Proposal to the Bishops for the Synod on Synodality: Face reality!

By Father Ildefonso De Asis

The synod is beginning, and all Catholics are invited to participate so that, through the contribution of each one, we can collaborate in a greater and better evangelisation.

The truth is that I am not at all clear about the definition of the goals, but what "seems to be coming" is something like the convocation of a great debate in the universal Church. Therefore, I would like to make a request to our bishops that they may live in reality. I am referring to the Christian reality that challenges us through very concrete questions:

Bishops, the great majority of baptismal sponsors are not practising the faith. In addition, a large number of them live in sin (married under civil law and/or in concubinage). What are you going to do about that?

Bishops, the vast majority of children who make their "first" communion do not return to Mass because their parents, not being practising Catholics, no longer bring them. What are you going to do about that?

Bishops, the vast majority of those who are confirmed do not continue to practice the sacraments because they were confirmed only to have some "papers" and to be able to be godparents at baptisms or for other merely formal reasons. What are you going to do about that?

Bishops, many Catholics receive communion without having confessed serious sins (such as not going to Sunday Mass) and this is evident from the queues for communion and the empty confessionals. What are you going to do about that?

Bishops, the vast majority of Catholics who marry in the Church live together before the wedding and have the firm decision to use contraception after marriage (and before, of course). In many cases no one warns them when they receive the sacrament in an objective situation of mortal sin. What are you going to do about it?

Bishops, the great majority of the faithful have lost the sense of sin and live as if personal sin did not exist. Nobody touches their conscience with the sound medicine of doctrine. What are you going to do about that?

Bishops, with the excuse of the pandemic, it was recommended all over the world to receive communion in the hand (and advice that is absurd from the scientific and immoral from the theological point of view). This advice turned into a clerical abuse in many places because it made the exception to be the norm. What are you going to do about that?

Bishops, in many nations with a Christian tradition, religious education has converged with the 2030 agenda, which aims to replace the Catholic faith with ideology. What are you going to do about that?

Bishops, the celebration of the sacraments - especially Holy Mass - has become in many places an expression of the priest's inventiveness to manipulate the sacred according to his own taste and convenience or to a supposed demand from the faithful, in many cases reaching the point of profanation and sacrilege. What are you going to do about that?

Bishops, preaching about the sixth commandment has disappeared in such a way that a majority of Catholics is unaware of the sin of impurity which causes the crime of abortion in huge and scandalous numbers. What are you going to do about that?

Bishops, the preaching about the Last Things - death, judgement, hell, and heaven - has disappeared with few striking exceptions. A large majority of Catholics do not believe in the existence of hell and at the same time believe that salvation comes to all without the need to live in God's grace. What are you going to do about that?

...... and a long etc. etc. etc.

Bishops, we urge you to deal with these issues which are vital for eternal salvation. This is the fundamental task of the Church. Leave the politicians to deal with the supposed climate change, immigratory flows, renewable energies, sustainable economy and so many other wordly issues that prevent today's hierarchy from devoting themselves to the transcendent.

This article was originally published in AdelanteLaFe.com (October 29)

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