WAC International Press Release: The German Synodal Path and Gamaliel's Principle
“To live is to change and to have lived well is to have changed often” – Cardinal Newman
3 May 2022 We Are Church International strongly supports the work of the German Synodal Path which follows the principle ‘what affects all should be decided by all’. The church in Germany is fortunate to have a structure which allows lay women and men to work with the clerics how best to follow Christ today.
Gamaliel cautioned the Sanhedrin against killing Jesus' disciples: If their ideas are of human origin, they would "come to nought"; but if they are from God, their ideas would be impossible to overthrow. Similarly some church prelates today want to crush the German Synodal Path out of fear for losing their power and privileges.
Yet over a period of many decades a small clique of men have built a Canon Law fortress to protect and perpetuate their power and privileges. Pope Francis has pointed the way forward towards an inverted pyramid and decentralisation to re-establish a focus on Christ’s one commandment: ‘To love one another as I have loved you.’
We Are Church International hopes that the Global Synod in October 2023 will adopt a highly significant part of the proposals from the German Synodal Path. In particular we would like to see a much more balanced representation of lay women & men and clerics to have voting powers at this synod. ‘Synodality’ can not mean only bishops make all decisions. At this time it is essential for the Vatican to be in direct contact with the German Synodal Path.
[For more information on the German Synodal Path in English follow this link]
Colm Holmes
Chair, We Are Church International
M +353 86 606 3636
We Are Church International (WAC) founded in Rome in 1996, is a global coalition of national church reform groups. It is committed to the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church based on the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the theological spirit developed from it.
Women are a problem for the Catholic Church, an institution with ingrained misogyny - Soline Humbert
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