That the working document for October’s Synod of Bishops calls the Amazon region a source of revelation is a “false teaching,” Cardinal Gerhard Mueller said Tuesday.
If in the Instrumentum laboris of the Amazon synod, which will take place in October, “a certain territory is being declared to be a ‘particular source of God’s Revelation,’ then one has to state that this is a false teaching,” the German cardinal said.
“For 2,000 years, the Catholic Church has infallibly taught that Holy Scripture and Apostolic Tradition are the only sources of Revelation and that no further Revelation can be added in the course of history,” he clarified.
Mueller also criticized the document’s reference to “Theologia indigena and the eco-theology.”
Theology is “the understanding of God’s revelation in His Word and in the Faith-Profession of the Church,” he said, not the “continuously new mixture of world feelings and world views…”
The Church should not, he argued, abandon the knowledge of classical and modern philosophy, of the Church Fathers, of modern theology, and of the Church Councils for the “Amazonian cosmovision.”
“Due to the substantial unity of body and soul, man stands at the intersection of the fabric of spirit and matter,” he explained. “But the contemplation of the cosmos is only the occasion for the glorification of God and His wonderful work in nature and history. The cosmos, however, is not to be adored like God, but only the Creator Himself.”
“Instead of presenting an ambiguous approach with a vague religiosity and the futile attempt to turn Christianity into a science of salvation by sacralizing the cosmos and the biodiverse nature and ecology, it is about looking to the center and origin of our Faith,” he said, the Incarnation.
Full story at Catholic News Agency.
Let’s see, Cardinal Muller is certainly not alone in his stinging criticism of the Instrumentum Laboris. His writing, while strongly against the obvious intent of the goofy Amazon Synod, is outdone by feisty words from Cardinal Brandmuller. Cardinal Brandmuller called the IL “heretical,” and that its rejection of Divine Revelation demonstrated “apostasy.”
It appears there is a bit of nit-picking going on here. The Amazon Synod has been called to evangelize in the region and also protect its beauty and resources. One could also criticize the enthusiastic, thoughtless promotion of unbridled capitalism and consumerism (Theo-capitalism) by alt right Catholics and folks at the Acton Institute.
I don’t know of any in the Church who would argue against evangelization and protecting the environment. Can you name those you think are calling for us to not evangelize (except some “missionaries” in that region who seem proud of the fact that they haven’t baptized anyone in years) and to trash the planet? It’s an agenda that includes abandonment of some significant elements of Christian faith that is of concern to many.
Pope Benedict XVI, pray for your Church!