Today at the Synod, in a speech commemorating the institution of Synod, The Pope used language indicative that the outcome of the Synod is binding.
“Finally,” explained Pope Francis, “the synodal process culminates in listening to the Bishop of Rome, called upon to speak authoritatively [It. pronunciare] as ‘Shepherd and Teacher of all Christians’: not on the basis of his personal beliefs, but as the supreme witness of the Faith of the whole Church, the guarantor of the Church’s conformity with and obedience to the will of God, to the Gospel of Christ and the Tradition of the Church.”
That comes pretty darn close to saying that whatever the Pope says at the end of the Synod is to be infallibly held by the whole Church.
Given how this synod is progressing, that is a very scary proposition. So there are a few possibilities.
A) The Pope definitively shuts down this pastoral solution crap and declares that the current doctrine AND practice is the ONLY proper interpretation. This is certainly possible and I fervently pray for this outcome, but I don’t think likely.
B) The Pope uses similar language in his final speech and declares that the pastoral solutions or whatever other heretical nonsense the Germans cooked up is infallible by his authority. I don’t think this is likely for two reasons. This would either get the Pope hit by lightning or would mean he isn’t even the Pope. Doubtful the Pope would open up this can of worms.
C) The Pope let’s this speech stand as it is and the progressives claim this speech makes the Pope’s final speech authoritative and binding use it to cajole Bishops and the faithful into going along with potential heresy. In short, they will claim the Pope’s final address as infallible even if the Pope does not use language necessary to define it as so.
Boy, we could have some real trouble on our hands. Hold onto your britches buttercups.
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