There was almost a magic in the air when the more than two hundred members of the Catholic reform project “Synodal Way” met for the first time in February 2020 in Frankfurt am Main.
The abuse scandal may have been the occasion to look at the systemic causes of this form of violence, but it has long since been about more.
A "credible and authentic figure" of the church should no longer obscure the message of the gospel and thus faith, as the Mainz Bishop Peter Kohlgraf recalled a few days ago.
In fact, this shape seemed to be taking shape in Frankfurt.
Bishops and lay people did not sit separately from one another, but next to one another in alphabetical order and in sometimes very animating constellations.
The discussions were moderated by women and men, just as if one had learned from the Protestant Church.
The Pope was not neglected either: Young synodals in particular, but also some priests spoke with that boldness that Francis likes to praise as a cardinal virtue of every Christian.
Does the “Synodal Way” divide the Church?
But then came the corona pandemic.
For a year and a half, the Synodal Way was transformed into zoom conferences and Whatsapp groups from enthusiastic editorial committees.
They did what church people are best at when they want to believe relevance: write papers and talk about them.
The result is now available: 16 basic, orientation and action texts are waiting to be "read" on two days of the coming week.
Even this planning by the Presidium, which borders on torture, points to the failure to “reach an understanding at the beginning about what should be done in the end” (Kohlgraf).
In addition, there is an insoluble dispute in the matter.
Soon after the proclamation of the Synodal Way, Pope Francis spoke up with massive criticism.
Behind topics such as “power and separation of powers in the church”, “living in successful relationships” (a code for a new sexual morality) or “women in services and offices” he rightly sensed an attempt to understand the hierarchical constitution of the Catholic Church and those behind it To break open mentalities, especially the structural misogyny.
It could be too late to modernize
Since then, the whispering that the Synodal Way promotes a worldwide division of the Church has not stopped. The opponents do not mind that criticism mostly comes from corners where Francis himself is considered divisive. Because even the German cardinal of the Curia, Walter Kasper, at 88 years of age still one of the most respected theologians of his generation, is now spitting poison and bile.
What the majority of synodals consider indispensable for an “evangelization” of the present appears to a minority as the work of the devil.
But no matter how hard bishops, women (religious), LGBTQ activists, theologians and “allegiance to the Pope” of all stripes wrestle with each other, be it magic or curse - it could be too late.
Even before Corona, the churches were empty on Sundays as they have not been in living memory, and the number of people leaving will break all records this year.