Polish Catholics, led by Dr Artur Dąbrowski, president of Catholic Action of the Archdiocese of Częstochowa, have issued a detailed open letter to priests and synodal participants condemning the Final Document of the Synod on Synodality as “deeply anti-Catholic” and a systematic attempt to replace the unchanging Deposit of Faith with an ideology of inclusion and process.
The letter, published in recent days, analyses the Synod’s Working Group 9 report and the Final Document issued on October 26, 2024, accusing it of mirroring the heterodox German Synodal Path through decentralisation and relativisation of doctrine. The Polish faithful describe the document as constructing “a framework for the Church’s new identity” that subordinates the Deposit of Faith to a fluid “ideology of inclusivity” rather than leading souls to salvation, as reported by LifeSiteNews and journalist Antonino Cambria.
The authors are particularly critical of the synodal method known as “conversation in the Spirit”. They write: “This method deliberately equates the voice of those who faithfully adhere to Church teaching with the voices of those who openly contest it.” Each participant is limited to two minutes without the right to debate, making substantive defence of doctrine impossible. The letter warns that this approach elevates subjective opinions to the status of the “voice of the Holy Spirit”, creating a dangerous illusion of divine guidance through engineered consensus.
Central to the critique is the document’s redefinition of conversion. The Poles note that instead of moral conversion involving repentance and turning from sin, the text presents conversion as “a purely mental process”, speaking of “the conversion of feelings, images, and thoughts present in our hearts”, “conversion of relationships”, “decision-making processes” and “conversion of structures”. They state: “This phrasing exposes the authors’ intention: the goal is not, therefore, a transformation of life in the light of the Gospel, but a profound revision of the Catholic perception of reality.”
The letter identifies a fundamental ecclesiological error in paragraph 28, which declares synodality a “constitutive dimension of the Church”. The authors respond forcefully: “For it must be forcefully recalled that it was Jesus Christ Himself who laid the foundations of the Church and that He defined its unchanging nature: the Church is Holy, Universal (Catholic), and Apostolic. No hierarch, not even the Pope, has the right to alter this Constitution.”
On the priesthood, the document’s claim in paragraph 33 that “Synodality provides the most appropriate interpretive context for understanding the hierarchical priesthood itself” is described as a “glaring reversal of the order: it is no longer the shepherd who guards the flock, but the bureaucratic framework that becomes the judge over the shepherd.”
The critique extends to the treatment of the Eucharist and liturgy. The Poles lament the document’s failure to affirm the Real Presence and the sacrificial character of the Mass, instead drawing a false parallel: “The Eucharist, above all else, demonstrates that the harmony created by the Spirit is not uniformity … there is a close link between synaxis and synodos, between the Eucharistic assembly and the synodal assembly.” They see this as a desacralisation that reduces the liturgy to a listening exercise and communal meal.
The letter also objects to the instrumentalisation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in paragraph 29, which presents her as “a figure of the Church […] who listens, prays, reflects, engages in dialogue, accompanies, discerns, decides, and acts”. The authors counter: “Mary at the foot of the Cross is a model of sharing in the suffering of her Son’s Sacrifice, not the patroness of administrative procedures.”
A core concern is the document’s use of sensus fidei. The Poles argue that the Final Document distorts Lumen Gentium by suggesting the baptised cannot err when expressing consensus on faith and morals, without sufficient emphasis on obedience to the Magisterium. They cite the Kraków synodal process, where a transgender activist was appointed secretary of a group, as a practical example of the dangers.
On ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, the letter warns of relativism. Paragraph 41’s call to “implore the one God together” with non-Christians is described as “a betrayal of Jesus and His salvific mission”. The authors ask: “Where is obedience to the Word of God: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations …’?”
The letter concludes with a stark warning: “If we allow the Catholic Church to be replaced by a Synodal Church, we will crucify the Mystical Body of Christ with our own hands and drive a nail into His coffin.” It ends with the declaration, meaning in Latin “we cannot”: “Non possumus!”
The Polish critique has resonated among traditional Catholics concerned about the trajectory of the Synod on Synodality. Dr Dąbrowski and the signatories call on their shepherds for a clear position rather than “diplomatic evasions”, insisting that fidelity to the unchanging Deposit of Faith must remain the criterion of all pastoral and synodal activity.
