree with MSW that we need a better word than “integral.” Maybe “holistic” if that word didn’t have its own problems.
Finally in this article as well as much else coming from our ecclesial elites I am turned off by phrases like “the assault of the technocratic paradigm.” As if industrialization, and technology were evils in themselves and we just need to go back to the good old days of economies built on agriculture. The central problem is that the “billionaires” whether in agricultural, industrial, or technological societies are exploiting most of the people. Such language betrays that the ecclesial elites are also part of the problem.
Jim Pauwels made a comment on one of Jim McCrea's email threads that he was surprised to find out that the Synod would take place in Rome rather than somewhere in Amazonia. I was also surprised, until he mentioned it. I had just assumed that it would be in South America. But I suppose the pope can't just hunker down in SA for most of a month; he has other things going on at the same time.
ReplyDeletePunctuation changes the meaning, I shouldn't have put a period between "it" and "I" above.
DeleteFr. Tom Reese said, somewhere, that the attendees are "mostly" from Amazonia. I imagine that with President Jair Bolsonaro modeling himself on Trump, it's probably safer for some of the participants to say what they have to say in Rome instead of in Rio. Just guessing.
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