(LifeSiteNews) — German bishop Stefan Oster of Passau publicly rejected the heretical “Synodal Way,” announcing that he will not implement its program in his diocese.
“I cannot and will not go along with essential ‘reform demands’ that the Synodal Way has already decided,” Oster declared in a Wednesday blog post. “I am convinced that the answers that the Church can give from the depth of its tradition … cannot simply be given with the keyword ‘blessings’ or even with a non-sacramental diaconal consecration,” explained the bishop, referring to blessings to homosexual couples and the women’s diaconate proposed by the German Synod.
The latest implementation of the Synodal Way “basically presupposes a new sexual morality and with it a new anthropology,” said Oster, who believes this to be impossible for the Church to endorse.
He highlighted key changes the German bishops wish to implement in Church practice via the German Synodal Way, including removing the celibacy requirement for priests, endorsing homosexuality, allowing women to become “deacons,” and “blessing celebrations for ‘couples who love each other.’”
“In all these points, it is therefore assumed that the doctrine must be changed — and that it has already changed in the consciousness of the vast majority of the Synodals,” Oster wrote.
He affirmed that because he believes in existing Church teaching and does not expect it to change, that he “cannot follow the vast majority of points” in the monitoring phase “and its demands for implementation.”
“Also, because I, as a deacon, priest and bishop, have solemnly promised several times to preserve and proclaim the teaching of the Church,” he added.
The orthodox bishop is further concerned that the Synodal Way “weaken(s)” and even “eliminate(s) the sacramental character of the Church.”
“But it is precisely in this, according to my fundamental suspicion, that the vast majority of the members of the Synodal Way seem to see the possibility of overcoming the church crisis,” he said.
Oster questioned whether the participants in the Synodal Way believe in the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, lamenting that over 90 percent of those surveyed in 2024 “are no longer interested in the sacraments,” at least in the Eucharist, which he referred to as the “source and highlight of all church life.”
The German Synodal Way is famous for proposing heretical changes to immutable Catholic teaching. The heterodox “reform” project was launched by the German Bishops’ Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), a lay organization, in December 2019.
By 2023, an overwhelming majority of the members of the Synodal Way, including more than two-thirds of the German bishops, voted in favor of heretical documents calling for “women deacons,” “blessings” of homosexual relationships, changing Church teaching on the sinfulness of homosexual acts, and even “transgender” priests in a text replete with pro-transgender ideology.
In addition, the heretical German bishops plan to establish a permanent “Synodal Council” with the ZdK that would strip the bishops of their sole authority and officially involve laity in decision-making. This change would be contrary to the sacramental constitutions of the Catholic Church and could cause an open schism, critics have warned.
The sixth synodal assembly in Stuttgart took place at the end of January, three years after the conclusion of the first five assemblies, and it is intended as an opportunity to evaluate the “reform process.”