Wherein Topsy and Tuptim discuss Chapter 3 of the Synod Working Document and Expose the Dissenting Bishop Behind It

Bishop Erwin Kräutler, primary
author of synod working doc.

It's such a beautiful afternoon that Tupsy and Tuptim meet at the pool with some of their grandchildren and stake out a picnic table under the trees to study chapter 3 of  the Instrumentum Laboris for the Amazon synod. Topsy opens her cooler and takes out water bottles, a plastic container filled with apple slices, and a big bag of chips. She puts them them at the end of the table. And piles a stack of towels on the bench.

Topsy: The kids will be running back and forth for snacks. This will make it easy for them while we study the document. I decided not to bring any of the little ones so we wouldn't have to worry about doing lifeguard duty.

Tuptim: Great day to be outside. Not too hot and not too humid. (Looking up) Thanks, Lord!

Topsy: Amen to that! Oh...before we start I've been doing some research on the bishop behind the working document. It's always helpful to know the players. Do you remember the controversy over Always Our Children here in the U.S. about homosexuality?

Tuptim: Who could forget?

Topsy: (nodding) It was horrendous and had to be corrected by the Vatican. Well, it was written by homosexual priest James Schexnayder.  It misled families about how to deal with children experiencing same-sex attraction. And his book, Setting the Table, was a guide for how to queer your parish. (Shaking her head.) You see so many good priests being persecuted today and men like Schexnayder and Fr. James Martin just keep trucking along on their gay way.

Tuptim: (impatient) But what about the bishop?

Topsy: Oh right! His name is Bishop Erwin Kräutler and he's from Xingu, Brazil. He's in favor of married priests which the synod is going to push. Let's face it, that's a major goal for this synod. Of course, they claim it's an exception -- only for the Amazon -- if you can believe that. But even worse he favors women's ordination and says that Pope John Paul II's definitive statement in ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS that women cannot be ordained is not a matter of faith and can change.

Tuptim: I may be a convert but there are some things I know can never change. The Church will never approve of abortion and contraception or euthanasia or same sex relationships and we will never have priestesses. If the pope ever approves those things, I'll know he is the anti-Christ and go looking for the pope in hiding. Just think, a priestess married to the Bride of Christ. Wouldn't that be the world's ideal, a lesbian Catholic Church? Makes my head spin!

Topsy: And if anybody has any illusions about whether the things they're pushing will be limited to the Amazon, here's what the bishop said. (She riffles through some papers.) Here it is. This is from LifeSiteNews (Reading):

Kräutler further explains in his 2016 book that since Pope John Paul II’s statement on the question of female priests “is very determined,” Pope Francis “will not do anything alone concerning the question of priesthood, celibacy and female ordination, but, if so, then it will be together with the bishops.” Any decision in that regard “certainly” should not be “immediately implemented world-wide,” but only regionally at first.

I highlighted that last part because you know that changing everything it what it's all about not only a "regional" change. Just like Bishop Overbeck said. The German bishops are already planning to request an exception if the Amazon synod permits married priests. The practice will change overnight like the elimination of the Latin Mass and introduction of the Novus Ordo after Vatican II and all the horrible liturgical abuses. Oh, and if you haven't guessed it from his name, Kräutler is Austrian so he's part of that German clique steering the synod.

Kasper and Marx are among the German bishops saying the German church will ask to join
the exemption that allows married priests if it is approved for the Amazon.

Tuptim: Well, it's good to know who the players are because that tells you a lot about the strategy of the game.What else can you tell me about him?

Topsy: He wrote a 1992 book called My Life is Like the Amazon River where he talked about learning the language of the native tribes, respecting their culture, and helping them defend their rights. One of the German papers quoted him saying that the mission to the Indians "doesn't mean conversion." In fact, another Austrian priest quoted the bishop saying, “I have not yet baptized an Indian, and I also will not do it.” (Shaking her head) You gotta read the whole article, Tuptim. This man has lost the faith.

Tuptim: Wow! So Jesus' "great commission" doesn't apply to the native tribes of the Amazon?

