Amazon Synod IL: Five-part series highlighting its errors

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tolle_Lege
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tolle_Lege

Guest
Monsignor Pope from the Archdiocese of Washington is writing a five-part series on the working document for the upcoming Amazon Synod, and how the document itself serves as a microcosm for larger errors prevalent in the Church today. In summary, the series topics are:
  1. Errors of the Synod working document, especially the overemphasis on environmentalism over evangelization
  2. The demonization of the West and Christendom (e.g., the Amazon natives are pure, simple and spiritual as opposed to savage, Western Christians who have colonized many areas)
  3. The new and erroneous emphasis the Church has put on “listening” instead of teaching
  4. “Where is Jesus?” The working document does not seem to believe Christ is necessary to save the Amazonian people
  5. A refutation of the need for married clergy and challenging the idea that a local synod of a remote, non-Catholic location should allow for sweeping changes throughout the universal Church
I am greatly looking forward to this series, as many prayers are needed for this upcoming Synod so as to avoid more confusion, novelties, and errors. The working document comes across as very naive and is written in a very new age style, almost as if the only knowledge the authors had of the region was a kids cartoon. Here is an excerpt from the document; it would be laughable if it weren’t so tragically misguided:

In the Amazon, life is inserted into, linked with and integrated in territory. This vital and nourishing physical space provides the possibility, sustenance and limit of life … a place of meaning for faith or the experience of God … epiphanic places where the reserve of life and wisdom for the planet is manifest, a life and wisdom that speaks of God. In the Amazon, the “caresses of God” become manifest and become incarnate in history … the brother tree, the sister flower, the sister bird, the brother fish, and even the smallest sisters like ants, larvae, fungi or insects (cf. Laudato Si 233). … When we contemplate the beauty of the Amazon territory, we discover a masterpiece of the creation of the God of Life. Its endless horizons of boundless beauty are a song, a hymn to the Creator … a precious space for shared human life and shared responsibility “for the good of all.” … The Amazon is where there’s the possibility of “good living,” and the promise and hope of new paths for life. Life in the Amazon is integrated and united with the territory; there is no separation or division between the parts. … The life of Amazon communities not yet influenced by Western civilization is reflected in the beliefs and rites regarding the actions of spirits, of the many-named divinity acting with and in the territory, with and in relation to nature. ( Instrumentum Laboris nos. 19-25)

Part one of the series is already available:

 
Was going to offer a kneejerk reaction, but Monsignor Pope is 100%, solidly orthodox.

Crud! That’s a pretty lousy set of suppositions.
 
Last edited:
Monsignor Pope is always well thought out and measured. This instrumentum laboris is an absolute disaster, but conveniently it encapsulates the most major and persistent errors in the Church which are still advocated today by misguided and / or dissident clergy.
 
As Msgr Pope wrote, then it’ll worthwhile my reading it. Thank for posting about it.
Tolle_Lege said:
the brother tree, the sister flower, the sister bird, the brother fish, and even the smallest sisters like ants, larvae, fungi or insects
Click to expand...
when I was reading through and got to this part, the first thought that entered my head was ‘… oh not mother earth again.’ (Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) (Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

But continuing to read was relieved to see the context …
 
Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing make you afraid.
All things are passing.
God alone never changes.
Patience gains all things.
If you have God you will want for nothing.
God alone suffices.

— St. Teresa, The bookmark of Teresa of Ávila
 
I have been waiting for part two to come out now and was thinking of posting this earlier, thanks. I am actually a bit surprised by the amount of criticism this synod has been receiving; I definitely expected there to be some criticism of the document, proceedings, etc., but there has been larger volume of it than I thought there would be. Maybe not quite the amount of controversy that the Synods on the Family got, but it’s getting closer than I thought it would. I figured this synod might fly a bit under the radar compared to the last two but the boldness of the Germans who are running it, with them pretty much blatantly saying that they are attempting to introduce wide-ranging changes through the Church, and the bizarre working document, has led to a lot of pushback that otherwise might not have been there.

If the outcome is as predicted and mandatory priestly celibacy is put on the chopping block then there is going to be a lot of pushing for further changes; most likely female deacons. I think more and more orthodox clergy are realizing that you have to choose a hill to die on eventually or you end up getting pushed back into the sea.
 
I think a lot of people expected a discussion on perhaps lifting the priestly celibacy requirement only in this remote region of the world.

But then when this working document was released, it was far more concerning than anyone imagined it would be, with the emphasis on environmentalism, celebration of pagan worship, hinting at “roles” for women (which when the Germans write this, they always push for ordination), and fawning over the supposedly pristine culture of the Amazonian people.

This Amazon Synod must also now be considered in light of the closing section of the final document released after the “synod on youth.” That last section was all about “synodality,” which took all of the bishops there by surprise because there was really no discussion about it during the “youth synod,” but it was suddenly placed in the closing document. And by “synodality,” they mean taking changes decided during a local synod, and then applying them universally to the rest of the Church.
 
Last edited:
With respect to the good monsignor, it’s one thing to view the document from the perspective of urban Washington, it’s another thing altogether to view it from the perspective of an indigenous person in an Amazon community. Indigenous peoples often have a far greater spiritual relationship with the land they inhabit. This is in part because of their greater reliance on the land then those of us who come from urban areas, as well as the fact that the lands have, in most cases, been inhabited by their ancestors for generations giving meaning to even the smallest natural feature. Once you understand this context, then the references to a relationship with nature can be better understood. It’s about far more than trendy “mother earth” ideas commonly associated with sitting in a circle while holding hands and singing kumbaya! It’s about living out a relationship with the land as envisaged by the guardianship responsibility given to us in Genesis. Sadly, when living in urban areas, this relationship tends to be largely overlooked and widely misunderstood.
 
I live in farm country. We understand the relationship with all living creatures here and indeed with the soil. The earth nourishes us as our mother did when we were babies.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top