The difference between the German Synodal Path and the synodal reform initiated by the late Pope Francis appears today, more than ever, to be a mere difference of speed.
The Vatican applies discipline with rigidity toward traditionalists and with flexibility toward realities that are theologically or politically far more problematic.
The Holy See’s restraint appears as the result of an agreement that effectively restricts the Church’s prophetic freedom in confronting one of today’s most repressive regimes.
Elected to heal divisions, Pope Leo XIV may instead be remembered as the pontiff under whom the most serious Catholic schism since the Reformation emerged.
Meanwhile, the Christian population has fallen from roughly 20% in 1915 to less than 0.3% today as a result of violence and state policies aimed at creating a homogenous Sunni Turkish-Muslim nation.
