Conservative Cardinals write to the Pope

In the synod news, some conservative Cardinals wrote a letter to the Pope at the beginning of the synod averring that the process was rigged. Of course, it *is* rigged - the Pope chose everyone who was allowed to participate and when it's reached a conclusion the Pope alone will decide what to do about the results ... welcome to the Catholic church ...

As defined by Paul VI, the Synod of Bishops was strictly an advisory body, with no authority beyond what the pope conceded to it. As Paul’s document repeatedly stated, the synod was subject “immediately and directly to the authority” of the pope. Probably without realizing it, Paul VI radically redefined what the word synod had meant since the church’s earliest days. A synod was no longer a decision-making body. It was now an instrument not of the bishops but of the Holy See, to use or not use at it saw fit.

The Cardinals know this. What they're upset about is that they think the synod is rigged *against* their interests instead of *in favor* of them. Ugh! No surprise to see Pell, Müllerr, and Dolan among the signatories.

Thirteen cardinals—including Cardinals Di Nardo and Dolan—sent a letter to Pope Francis on the opening day of the Synod on the Family in which they challenged or raised serious objections to decisions taken or approved by him regarding the organization and the conduct of the synod.

In it, they expressed “concerns” in relation to two important aspects of the synod, which they claim are shared by other synod fathers: the basic working document or “Instrumentum Laboris,” which they consider inadequate, and the synod procedures which they allege “lead to a predetermined conclusion.”

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List of Signatories

The names of the 13 signatories are, in alphabetical order:

- Carlo Caffarra, archbishop of Bologna, Italy, formerly the first president of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family;

- Thomas C. Collins, archbishop of Toronto, Canada;

- Daniel N. Di Nardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, vice-president of the U.S. Bishops Conference;

- Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York, United States;

- Willem J. Eijk, archbishop of Utrecht, Holland;

- Gerhard L. Müller, former bishop of Regensburg, Germany, since 2012 prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith;

- Wilfrid Fox Napier, archbishop of Durban, South Africa, president delegate of the synod underway as also at the previous session of the synod of October 2014;

- John Njue, archbishop of Nairobi, Kenya.

- George Pell, archbishop emeritus of Sydney, Australia, since 2014 prefect in the Vatican of the secretariat for the economy;

- Norberto Rivera Carrera, archbishop of Mexico City, Mexico;

- Robert Sarah, former archbishop of Conakry, Guinea, since 2014 prefect of the congregation for divine worship and the discipline of the sacraments;

- Elio Sgreccia, president-emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Vatican City;

- Jorge L. Urosa Savino, archbishop of Caracas, Venezuela.