Neo-Cardinal: At the End of the Synod There Will Be "A New Flexibility"

(Rome) African Bishops have mobilized for months against the Kasperians in the forthcoming Synod of Bishops and seek possible unity. In the coming weeks, two books in defense of the Catholic marriage and morality will appear. One comes exclusively from cardinals and archbishops of Africa, the other is with the participation of an African cardinal from Nigeria.  At the same time a voice spoke up, which seems to step to the front in Africa.

The Archbishop of Accra in Ghana, Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle, had spoken out in the spring for Kasper's "opening" and has since been eagerly passed around as "evidence" in progressive Church media in Europe  that Africa doesn't just have "conservative" bishops.

Subsequently a meeting of all the African Episcopal Conferences was held in Accra, in which the line has been staked out in defense of  Catholic marriage and morality at the Synod of Bishops to win over Archbishop Palmer-Buckle (see Cardinal Sarah: "Whether You Want to Hear it or Not, We will Speak "- Africa Makes Front Against "Strategy of the Germans " ).

Confirmed last February as Cardinal

Now the Archbishop of Addis Ababa, Msgr. Berhanyesus Souraphiel, seems to step out of the African front. He was raised by Pope Francis to the cardinalatial state  last February. Archbishop Berhanyesus Souraphiel belongs to the Lazarist Order and is head of the Ethiopian Catholic Church.

Berhanyesus Souraphiel is a staunch opponent of special rights for homosexuals, and was interviewed by the National Catholic Register. The statements appear contradictory and therefore differ from the statements of the great majority of African church leaders. The Metropolitan, who will not attend the present state of the Synod of Bishops, on the one hand said, "The Bishops' Conferences are not called to the Synod to replace or change the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Church."

At the end of the Synod there "will be a new flexibility" 

On the other hand, he was convinced that at the end of the Synod "a new flexibility" would be introduced. "Flexibility" is a term, the Cardinal Maradiaga replied  in 2013 to  the prefect of the CDF, Cardinal Gerhard Müller. Berhanyesus Souraphiel meant a "flexibility", to take into account the specific cultural, economic and political context of the various parts of the world. "The Catholic Church is a universal, human and divine institution. There is not a European church, there is no Canadian or American church. It is something else. The problems faced by the families confronted in some parts of the world may be different than in other areas."

"Our biggest problem, for example, is poverty," said the Cardinal facing the situation in Ethiopia and Eritrea. "If one does not have the necessary economic foundation, a situation could arise in which the man works in one place, the woman at another. This separates the family and the children suffer. "

According Berhanyesus Souraphiel "the episcopal conferences" should "play an important role in order to adapt the teachings of the Synod to the specific situations of their own countries or regions."

"Bishops' Conferences should be able to adapt teaching to the situation of their countries"

The Ethiopian Metropolitan emphasized on the one hand the position of the other African bishops. With his statement that ultimately the doctrine of the Church no longer have universal validity, but could be interpreted differently in different countries and regions of the world, it supports the position of Cardinal Kasper. The proposal would strengthen the much-vaunted collegiality, though concretely the Episcopal Conferences and the individual bishops do not. If Kasper's "opening" could not be enforced worldwide, they could at least be implemented in accordance with the "flexibility" suggested by the Archbishop of Addis Ababa  in Europe.

Ultimately, Cardinal Marx, Archbishop of Munich-Freising, at the end of the Spring Assembly of the German Bishops' Conference said nothing different,  as he let Rome know that they are not a branch of the Roman Curia.

Msgr. Berhanyesus Souraphiel could perhaps be called as a Synod participant to Rome. Pope Francis has not yet announced the list of the Synod participants that he is appointing himself. Certainly, among the Synod participants in Rome, however, the presence of Archbishop Palmer-Buckle is least volatile.

Pope Francis: List of those personally appointed by him to the synod not yet known

Anyway, whatever Archbishop Berhanyesus Souraphiel exactly has meant with his reference to  "flexibility": The keyword will trigger great joy in some European and North American church circles. Especially because it comes from an African churchman, that continent  can make Europe pale with envy with its growth of Catholics and vocations. Of paleness of course there can be no question, pale, because this old Europe is too smug and condescending. Finally, it was Cardinal Kasper, on the margins of the Synod of Bishops in 2014, when things were not run so much as he  planned,  was struck by a racist gaffe he made against Africa.

According to Archbishop Berhanyesus Souraphiel the message of Africa at the Synod would be that "the family is  life". Many things would change, "but it takes values ​​that must remain: The love between husband and wife, the respect between parents and children and encourage respect for the elderly."

At the choice of words of the Archbishop of Addis Ababa is noticeable that he. For his statement that they will be a "new flexibility" at the end of the Synod, by which he means Pope Francis, since he makes his decisions alone, did  not use the subjunctive. Does he know more than everyone else?

Whether the interjection of the Ethiopian Cardinal will play a role in the Synod, depends above all on Pope Francis, who has completed the last of his personal appointments to the list of  Synod participants.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Wikicommons

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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