Some people may have heard the term Phyletism before. It’s a heresy that the Eastern Orthodox Church has had to deal with. While we Catholics typically don’t worry about it, we have a sort of pseudo-phyletism of our own. It’s not identical to what the EOC deals with but it might be just as dangerous in a different way.
Anyone who’s been paying attention to the news knows about how the German bishops’ conference(or GBC) is on the brink of taking the entire church in Germany into schism. This is similar though not identical to what happened to the Netherlands after the First Vatican Council.
Why do all or most countries have their own “Bishops’ Conference”. All of these are modern creations since they’re based on modern borders which were drawn up at in the 19th or 20th century. It ties an unnecessary identity into the Catholic Church. The word Catholic means universal or “according to the whole” so that really defeats the purpose of national churches.
We all remember King Henry VIII and the Church of England. We remember King Louis XIV and the Gallican Church in France. Even St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians is tangentially relevant here.
I speak of all this because the GBC is beginning their synodal path where they’re going to try and impose a bunch of liberal practices on the Catholic Church in Germany. Of course Cardinal Ouellet is opposed to this but the GBC doesn’t seem to care. I’m currently reading Christus Vincit: Christ’s Triumph Over the Darkness of the Age. This book is a dialogue between Bishop Athanasius Schneider and Diane Montagna. In this book Bishop Schneider says the following on page 141:
Not so long ago, the vice-president of the German Bishops’ Conference, for example, publicly stated that the Church has to earnestly and seriously reflect on giving blessings to homosexual unions. A vice-president of a bishops’ conference publicly stated this, and the Holy See does nothing!
Why do they do nothing? There are a lot of possible reasons but one is that they acknowledge the power of the GBC. It’s powerful just like all BCs are. They should all be dissolved as it contradicts the idea of universality. It’s phyletism mixed with liberalism and it’s getting pretty bad. Every BC should be dissolved. We have bishops and each bishop should take care of their diocese. That should be everything they need to do. The BC is a waste of time and money and it leads to heresy in many cases.
On another note, I’ve been more active on YouTube lately. Here are my latest two videos. They are both to do with Querida Amazonia.
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