Tensions over ideology have been rampant in the Catholic Church, especially surrounding the Synod on Synodality, a summit of bishops and lay Catholics that will take place in the Vatican this October and is poised to address question of power, inclusion and diversity in the church.
U.S. papal critic Cardinal Raymond Burke recently wrote that the synod risks promoting division and even schism in the church and that it risks challenging church doctrine. “If you look deeper into the origin of these ideas you will find ideology,” the pope said, when asked on the plane about blowback over the synod.
“Ideology always leads away from the communion with the church,” the pope said, criticizing “doctrine with quotation marks that is like distilled water and has seen nothing. It’s not true Catholic doctrine. Real Catholic doctrine causes scandal.”
The pope said that “there is no space for ideology in the synod,” which is centered on prayer, dialogue and communion. Answering questions over whether discussions at the synod will be private, the pope said the meeting must preserve “a synodal environment.” A commission led by the prefect of the Vatican Communications Department, Paolo Ruffini, will “be very respectful of everyone’s interventions and won’t have any gossip,” Francis said.
The pope also spoke about his update on the “green” encyclical, “Laudato Si’,” which will be published on Oct. 4, the feast day of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi. “It’s an update of what has happened since the Paris climate agreement, the greatest success so far,” the pope said, adding that the new document will be shorter and will address some of the lingering issues concerning the environment.
Asked whether he intends to visit Vietnam, Pope Francis said he is open. “If not me, maybe it will be John XXVI!” he quipped, hinting at the possibility of his pontificate ending soon. The 86-year-old said that while he plans to visit Marseille in France for the Mediterranean talks later in September and to visit another country in Europe — possibly Kosovo — his health makes travel increasingly difficult.
“For me, traveling now is not as easy as it was in the beginning,” he said.
This article originally appeared on ReligionNews.com.
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