Early report from Synod 'stained the honor of the Apostolic See,' says Kazakh bishop

November 05, 2014

A Catholic bishop in Kazakhstan has blasted the preliminary report issued during the Synod of Bishops, saying that it left “a black mark which has stained the honor of the Apostolic See.”

Bishop Athanasius Schneider, an auxiliary of the Astana archdiocese, said that the preliminary document marked “the first time in Church history that such a heterodox text was actually published as a document of an official meeting of Catholic bishops under the guidance of a Pope.”

Bishop Schneider observed that the Synod’s final document was orthodox. He said that the Synod revised the early report in response to the grave concerns raised by the faithful, and despite the pressure applied by a group of bishops urging change in Church teachings. He denounced the group pushing for change, saying: “In fact the bishops who support Holy Communion for ‘divorced remarried’ are the new Pharisees and Scribes because they neglect the commandment of God.”

Bishop Schneider said that faithful Catholics should redouble their dedication to the Church and their commitment to fidelity, at a time when the influence of secular thinking has created a crisis in Catholicism. He encouraged Catholics to say, in effect: “I refuse to throw grains of incense before the statue of the idol of the gender ideology, before the idol of second marriages, of concubinage; even if my bishop would do so, I will not do so.”

 

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Further information:

• Against Pharisees (Polonia Christiana)