I have read with interest your articles on the Extraordinary Synod on the Family.
However, I wonder just how many of the various bishops' conferences around the world have in fact prepared for it through consultation with the laity. I was recently at a meeting in the Philippines and asked my confreres there how the questionnaire sent to the faithful was conducted in their respective countries.
Not one of them had even heard of the questionnaire.
They hailed from Korea, the Philippines, India and Japan. Moreover, after Pope Francis's recent visit to Korea, the translation of his speech to the Korean bishops by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea (CBCK) left out a couple of telling paragraphs, in one of which he frankly and strongly warned the bishops about becoming "an affluent church for the affluent, a Church of the well-to-do - perhaps not to the point of developing a 'theology of prosperity' - but a Church of mediocrity."
When the omissions were discovered by comparing it with the English version of his speech it was claimed that time was still needed for translation whereas in fact there was already an official Korean translation of the full text on the Vatican website. The full text has not as yet appeared in Korean on the CBCK website. These are not a very encouraging signs if Pope Francis hopes to devolve more decision making authority to local bishops' conferences.
Fr John L Sullivan O.S.A, Incheon, South Korea
Loading ...
