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Why is the Synod on Synodality pushing to ‘welcome’ those in ‘polygamous’ relationships? – LifeSite

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — As the Synod on Synodality continues apace, one chief aspect that has been highlighted is that the organizers are intent on opening up the Holy Eucharist to abuses and desecration.

Participants in the Synod on Synodality are now discussing the theme of “Communion” in the second week of the event, which involves looking at aspects of ecumenical relations and issues pertaining to “remarried divorcees, people in polygamous marriages, LGBTQ+ people.”

While last week’s opening salvos of the synod examined the topic of “synodality” itself, this week sees the beginning of the crux of the matter, as participants begin to work their way through the three central themes of “communion, participation and mission.” 

READ: The Synodality Report: ‘Fraternal climate’ and round tables

The second of the synod’s five modules began on October 9, with the participants convening the discussions on section B1, drawn directly from the Instrumentum Laboris. As such, this means that the participants are dealing with the discussion questions provided in the synodal worksheet, centered on “Communion that radiates.” 

The summary questions are thus:

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But in order to assemble these questions and their subsequent discussion points, the participants have previously been told to consider a larger set of questions. These included questions on migrants, on varying points regarding ecumenism, and on the new system of morality that has emerged from Amoris Laetitia. 

The new morality stemming from that document consists fundamentally in a rejection of certain points of Catholic teaching regarding reception of Holy Communion.

Amoris Laetitia and the new morality

One of the preparatory questions for the synod members’ discernment as part of module B1 is this:

How can we create spaces where those who feel hurt by the Church and unwelcomed by the community feel recognized, received, free to ask questions and not judged?

In the light of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, what concrete steps are needed to welcome those who feel excluded from the Church because of their status or sexuality (for example, remarried divorcees, people in polygamous marriages, LGBTQ+ people, etc.)?

This is notable because, as LifeSite reported when the Instrumentum Laboris was first released, the document presents Amoris Laetitia’s promotion of Holy Communion to divorcees in new relationships as being a settled issue.

The document states in an earlier passage:

Some of the questions that emerged from the consultation of the People of God concern issues on which there is already magisterial and theological teaching to be considered. To give just two examples, we can note the acceptance of remarried divorcees, dealt with in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia, or the inculturation of the liturgy, the subject of the Instruction Varietates legitimae (1994) of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The fact that questions continue to emerge on issues like these should not be hastily dismissed, rather, it calls for discernment, and the Synodal Assembly is a privileged forum for so doing.

This argument was recently supported by Pope Francis, despite its contradiction of decades of magisterial teaching.

READ: Pope Francis signs text affirming Amoris Laetitia allows Communion for divorced and ‘remarried’

Then, in an intervention on Monday by the pro-LGBT Dominican Fr. Timothy Radcliffe O.P., the synod members were once again called to dwell on the issue of the divorced and “remarried” and those in polygamous relationships.

Drawing from the Gospel passage of Christ’s encounter with the woman at the well (John 4), Radcliffe highlighted the theme of promoting “communion” and “deeply personal encounters with each other, in which we transcend easy labels.” He also urged “real encounter.”

“The people whom St. Paul could not abide were the underhand spies, who gossiped and worked secretly, whispering in the corridors, hiding who they were with deceitful smiles. Open disagreement was not the problem,” he claimed.

The Dominican decried how some people feel “excluded” due to having been labelled as “divorced and remarried, gay people, polygamous people.” Radcliffe argued thusly, including also a joke against the Jesuits:

So many people feel excluded or marginalized in our Church because we have slapped abstract labels on them: divorced and remarried, gay people, polygamous people, refugees, Africans, Jesuits! A friend said to me the other day: ‘I hate labels. I hate people being put in boxes. I cannot abide these conservatives.’

But if you really meet someone, you may become angry, but hatred cannot be sustained in a truly personal encounter. If you glimpse their humanity, you will see the one who creates them and sustains them in being, whose name is ‘I AM.’

Why is it that all of a sudden the Church is now catering to those in polygamous relationships? Indeed, it seems as though the Synod organizers are seeking to answer a question that no one is even asking. 

READ: Synod leaders claim ‘tensions’ and ‘real encounter’ are part of the conference process

While the world is now, sadly, well-accustomed to the public demonstrations in support of LGBT issues, as well as the tragic reality of divorcees living in new relationships, apparently such issues are not radical enough for the synod organizers. 

They have chosen to champion the cause of polygamy, in what seems to be the logical continuation of the arguments made by Amoris Laetitia. 

Re-examining the Instrumentum Laboris

With the synod discussions now in full flow at the Vatican, it is worthwhile turning back to the Instrumentum Laboris, the text that underpins the entire event.

The Instrumentum Laboris makes mention of certain “obstacles, real or perceived, that have prevented the steps indicated by previous documents from being realised” that “should be considered and reflections offered on how they can be removed.”

Continuing, the text states:

If, on the other hand, the problem stems from the difficulty of grasping the implications of the documents in ordinary situations or an inability of persons to recognise themselves in what is proposed, a synodal journey of effective reception by the People of God could be the appropriate response. Another instance could be the reappearance of a question which emerges as a sign of a changed reality or situations where there is a need for an “overflow” of Grace. This requires further reflection on the Deposit of Faith and the living Tradition of the Church. [Emphasis added]

Vatican officials have downplayed the possibility of change on things like married priests or female deacons – or at least, they’ve downplayed a possible change emerging from this month’s meetings at least. Instead, they have emphasized “listening” and “dialogue.”

But disregarding for a moment the question of trusting such claims, the Instrumentum Laboris appears to present a scenario whereby the Church adopts a new relationship with the polygamous and the official could continue to argue that the Church’s teaching hadn’t changed. 

Those same officials could argue rather that the synod process highlighted a “question” that is a “sign of a changed reality” and indeed of an “‘overflow’ of grace” in order for the Church to correctly respond. They would argue that such a “question” was not a change but merely a “reality” that the Church needed to come to realize.

With these passages, a striking possibility is thus established. Thanks to Pope Francis’ writings, the divorced in new unions have already been permitted to receive Holy Communion, contrary to Catholic teaching. 

By continuing the same argument and employing the schematics of the Instrumentum Laboris, it appears that polygamy is to be the next thing which the Vatican will open up to.

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