A Vatican cardinal’s warning that plans for a binding synodal process in Germany appear to be “ecclesiologically invalid” and not in accordance with canon law has been met with outrage in Germany and dismissed in a terse rebuke by Cardinal Reinhard Marx.
In a letter responding to Cardinal Marc Ouellet that was leaked by local media, the president of the German bishops’ conference admonished the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops for not speaking to him before “sending off documents”. Cardinal Marx also reportedly dismissed the concerns raised by Cardinal Ouellet’s initial letter – and an accompanying four-page legal assessment by the Pontifical Commission for Legislative Texts – regarding the German plan to debate and pass “binding resolutions” on areas that pertain to the Universal Church.
