Our Faithful Catholic German Brethren And Their Foes
There are enough Catholic Germans who think with the Church (sentire cum Ecclesia) in spite of media reports of many of the German brethren behaving like heathen. Back in 2023, Neuer Anfang, New Beginning, a group of faithful Catholics, challenged the heterodox Synodal Way (Der Synodale Weg). Where such faithful groups exist, there is hope.
- https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/europe/group-of-faithful-in-germany-rejects-synodal-way-we-want-to-remain-catholic
- https://neueranfang.online/
Saint Boniface: pray for them!
According to the 8th-century Vita Bonifatii auctore Willibaldo, Saint Boniface of Wessex, an Anglo-Saxon missionary, and his companions cut down Thor's Oak, a tree worshipped by the German population. The oak’s wood was reportedly used to construct a church on the site, dedicated to Saint Peter. Boniface, known as the Apostle of Germany, earned this title for his significant role in the Christianization of the region.
"For 10 years (725–735) Boniface was active in Thuringia, converting pagans and renewing the faith of Christians who had been converted earlier by Irish missionaries, whose haphazard methods of evangelization were henceforth to be the bane of Boniface’s life." Britannica
In some circles, there’s talk of schism, though it’s not often voiced by those most contributing to their own separation from the Church. They tend to see themselves as autonomous and feel little to no obligation to align with the Magisterium of the Church.
Francis vs Fracas
Even Pope Francis, the driving force behind “synodal” processes, could see the threat to unity brewing in Germany.
As hinted at earlier, there are many faithful Catholic Germans (as opposed to German Catholics) who are embarrassed by the misguided actions of some of their compatriots and who support reverent liturgies, Church unity, and are true to Catholic doctrine and practice.
Groups of faithful Catholics have repeatedly warned about permitting the Synodal Way to stretch its influence and subpar teaching into common conversation.
“Dirty schism” describes the situation in Germany if the heterodoxical dictates of the Synodal Way become the norm throughout Germany, without the Vatican sufficiently intervening. In this context, heterodoxical bishops would still canonically govern most of Germany’s dioceses, ideas that violate the universal faith would be presented as authentic Church teaching, and faithful German Catholics would face repression.
The details of a dirty schism were recently sketched out by New Beginning, a lay movement of German Catholics opposed to the Synodal Way’s heterodoxical trajectory. The group held a briefing with American Catholic journalists earlier this week, describing the possible outcomes of the synodal process as it nears its final synodal assembly, to be held March 9-11. | NCREG
Fast forward to the present.
- https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2026/01/29/german-bishops-and-the-specter-of-schism-this-week/
- https://europeanconservative.com/articles/commentary/german-bishops-and-the-specter-of-schism-how-did-it-come-to-this/
The mistake was giving liars a platform to spread heterodoxy. Deplatforming now would almost certainly create false martyrs, who would use their newfound status to twist further the narrative and try to pull others along, driven by pride and a hunger for power, steering the Church toward more worldly values.
Let's remind the wolves among the sheep of what should be obvious facts for any Catholic: the Church founded by Jesus Christ is neither a democratic institution nor a socialist enterprise. She, the Church, is an hierarchical communion oriented to truth and the salvation of souls by the grace of God according to the promise by Jesus Christ to protect his Church.
Faithful Catholics, need it be said, do not engage in political tactics to coerce others into embracing heterodoxy. The Synodalists are attempting insurrection. From the beginning, the Church has faced attempts by 'we-know-better' groups to impose wayward behaviors and falsehoods that pretend at liberating people. These days, certain Protestant communities, such as the United Church of Canada that has wholly embraced relativistic religion, are suffering their last breaths as attendance completely evaporates. People need orthodox teaching and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, not a watered-down version of faith and practice that’s barely distinguishable from the societal ideologies that keep people stuck in misery.
Stubborn pretenders in the Church need the gentle honesty of truth spoken with love. They can choose to leave a life of sin and rejoin the fellowship, or at least be honest enough to step away and let the rest of us get on with the mission of the Church. We will care for them - they need our prayers - but we cannot support efforts to pull the Church away from her Lord and Savior, and from the Holy Gospel.
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