Card. Baldisseri
I’m sure you are all really excited about the prospect of another Synod (“walking together”) of Bishops! The last two Synods were so helpful for our Catholic identity and unity. This time the theme will be “Young People, the Faith and the Discernment of Vocation.”
In preparation for the Synod (“walking together”), the head of the Synod office, Card. Baldisseri – who worked diligently with his team to fulfill their hoped for outcome – has a new idea.
CNA reports that the Synod (“walking together”) has established a website with a survey that “young people” can take. The results will, apparently, help the bishops of the Synod understand what it is like to be a young person in the Church (because, I guess, they were never young). I noted an interesting twist, however. Let’s see if you find it, too.
While much of the new website is currently only available in Italian, it includes a survey for young people in multiple different languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.The answers to the survey will be sent to the synod’s [“walking together”] Secretary General, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, through November 30, 2017, and will be used to provide the bishops with an understanding of what it’s like to be a young person in the Church.The preparatory document for the synod defines youth as being individuals 16-29 years old, but also takes into account that the definition of “young” is different depending on where you’re from. The survey allows for answers from people born in the year 1950 or later.The broad survey includes questions about education, home and family life, what young people think about themselves, and how much trust they have in institutions such as the government and the Church.
NB: Young people seems to mean 16-29 years of age. But they have opened the survey to people”born in the year 1950 or later”. As I count, if you were born in 1950, then today you would be about 67 years old, depending on the month of your appearance. I don’t want to throw a wet blanket on this but… really?
Here’s what could happen.
It is not hard to imagine that the organizers of the Synod (“walking together”) have pre-determined goals. They did last time, right? So, they gather information from a large group (young people now includes people pushing 70, it seems). Who knows what they will do with that information. I suspect that they will use it in support of their pre-determined goals (i.e., undermine the Magisterium of John Paul II).
Then they will present their fact-findings as evidence of a vox populi, a sensus fidelium. You’ll here these terms used as the Synod (“walking together”) revs up.
There are more than 50 Ways To Rig A Synod, as it turns out.