Asked about the traditional Mass, he stated that "in the Church, all the baptized have citizenship, sharing the Creed and the morality that flows from it. Over the centuries, the diversity of rites celebrating the one Eucharistic sacrifice has never posed a problem for authorities, because the unity of faith was clear. I consider the variety of rites in the Catholic world to be a great treasure."
He adds that a rite "is not composed at a desk, but is the fruit of theological and cultural stratification and sedimentation." Does the cardinal have an ulterior motive? For the rite of Paul VI can, for many reasons, be described as a "desk rite." This accusation has been made several times by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, notably in his book My Life.
Cardinal Sarah continues: "I wonder if one can 'ban' a thousand-year-old rite. Finally, if the liturgy is also a source for theology, how can one prohibit access to 'ancient sources'? It would be like prohibiting the study of St. Augustine to those who would like to reflect correctly on grace or on the Trinity."
Asked about Africa's contribution to the universal Church, he explains that "African Churches can offer the freshness, authenticity, and enthusiasm of faith that are sometimes lacking in the West" Let us not forget the very high price they pay in the form of martyrdom. This sacrifice will bear fruit and be the seed of new Christians." It is a beautiful thought taken from Tertullian.
Regarding the "blessing" of homosexual or irregular couples, the Guinean cardinal "hopes that the content of Fiducia Supplicans can be clarified and perhaps reformulated. This declaration is theologically weak and therefore unjustified. It endangers the unity of the Church. It is a document to be forgotten," he concludes.
The journalist asks about synodality and points out that it was the subject of one of the dubia submitted to Pope Francis in 2023 by five cardinals, including Cardinal Sarah. The latter responds that "the synodal dimension must be deepened and clarified. Perhaps it should be theologically supported by the notion of communion, which is much older and richer, in order to avoid the ideological drifts that put two ecclesiologies in opposition: the synodal and that of communion."
He adds an element worth emphasizing: "Communion is an end; synodality is a means to discern. Communion is hierarchical, because this is how Jesus wanted his Church [our emphasis]; synodality, as Pope Leo reminded us, is rather a style."
Leo XIV's Thoughts on Synodality
An interview with Leo XIV (in English) conducted by Crux, combined with a biography of the reigning pope, published on September 18 (see today's article), provides some insight into the American Pope's thoughts on synodality. He states: "It's not about trying to transform the Church into some kind of democratic government."
Some have strongly criticized this statement. It seems obvious that a pope cannot say that democracy will be introduced into the Church and must affirm the opposite. Francis himself had already said this, on at least two occasions.
Leo XIV also states: "I think synodality is a way of describing how we can come together and be a community and seek communion as a Church, so that it is a church whose primary focus is not on an institutional hierarchy [emphasis added], but rather on a sense of 'we together,' 'our church.'"
It should be noted that what Cardinal Sarah declared Jesus wanted for his Church was considered by Leo XIV not to be the primary concern: the hierarchical structure of the Church.
It is a hierarchy which, according to Catholic doctrine, constitutes the central element around which the Church is constituted, by divine will. It should be remembered that the term "hierarchical" is one of the hallmarks of the Church, that by which the true Church recognizes and distinguishes herself from others.
Synodality on the Grill
This irreconcilable divergence poses a very serious difficulty. But what is clear is that the Pope and the cardinal indirectly recognize, perhaps even unwittingly, that the machinery of the Synod on Synodality was put in place without being previously defined, which is extremely serious. Cardinal George Pell denounced this in his time, and Cardinal Joseph Zen more recently.
The very fact that the Pope is forced to say that he does not want to transform the Church into a democracy reveals a serious problem that can only be resolved by changing the very structure of the Synod, and not just the label attached to it. It is not by applying a nominalist solution to impious and devastating pragmatism that things can change.
For we must not forget that the Synod on Synodality is first and foremost a praxis, as has been repeatedly denounced by this site and others. Synodality is based on a distorted notion of the sensus fidei, which is the stock-in-trade of Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, who, like Francis, has used it on several occasions to justify the process.
It must be admitted that the Synod created a spirit and a mentality that made possible and justified the most catastrophic choices of the late Pope. Thus, Fiducia Supplicans first responded to needs expressed synodally by the sensus fidei. Wanting to redefine the synod, without changing its essence, its mechanisms, and its intrinsic dynamism, demonstrates a desire to save it from the criticism it faces.
This is the worst service one can render the Church. Let us hope that this will be perceived in time by the one who now holds the tiller of the barque of Peter in his hands.