Tuesday September 21, 2010
Archdiocese Disavows any Connection with Liberal ‘Synod’
By Matthew Anderson
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, September 21, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has officially stated that a liberal “synod” held over the weekend was not sanctioned in any way by the Church.
In a statement released on Friday, the archdiocese explained that the synod, “Claiming Our Place at the Table,” scheduled for Saturday and sponsored by the group Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (CCCR), was being put on without the support of the archdiocese.
During the synod’s keynote address, given by Paul Lakeland, Professor of Catholic Studies at Fairfield University and contributing writer to the Huffington Post, Lakeland openly questioned several doctrines of the church, including on the issue of homosexuality.
“Whether we are concerned for the roles of women in the Church, or our inclusiveness with the respect to the Catholic LGBTQ population, or our openness to the divorced and remarried, we have to challenge our leaders to explain and defend their often negative and unwelcoming positions,” he said.
CCCR also used the opportunity to honor several of its members with their “Adsum Award,” which is meant to recognize individuals who are present to the Holy Spirit. According to The Progressive Catholic Voice, a liberal Catholic news site, one of the recipients of the award was David McCaffrey, who was honored particularly for his role in founding and supporting the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities.
The Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities is a member organization of CCCR, and seeks to “foster safe and affirming spaces for GLBT youths, adults, families, and their friends as we help them to integrate their sexual identities with their Catholic heritage,” according to its website.
Additionally, several groups listed as members of CCCR openly dissent from the Church’s teaching on women’s ordination.
According to the archdiocese’s statement, the synod was held without “the auspices of the Archdiocese, the universal Roman Catholic Church, or any entity or organization affiliated with the Archdiocese or the universal Roman Catholic Church.”
The archdiocese went on to warn the faithful attending the event to be aware that certain teachings the CCCR was seeking to reform are matters of doctrine and thus demand the assent of faith. It also reminded the faithful of their obligation to “shun any contrary doctrines, and instead to embrace and retain, to safeguard reverently and expound faithfully, the doctrine of faith and morals proposed definitively by the magisterium of the Church.”
According to The Progressive Catholic Voice, over 400 people attended the synod despite the archdiocese’s warning.