ROME (LifeSiteNews) — In light of the Synod on Synodality, numerous faithful Catholics are raising concerns about the potential impact that the event will have upon the Church, with LifeSiteNews inviting readers to attend the Rome Life Forum to strategize with Catholic leaders on how to best safeguard the faith.
In a recently published book foreword, Cardinal Raymond Burke warned that “Synodality and its adjective, synodal, have become slogans behind which a revolution is at work to change radically the Church’s self-understanding.”
The co-authors of the same book, The Synodal Process Is A Pandora’s Box, written by José Antonio Ureta and Julio Loredo de Izcue, warn that “a plan is afoot to reform Holy Mother Church which, carried to its final consequences, could subvert her very foundations.”
“A maneuver is underway to demolish Holy Mother Church by erasing the basic elements of her organic constitution and doctrine, rendering her unrecognizable,” they wrote in reference to the Synod on Synodality.
Cardinal Gerhard Müller similarly warned about the ongoing Synod when, in October 2022, the German prelate gave an explosive interview in which he called Francis’ heterodox Synod a “hostile takeover of the Church.” “This has nothing to do with Jesus Christ, with the Triune God, and they think doctrine is only like a program of a political party who can change it according to their voters,” he stated.
READ: Bp. Schneider says Synod on Synodality serves up ‘spiritual poisons’ to the faithful
Speaking to LifeSiteNews earlier this year, Bishop Athanasius Schneider warned that the Synod is “a tool used to dilute evermore the clarity of the Catholic faith, as we are now observing, dribbling evermore confusion and doctrinal confusion into the life of the Church.”
While the Synod has repeatedly highlighted “listening,” Schneider warned that this concept, as practiced, is a “dilution of the Catholic faith and an irresponsibility, and a gesture even of non-charity from the side of the Pope and the bishops.” Rather than promoting truth and curbing abuses, Schneider argued that the Synod is permitting “poison, spiritual poisons” to spread.
Such is the danger perceived by faithful prelates such as Bishop Joseph Strickland that the Tyler, Texas, bishop issued a warning to Catholics not to waver even when they might be called “schismatics” for holding fast to the Catholic Church’s unchangeable teaching.
LifeSite’s John-Henry Westen has argued that “we’re going into heresy” with the Synod.
Such statements are not without basis, since the working document for the October meetings of the Synod promote and question numerous aspects that run in contradiction to the Catholic faith. Women’s diaconal “ordination” is raised, as is the subject of married priests and a need to “welcome” the “remarried divorcees, people in polygamous marriages, LGBTQ+ people.”
The document also appears to present the controversial, Pope Francis-approved interpretation of Amoris Laetitia as admitting the divorced and “re-married” to Holy Communion as an already finalized issue.
READ: Major Synod on Synodality document highlights need to ‘welcome’ polygamists, ‘LGBTQ+ people’
In light of this, LifeSite invites readers and concerned Catholics to come to Rome after the close of the October Synod to participate in two days of discussion and strategizing.
Westen, observing that Catholics today are “confronted with some of the most severe challenges the Church has ever faced,” issued the invitation to participate in the Rome Life Forum in order to respond to those challenges.
Should, as Strickland fears, faithful Catholics be labelled as “schismatics” for refusing to participate in the Synod’s process of “change,” those same Catholics will need the support of each other and of strong prelates to hold fast to the truths of the faith.
Attendees of the Rome Life Forum will thus have the opportunity to actively participate in all forum strategy sessions with our guest speakers. Guest speakers include Cardinal Müller, freedom activist Reggie Littlejohn, the president of the pro-life Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, and LifeSite’s own John-Henry Westen, among others.
The conference will take place on October 31 and November 1 in the four-star A.Roma LifeStyle Hotel. Off the beaten track, the hotel is nevertheless just a 30-minute bus ride from St. Peter’s Square. In addition, October and November are well-known to be part of Rome’s “off-season,” providing visitors with more space — and cooler temperatures — in which to make pilgrimages to the city’s spiritual and cultural treasures.
Tickets are limited to 200, so be sure to secure your own today. For the latest information on this year’s Rome Life Forum, please visit RomeLifeForum.com.
Update: An earlier version of this article stated that Bishop Athanasius Schneider would be attending the Forum. Unfortunately, Bishop Schneider is no longer able to attend.