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Bishop Schneider: Synod’s confession event a ‘tool’ to push ‘new agenda’ and ‘doctrines’ – LifeSite

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VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Athanasius Schneider accused a Vatican Synod on Synodality event as being “a tool to promote a new agenda in the synod to establish new doctrines which are contrary to the divine revelation, or undermine divine revelation.”

The Astana auxiliary’s forthright comments came during a recent interview on Raymond Arroyo’s World Over, during which Arroyo questioned Schneider about an upcoming Synod on Synodality event.

As first reported by LifeSiteNews, a mass confession-style event will be held on the eve of the Synod at the Vatican on Tuesday, October 1, when “the confession of a number of sins will take place.”

Sins particularly being “confessed” include:

  • Sin against peace
  • Sin against creation, against indigenous populations, against migrants
  • Sin of abuse
  • Sin against women, family, youth
  • Sin of using doctrine as stones to be hurled
  • Sin against poverty
  • Sin against synodality/lack of listening, communion, and participation of all (Emphasis added)

But Bishop Schneider rebuffed the idea, saying that with reference to the “sins against synodality” there are “no such sins in divine revelation.”

He termed it “a tool to promote a new agenda in the Synod to establish new doctrines which are contrary to divine revelation, or undermine divine revelation.”

The proposed list of sins includes the “sin of using doctrine as stones to be hurled.” Schneider, however, argued that “such new invented doctrines in this so called synodality, these are the true stones which they throw to the faithful, because they are distortions and these are harming the faithful and putting in danger their eternal salvation.”

He stated that authentic charity includes the iteration of Catholic doctrine:

A true doctrine is not against charity: to transmit doctrine is one of the highest expressions of charity towards a neighbor, to bring them to the right of truth and the light of truth only gives us true happiness.

Such confused new synodal doctrines and methods bring us ambiguity, uncertainty, and this no one will give his life for something which is ambiguous. We will only give our life for what is true, for what is solid as a rock, which is Christ – He is the rock, he is the truth and only for Him. With’s God’s grace, every Christian must be ready to give his life.

Similar condemnation of the event had been made one week before by Father Gerald Murray, a New York priest and canonist. Speaking also with Arroyo on the World Over, Murray attested that the event “is the politicization of the examination of conscience.”

“This basically could’ve been a review of a political agenda for a political convention,” he quipped. “Where’s sin against the truth? Sins of abuse – they left out the words ‘sexual abuse of minors.’ What about sexual abuse of women religious? The Rupnik case is still staring us in the face,” he recalled.

Murray’s scathing critique likened the event to scenes from Communist dictatorships:

This is like group think, this is like 1984. If I don’t think exactly what the leaders of the Synod think about synodality, then I’m guilty of a sin? No. This is getting to the level of the grade-school teacher telling children “I don’t like the drawings you’re making, you can only draw what I’m telling you.”

“This reminds me of Soviet show trials,” he added, “or Communist Chinese show trials where people get up and say ‘I did the following things because the leadership said I did, and even though I don’t remember that I did then, I said I’m going to do it. You don’t confess other people’s sins.”

After the “confession,” Pope Francis will make a request for forgiveness to “God and to the sisters and brothers of all humanity … on behalf of all the faithful.”

LifeSiteNews will provide full coverage of the Synod on the ground from Rome. Updates will be posted on LifeSiteNews.com and on X/Twitter account of LifeSite’s Vatican correspondent.

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