From Council to SynodThe second session of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will be as followsThe communication commission of the Synod of Bishops has sent to the media a communication from Cardinal-elect Timothy Radcliffe OP, regarding the answer given by Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, Archbishop of Kinshasa (DRCongo), to a question from a journalist during yesterday's briefing.
Cardinal-elect Fr. Radcliffe says thus:
"1. Cardinal Ambongo's response did not refer to the article published in L'Osservatore Romano, but to Phil Lawler's article in Catholic Culture of October 17. This is the article that the Cardinal showed me on his phone and that we discussed.
2. Lawler's reading of the Osservatore article misinterpreted what I had written. I have never written or suggested that the positions taken by the Catholic Church in Africa were influenced by financial considerations. I have only acknowledged that the Catholic Church in Africa is under strong pressure from other religions and well-funded churches from external sources.
3. I am very grateful to Cardinal Ambongo for his explicit defense of my position."
Radcliffe, who acknowledges that "the Catholic Church in Africa is under strong pressure from other religions and churches".
What Cardinal Ambongo said
To better understand this note, it is useful to know what happened at the press conference the day before.
At the press conference at the Synod yesterday, a journalist asked Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, Archbishop of Kinshasa (DR Congo) and member of the Council of Cardinals (C9) that advises the Pope on the governance of the Church: "Your Eminence, in L'Osservatore Romano, Fr. Radcliffe made a comment to the 'Fiducia Suplicans' response, in which he mentioned the money coming from Russia and the Gulf countries, which has to do with the African response to 'Fiducia Suplicans. Can you tell us something? Because you participated in the response."
Cardinal Ambongo had already answered the question on the diaconate for women, which has been repeated in almost every briefing, and which we will see shortly, and he was able to deflect the question, among other reasons because probably no one, or very few, knew the article quoted in L'Osservatore Romano.
"I don't recognize Fr. Radcliffe in what we have read."
However, he confronted the issue and responded as follows, according to personal notes: "It is important to clarify things, because if not, people think that we are hiding something. We have also read this article, in which we are accused of having obtained money from Russia, the Gulf monarchies and the United States through the Pentecostal churches".
"However," added the Cardinal of Kinshasa, "we are in the Synod, and we follow the preaching and teachings of Fr. Radcliffe (Cardinal-elect), and I do not recognize Fr. Radcliffe in the least in what we have read written in that article."
"I can tell you that today Fr. Radcliffe came to see me because he had read the article yesterday, and he was stunned (shocked) to read these things attributed to him. And since it is their job as journalists to say the right things," I affirm that "Fr. Radcliffe has never said that, it does not correspond to his personality in the least."
Cardinal Ambongo then reiterated, "I promise you that this does not correspond to what Fr. Radcliffe may have said. I do not know who wrote this article. I believe the intention of this article was to create an incident. Fortunately, it has not happened."
Vatican Agency: it was in 'The Tablet', translated into Italian, and reproduced
Following the sequence, a few hours later, the official Vatican agency, on its chronicle On the briefing of the day at the Synod and the questions raised by the press, he reported thus: "Another question then revolved around the reflections of theologian Timothy Radcliffe, published in 'The Tablet' in April, translated into Italian in the July issue of the magazine 'Vita e pensiero' and reproduced in L'Osservatore Romano on October 12, in which he cited the "strong pressures from the Evangelicals, with American money; of the Russian Orthodox, with Russian money; and of the Muslims, with money from the rich countries of the Gulf" to which the 'African bishops' were allegedly subjected".
"I do not recognize Father Radcliffe at all in what has been written," said Cardinal Ambongo Besungu, referring to a meeting in which the theologian said he was "shocked" by the publication of "things of this kind attributed to him." Father Radcliffe has never said this", the African cardinal reiterated".
As is well known, the Declaration 'Fiducia suplicans'. opened the door to "the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples" under certain conditions. However, Cardinal Ambongo maintained that the reflection on 'Fiducia supplicans' will continue in the African Churches, which reaffirm their "unwavering adherence" to the Pope, but stressed the freedom of choice of each bishop in his own diocese, reported Vatican News.
Card. Ambongo: in the early centuries it was different
Before the aforementioned question, another journalist asked Cardinal Ambongo about the diaconate for women, and his answer shed light, possibly along the lines of what Cardinal Fernandez had said a few hours ago, in relation to Pope Francis' thinking on the subject: he considers that "at this moment the question of the female diaconate is not mature and has asked that we do not dwell on this possibility now".
The Cardinal of Kinshasa pointed out that in the first centuries of Christianity there were women deacons, "but they were linked to service, it was not the first stage of priesthood.
The Commission will study the theological issue, and we will abide by what the Holy Father says," he said.
Cardinal Prevost, and final document
In the last briefing, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Cardinal Robert Prevost, pointed out in his answers to several questions that the selection of bishops has been the subject of discussion at the Synod, and will continue to be discussed, and that authority is service. He also added that the doctrinal authority of the Episcopal Conferences has limitations and is not autonomous, and must be in coherence with the See of Peter.
Between today, tomorrow and the day after, the phase of amendments to the draft of the final document will take place (more than a thousand have already been presented), as reported by the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Paolo Ruffini, and it is very likely that on Saturday morning the final document will be approved, to be sent to Pope Francis.
