■ LifeSiteNews ■ A German group of priests called Communio Veritatis has issued on February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord and the Purification of Our Lady, a new statement addressing the organizers of the German “synodal path” which just had its first synodal assembly over the weekend in Frankfurt. The authors of the text state that the promoters of the synodal path “want a church other than the one founded by Christ” and they call the synodal path a “pseudo-theological disaster full of falsehood and lies.”
The priestly group criticizes that the different preparatory discussion forums of the synodal path already contained many wrong ideas. The German priests reject, for example, the married priesthood and female ordination, as well as a blessing for homosexual couples, as proposed by the synodal path's documents.
The group writes: “Since you have obviously lost sight of the Imitation of Christ and of the perspective of eternity, you also do not understand the necessary priestly sign of total surrender to God. As was to be expected, according to your will the Amazon should flow above all through Germany. Therefore you ask: 'Is celibacy the only form of life appropriate to the nature of the priesthood?'”
The authors also remind the organizers of the synodal path of the fact that Pope John Paul II has already, in a definitive manner, ruled out the priestly ordination of women.
The priestly group also addresses the organizer’s attempt at weakening the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church and at strengthening the influence and power of lay people. Here, the group reminds us of what the Catechism teaches on the fact that the ordained ministers of the Church are the ones called to teach, sanctify, and govern.
The Catechism states: “The ministerial priesthood is intrinsically different from the common priesthood, since it confers a sacred authority to minister to the faithful. Consecrated ministers exercise their service to the People of God through teaching [munus docendi], worship [munus liturgicum] and pastoral direction [munus regendi]” (CCC 1592).
Discussing the claims of the organizers of the synodal path about homosexuality, the German priestly group writes that “these desolate demands are in blatant contradiction” to Holy Scripture and the Catechism.
“Based on clear Biblical testimony, the Magisterium of the Catholic Church calls homosexual acts 'a grave depravity' (CCC 2357). Such practices belong to the grave sins that seriously offend chastity (cf. CCC 2396) and are vehemently rejected by Holy Scripture (cf. Gen 19:1-29; Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:9-10; 1 Tim 1:10).”
After their forceful analysis of the grave errors of the organizers of the synodal path, these priests tell the initiators of the synodal path: “You are not servants of truth, but moderators of division! Your agenda is not determined by the light of Christ and His Church, but by the altar of the spirit of the times! Your aspiration is not to devote yourselves to the Kingdom of God, but to build a horizontal man-church!”
The priests conclude their statement with their own commitment to the Church's teaching and with their firm devotion to Our Lady, saying: “All the more we want to be faithful to Christ the Lord, serve the Permanent Magisterium of the Catholic Church and entrust ourselves to the guidance of the Blessed Virgin and Mother of God Mary.”
The priestly group Communio Veritatis was founded in 2018 in light of the Church's crisis, and they expressed, in the same year, their resistance against the Archbishop of Paderborn and his decision to permit Protestant spouses of Catholics to receive Holy Communion. They continue to issue statements against the dilution of the Catholic Faith. For example, in January of 2019, they called upon Cardinal Reinhard Marx to resign, accusing him of “abusing your spiritual office by obviously considering the Church's Sacraments as your personal property which you sacrifice at your own whims on the altar of the Zeitgeist.” Father Frank Unterhalt, the speaker of the group, wrote for LifeSiteNews an essay about the important role of Our Lady in this crisis, pointing out that in his experience as pastor, a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother always fosters a strong faith, frequent confession, and a resilience in these times of disorder.