Fraternal letters of correction are rarely received in quite the brotherly spirit that is intended. So it proves with the letter sent last month to the German bishops by 70 bishops worldwide, many from Africa and North America. In it they expressed concerns about the German Synodal Pathway, a consultation with the laity which has taken issue with various aspects of Church teaching; it recommends an end to compulsory priestly celibacy, the ordination of women and blessings of same-sex unions. The bishops condemn the German process for “failing to listen to the Holy Spirit and the Gospels” and relying more on “sociological analysis and contemporary political, including gender, ideologies, than scripture and tradition”.