Topsy: Guess not. When I think of missionaries like St. Francis Xavier and Isaac Jogues and Jean de Brebeuf...I just shake my head. St. Kateria Tekawitha, please pray for him. The Amazon doesn't need married priests; it needs real priest missionaries.

Tuptim: You said it! This bunch would have told the North American martyrs their job was to "respect the culture" of the Iriquois and the Hurons and not try to convert them.

Topsy: As a matter of fact, they did respect the culture. I think it was Jean de Brebeuf who wrote the first dictionary of the Huron language. (Pensively) I wonder how these clowns would have behaved with the Aztecs. Do you think they would have concelebrated with the Aztec priests to cut out the hearts of their victims and then have sat at the table with them to eat the hearts in order to respect their culture?

Tuptim: Well, they sure don't mind eating the heart out of the Church!

Tuptim: (sighing) Well, what did you think of chapter 3? I think the document is getting progressively goofier!

Topsy: I agree. This chapter focuses on time and talks about the synod being a "moment of grace" and says the Holy Spirit is opening "new paths." Serious Catholics need to ask exactly where these "new paths" are going to take us.

Tuptim: Paragraph 29 is ridiculous (Reading):

The Yanomami of the Amazon are known as the 

"fierce people" because they engage in constant 

warfare with neighboring tribes and often among

 themselves. They also practice polygamy. Are  

these some of the things we can learn from them?

The original peoples of the Amazon have much to teach us. We recognize that for thousands of years they have taken care of their land, water and forest, and have managed to preserve them until today so that humanity can benefit from enjoying God’s free gifts of creation. The new paths of evangelization must be built in dialogue with the ancestral wisdom in which the seeds of the Word become manifest.

I was reading about the Yanomami. They're nomads. They farm a few years until they wear out the soil and then move to a new spot. Sounds to me like they need someone to teach them good land use and farming practices. And how did they preserve the land, water, and forest? Their living conditions and their numbers are so small that they don't have that much impact on the environment. That's an entirely different thing from "caring for the land!"

Topsy: It's Rousseau again with the myth of the noble savage. They did it with the American Indians too. How many people know that the Indians drove the buffalo to near extinction. The Crow tribe stampeded herds of buffalo over the cliffs. Then they'd take what they could use and leave the rest to rot in the sun. Some care for nature right? We need to respect everyone as a child of God, but many of the practices of the natives are evil and should be stopped. Infanticide, another practice of the Amazon natives, is not a practice anyone should respect.

Tuptim: I want to know what kind of missionaries won't convert or baptize. How exactly are they following Christ's mission to go out into the whole world baptizing people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? The organizers of the synod are as pagan as the Amazon tribes if you ask me!

The Indians' practice of driving entire herds of buffalo
over cliffs contributed to their near extinction.

Topsy: My ears perked up when the document mentioned the journey that began with Vatican II and said...um...let me see...I underlined it. Ah, "The unique diversity of the Amazon region – biological, religious and cultural – suggests a new Pentecost." What the heck does that mean? Pentecost was the birthday of the Church. This implies that the Amazon synod marks the start of a new Church. That's what it sounds like and, if that's what it means, it's diabolical! And linking it to Vatican II just supports all the traditionalists who believe the council was a break from all that went before.

Tuptim: Talking about breaks, I think the synod is moving the Church closer to schism. God help us. (They sit in solemn silence for a few minutes. Then Topsy continues.) The chapter ends by calling the synod a "sign of hope for the Amazon and all humanity." And then this... (reading):

It is a great opportunity for the Church to discover the incarnate and active presence of God: in the most diverse manifestations of creation; in the spirituality of original peoples; in the expressions of popular religiosity; in the different popular organizations that resist the mega-projects; and in the proposal of an economy of solidarity, productive and sustainable, that respects nature.

Topsy: Wow! Note the rhetoric about "diversity," "spirituality of original peoples" which is pagan, and sustainability. This is the same rhetoric you find in the green movement and the new age movement. Combined with all the talk about "new paths" and "new life" and a church with an "Amazonian face"....It sure sounds like the birth of a new religion -- and it sure isn't Christian!

Tuptim: Think I need to clear my head by swimming laps. C'mon, I'll race you. Let's take a break and do chapter 4 another day.

To be continued....