Michael Haynes: Your Excellency, I must also ask you, if I may, about synodality. It’s been the topic of the past year and probably the next year or so. The Vatican has been quite consistent in mentioning that the Synod is about listening. I don’t think many people are aware of what this listening actually involves. In the documents by which Pope Francis promulgated the Synod, he outlined that this listening would involve engaging with people who are no longer Catholic, but also with those who were never Catholic at all in the first place. Now we are seeing the results of that process. We have calls coming from within the Synod, and also from many leading figures in the Synod, for things such as very radical LGBT inclusion, inclusion for female deacons, and occasionally, for female priests. There is also a renewed push for Holy Communion for the divorced and so-called remarried. With the Synod set to continue into the future, I wonder, Your Excellency, what danger does this process pose to the Catholic faith?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: This is basically a tool used to dilute the clarity of the Catholic faith and to bring doctrinal and moral confusion into the life of the church. It is a grave abuse of the institution of a synod, which the church, in 2000 years, has understood. The Synod is our instrument of the magisterium for two main aims. The first is to clarify doctrine without ambiguity, without doubt, leaving no place for uncertainty. The second is to reject errors each time with clarity. These errors are spiritual poisons, and allowing them to spread is irresponsible. The Synod must identify and name errors and reject them clearly to protect the faithful.
The Synod also has a disciplinary and pastoral role, giving remedies against abuses in liturgy, moral life, and priestly life. This is its task, not to act like a worldly parliament. That approach is contrary to the history of the church and the method of God. It is worldly, not Christian.
The word “listen” in this context must be understood correctly. In the Old Testament, the famous expression is, “Listen, Israel, there is only one God, and you shall have no other gods besides me.” This is the first commandment: listen. Another example is at Christ’s baptism, when the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” All humanity must listen to Christ’s voice, not to each other. To claim otherwise is naturalism, which is not Christian and is against revelation. Christ did not tell the apostles to go and listen to all people, but to go and teach, to instruct them in what he had commanded. For 2000 years, the church has preached, and nonbelievers and sinners had to listen to the message of Christ.
The doctrine of the Church is not her own. Jesus said, “My doctrine is not mine, but of him who sent me.” Regarding the Holy Spirit, Christ said he would not speak on his own, but would remind the apostles of Christ’s words. The Church’s mission is to proclaim the truth with clarity and charity, not to conduct parliamentary sessions to simply listen to people. It is the duty of bishops and the Pope to provide clarity and guidance out of love for those in the darkness of knowledge, faith, and moral life.
Those who practice homosexuality, fornication, adultery, or seek to establish a new church with female hierarchy are acting against the will of God, damaging their souls. When the Pope and bishops fail to instruct with clarity, respect, and charity, they sin against their divine mission and against the commandment of charity toward their neighbors.