Kräutler, a prominent voice for social justice, is disappointed with the Catholic Church's preparations for the second session of the Synod on Synodality.

"The Synod cannot retreat ‘from the evil world' into incense-filled sacristies.

"Trying to attract the masses with pomp and grand liturgical events is the wrong approach" writes Kräutler in a published article for Herder Korrespondenz.

The focus is on internal Church issues

Kräutler argues that the working document focuses primarily on internal Church matters rather than addressing real-world issues like poverty and social injustice.

He expresses concern that the Church risks becoming "preoccupied with itself", especially in the aftermath of the abuse scandals that have rocked its credibility.

"The document recommends listening to people who experience poverty and marginalisation" Kräutler said, "but has the Church only just realised that it is important to listen to these people?"

He says that genuine synodality would require Church leaders to move beyond the "sheltered security of the Church" and into the "abhorred insecurity of the peripheries".

Referencing Vatican II's Gaudium et spes Kräutler writes that, in principle, the Synod's working document is directed more 'ad intra' and not the "joy and hope, grief and fear of people today, especially the poor and oppressed of all kinds".

Call for reforms in Church leadership

Kräutler, who served as bishop in Brazil's Xingu diocese until 2015, called for deeper reforms, particularly the need to remove "barriers to a synodal church".

He noted that certain priests and bishops continue to cling to a traditionalist view of authority which he believes only widens the gap between Church leaders and the laity.

"Church ‘authority' does not elevate anyone above the people. On the contrary, we are here ‘for' the people and travelling ‘with' the people of God" Kräutler said, calling this the true spirit of synodality.

Women's role in the Church

Kräutler also emphasised the critical role women play in the Church, particularly in Amazonian communities where they serve as worship leaders, catechists and religious teachers.

He criticised Pope Francis for removing the topic of women's ordination from the synod's agenda, adding that gender justice in the Church is long overdue.

"If women have been keeping the Church alive in many communities, ‘gender justice' must now also arrive in our Church" Kräutler said, urging that women no longer be denied ordination.

Kräutler has long been an advocate for the rights of indigenous people and environmental protection, particularly in South America.

Source

• Katholisch.de

Erwin Kräutler, the bishop emeritus of Xingu in the Brazilian Amazon, expressed concern that not a word was said about opening up the Sacrament of Holy Orders to married men and ordaining women to the diaconate.

Many bishops "were and still are" looking for a plausible explanation as to why the two issues were not mentioned.

Some of them thought that the Pope had wanted to avoid a "schism". He had "certainly been under great pressure from the Curia" at the time, Kräutler pointed out.

"That was already crystal clear at the synod sessions and during our talks with the Curia. We found very little understanding for the problems and issues of the Amazon Region which we here experience day by day."

According to notes from the pope included in an article published in the Catholic periodical La Civiltà Cattolica, Pope Francis did not approve a proposal to ordain married men in the Amazon region because the idea was not prayerfully discerned at a 2019 synod of bishops.

"There was a discussion, a rich discussion, and a well-founded discussion, but no discernment. This is something different than just arriving at a good and justified consensus or at a relative majority," Pope Francis said, on the issue of addressing a priest shortage in the Amazon by ordaining so-called viri probati, or older, mature and married men from local communities.

However, just because Pope Francis did not mention the issues of ordaining married men to the priesthood and ordaining women deacons in his post-synodal exhortation, this "certainly does not mean that these issues are off the table," Kräutler underlined.

He recalled that right at the beginning of Querida Amazonia Pope Francis had made it clear that he would not be going into all the issues the Synod had gone into and had asked people to read the final Synod document very carefully.

And the final document, Kräutler pointed out, had underlined how important the permanent diaconate for women was in the Amazon Region.

He personally was convinced that the starting point of every discussion on the priestly ministry could not be the tradition of the Early Church but rather the needs of today.

Sources

The Tablet

Catholic News Agency

Bishop Erwin Krautler, whose diocese of Xingu is in the Brazilian rainforest, spoke with Pope Francis on April 4 in a rare private interview.

The desperate shortage of priests in the bishop's huge diocese was one of the topics discussed.

There are only 27 priests in the diocese, which has 700,000 Catholics.

According to an interview in Salzburger Nachrichten, Bishop Krautler said the Pope is open-minded about finding solutions.

Bishop Krautler confirmed that the topic of ordaining "vir probati", proven married men, had come up when he and the Pope were talking about the plight of communities.

Local bishops should be courageous and make "concrete suggestions", the Pope reportedly told him.

Bishops' conferences should find consensus and bring suggestions to Rome, the Pope added.

He told Bishop Krautler about a diocese in Mexico in which there were 300 deacons, but many communities which had no priest.

The question was how things could continue in such a situation, Bishop Krautler said.

"It was up to the bishops to make suggestions, the Pope said again," the bishop added.

Asked whether it now depended on bishops' conferences as to whether Church reforms proceeded or not, Bishop Krautler said "yes".

"After my personal discussion with the Pope, I am absolutely convinced of this."

Last month, 21 Catholic peers and MPs in the United Kingdom wrote to Pope Francis asking him to consider allowing local bishops to ordain married men.

They argued it is anomalous that married Anglican priests can be received into the Catholic Church and ordained as Catholic priests, but married Catholic men cannot do the same.

In 2012, then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, before he was Pope, told media he favoured retaining celibacy, with all its pros and cons.

"Tradition has weight and validity," he noted.

But he added "It is a matter of discipline, not of faith. It can change".

Sources

• The Tablet
• Catholic Herald
• Image: Salon.com