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Passau Bishop Stefan OsterWikimedia Commons

(LifeSiteNews) — Another German prelate has spoken out against the heterodox Synodal Way.  

Bishop Stefan Oster, who has criticized the German Catholic movement before, said in a recent interview that the Synodal Way is in “open confrontation with the Magisterium” and represents a departure from “the Christian image of man and understanding of the Church.” 

In the interview with Catholic newspaper Passauer Bistumsblatt, the Bishop of Passau affirmed that texts approved by the Synodal Way have broken with traditional Catholic teaching. “At least two texts explicitly call for a revision of the catechism and canon law: What was right before shall now be wrong or vice versa,” Oster said.  

One of the texts that Oster is alluding to explicitly called for the revision of paragraphs in the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the issues of homosexuality and chastity. 

“As it looks now, the [Synodal] path on some issues is heading toward open confrontation with the Magisterium – and toward parting with what I see as essential contents of the Christian image of man and understanding of the church,” Oster said. “I would hope that we preserve unity – even if it looks like the differences within the bishops’ conference and among the faithful are increasing and that we seem to have less and less in common.” 

READ: Three German bishops speak out against Synodal Way as ‘breach’ of Church teaching

The fourth synodal assembly was held in Frankfurt on September 8-10. At the autumn plenary assembly of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) next week, Oster hopes for a joint positioning of the bishops. However, he finds it “difficult to imagine since the positions hardly seem to be reconcilable now from my point of view. After all, some bishops signaled very clearly in Frankfurt how they want to proceed and what they – literally – already want to ‘implement’.” 

According to Oster, the fourth synodal assembly was “much more about political processes, tactics, the search for alliances than about listening to each other. And there was also a lot of emotion and polemics involved.” 

Furthermore, the German prelate warned that the Church in Germany continues to be on a path of secularization. He himself wants to proclaim “the Gospel of the salvation of man through Jesus Christ” and in doing so “remain in unity with the Holy Father and the doctrine he testifies to.” 

Oster also stated that he believes that not even a new ecumenical Council of the Church could change the teachings that the Synodal Way contradicts. 

READ: Cdl. Brandmüller: German Synodal Path decisions a ‘mass apostasy from Holy Scripture and Tradition’

During the fourth synodal assembly, the Bishop of Passau was one of the few bishops who repeatedly voiced criticism of the proposed texts and explained why he could not vote “yes.” 

In the four final open ballots during the event, Oster voted “no” twice. The bishop abstained from voting on the text “Basic Order of Church Service,” which states that a lifestyle that contradicts traditional Catholic teachings should no longer be treated as a violation of obligations of loyalty to the employer – i.e., the Church. Oster also abstained from the decision on the introduction of a Synodal Council, which is meant to create a permanent Synodal Way. 

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